McGraw-Hill/Irwin © 2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, All Rights Reserved

1-2 McGraw-Hill/Irwin © 2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, All Rights Reserved Chapter 1 Business Communication, Management & Success   Types   Reasons/Purposes   Audiences   Benefits & Costs   Criteria   Goodwill   Trends   Conventions   Analysis   Problem Solving

1-3 McGraw-Hill/Irwin © 2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, All Rights Reserved Types of Communication  Verbal  Face-to-face  Phone conversations  Informal meetings  Presentations  messages  Letters   Nonverbal   Computer graphics   Company logos   Smiles   Size of an office   Location of people at meetings

1-4 McGraw-Hill/Irwin © 2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, All Rights Reserved Reasons Managers Communicate  To convey information  To aid decision-making  To create records  To motivate employees  To save money  To send effective messages Good writer$ earn more Good communicators make good managers

1-5 McGraw-Hill/Irwin © 2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, All Rights Reserved Communication Purposes  All business communication has three basic purposes  To inform (explain)  To request or persuade (urge action)  To build goodwill (make good image)  Most messages have more than one purpose

1-6 McGraw-Hill/Irwin © 2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, All Rights Reserved Audiences  Internal  Go to people inside organization  Memo to subordinates, superiors, peers  External  Go to people outside organization  Letter to customers, suppliers, others

1-7 McGraw-Hill/Irwin © 2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, All Rights Reserved Internal Audiences of Sales Manager – West Sales manager West Sales manager Midwest President Sales manager Int’l. VP Marketing VP Sales VP Production VP Finance VP Human Resources District 1 manager District 3 manager District 2 manager Sales rep Sales manager East To superiors To peers To subordinates

1-8 McGraw-Hill/Irwin © 2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, All Rights Reserved Organization’s External Audiences Competitors Trade assns. Distributors Wholesalers Franchisees Retailers Agents Legislators Gov. Employment agencies Organization Customers Clients Stockholders Investors Lenders Subsidiaries Suppliers Media Foreign governments and offices Courts Special interest groups General public Potential employees, stockholders, customers Professional services Unions

1-9 McGraw-Hill/Irwin © 2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, All Rights Reserved Benefits & Costs  Effective writing  Saves time  Increases one’s productivity  Communicates points more clearly  Builds goodwill  Poor writing  Wastes time  Wastes effort  Loses goodwill Stiff, legal language Selfish tone Buried main point Vague requests Misused words

1-10 McGraw-Hill/Irwin © 2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, All Rights Reserved Criteria for Effective Messages  Clear  Complete  Correct  Saves receiver’s time  Builds goodwill

1-11 McGraw-Hill/Irwin © 2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, All Rights Reserved Goodwill = Positive Image  A goodwill message—  Presents positive image of communicator and their organization  Treats audience as a person, not a number  Cements good relationship between audience and communicator 432

1-12 McGraw-Hill/Irwin © 2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, All Rights Reserved 10 Business Trends 1.Technology 2.Focus on quality, customers’ needs 3.Entrepreneurship 4.Teamwork 5.Diversity

1-13 McGraw-Hill/Irwin © 2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, All Rights Reserved 10 Business Trends, continued… 6.Globalization and outsourcing 7.Legal and ethical concerns 8.Balancing work and family 9.Job Flexibility 10.Rapid rate of change

1-14 McGraw-Hill/Irwin © 2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, All Rights Reserved Conventions  Conventions—widely accepted practices you routinely encounter  Vary by organizational setting  Help people recognize, produce, and interpret communications  Need to fit rhetorical situation: audience, context, and purpose

1-15 McGraw-Hill/Irwin © 2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, All Rights Reserved Analyze Situations: Ask Questions  What’s at stake—to whom?  Should you send a message?  What channel should you use?  What should you say?  How should you say it?

1-16 McGraw-Hill/Irwin © 2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, All Rights Reserved Solving Business Communication Problems  Gather knowledge  Answer six analysis questions  Brainstorm solutions  Organize information to fit  Audiences  Purposes  Situation  Make document look inviting

1-17 McGraw-Hill/Irwin © 2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, All Rights Reserved Solving Business Communication Problems, continued…  Revise draft for tone  Friendly  Businesslike  Positive  Edit draft for standard English  Names  Numbers  Use replies to plan future messages

1-18 McGraw-Hill/Irwin © 2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, All Rights Reserved Six Analysis Questions 1.Who are your audiences?  What are relevant characteristics?  How do listeners / readers differ? 2.What are your purposes?  What must the message do?  What must audience know, think, or do?

1-19 McGraw-Hill/Irwin © 2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, All Rights Reserved Six Analysis Questions, continued… 3.What information must you include?  List all required points  De-emphasize or emphasize properly  To de-emphasize  Bury in ¶ and message  Write / speak concisely  To emphasize  Place first or last in ¶ and message  Add descriptive details

1-20 McGraw-Hill/Irwin © 2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, All Rights Reserved Six Analysis Questions, continued… 4.How can you support your position?  Reasons for your decision  Logic behind your argument  Benefits adapted to the audience

1-21 McGraw-Hill/Irwin © 2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, All Rights Reserved Six Analysis Questions, continued… 5.What audience objections do you expect?  Plan to overcome if possible  De-emphasize negative information 6.What part of context may affect audience reaction?  Time of year  Morale in organization  Relationship between audience and communicator

1-22 McGraw-Hill/Irwin © 2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, All Rights Reserved Organize to Fit Audience, Purpose, Situation 1.Put good news first 2.Put the main point/question first 3.Persuade a reluctant audience by delaying the main point/question

1-23 McGraw-Hill/Irwin © 2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, All Rights Reserved Make Message Look Inviting  Use subject line to orient reader  Use headings to group related ideas  Use lists for emphasis  Number items if order matters  Use short paragraphs—six lines max.

1-24 McGraw-Hill/Irwin © 2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, All Rights Reserved Create Positive Style  Emphasize positive information  Give it more space  Use indented list to set it off  Omit negative words, if you can  Focus on possibilities, not limitations

1-25 McGraw-Hill/Irwin © 2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, All Rights Reserved Edit Your Draft  Double-check these details    Reader’s name  Any numbers  First and last ¶   Spelling, grammar, punctuation  Always proofread before sending

1-26 McGraw-Hill/Irwin © 2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, All Rights Reserved Use Response to Plan Next Message  Evaluate feedback you get  If message fails, find out why  If message succeeds, find out why  Success = results you want, when you want them