Communication at Work – Following Directions Business Information Management II

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Goals for this Lesson Students will understand the meaning of “hard” and “soft” skills in the workplace Students will identify different “hard” and “soft” skills Students will understand the rewards and consequences of effective business communications 3 Copyright © Texas Education Agency, All rights reserved.

Hard Skills – Easily Measurable Procedural Steps Administrative Tasks Machine Operation Financial Skills Typing Skills Language Skills Computer Skills 4 Copyright © Texas Education Agency, All rights reserved.

Soft Skills – “People Skills” Communication – Oral – Written Teamwork – Diversity – Goals Leadership Customer Service Decision-Making 5 Copyright © Texas Education Agency, All rights reserved.

Following Directions – a “Soft” Skill Types of Directions ▫Employment Policies ▫Training Manuals (How-to) ▫Product User Guides 6 Copyright © Texas Education Agency, All rights reserved.

Rewards (of following directions) Increased employee morale Increased productivity Increased customer base Increased revenue 7 Copyright © Texas Education Agency, All rights reserved.

Consequences (of not following directions) Loss of business Employee termination Defective products Possible injury 8 Copyright © Texas Education Agency, All rights reserved.

Assignments “Hard” and “Soft” Skills Business Leader Report Assignment #1 Have students conduct Internet research of business leaders who possess “hard” skills versus “soft skills”. Type a report which states the leader’s particular career and summarizes which skills that career requires as well as which skills that leader is best known to possess. Use appropriate report formatting. This report will be evaluated according to the related rubric. “Instructional Manual” Assignment #2 Create a detailed instructional manual (a “how-to” manual) for either assembling a product of your choice or performing a task (such as how to play a certain game). Get approval from your teacher first. Include proper report formatting, including double-spacing, 1” margins, and heading and paragraph styles. Sections should include, but are not limited to, an outline of your guide, parts description and appropriate labeling (use clipart and drawing shapes if necessary), supplies needed, and assembly steps or directional steps. Remember that grammar is very important for understanding the entire manual. This project will be evaluated using the related rubric. 9 Copyright © Texas Education Agency, All rights reserved.

Assignments (continued) “Following Directions Scenario” Assignment #3 Use the “Explain the consequences of not following directions promptly” handout for the general directions for this assignment. In pairs students will complete the tasks stated in the directions. Then have them display their results on two different documents. Any application can be used but one document should contain the list of tasks, three per group as stated in the directions, using possibly a table, SmartArt Graphic, bulleted list or whatever the pair decides. The other document should be the timeline as described in the directions, as well as the possible consequences if any of the groups does not follow the directions for each task that the pairs have produced. 10 Copyright © Texas Education Agency, All rights reserved.