Business Communication Unit Activities and Received Knowledge - Coursework Example

Unit     Number] [Unit Completion  Introduction [Unit Outline mark) The unit is about business communication which mainly serves the purpose of communication amongst the organization in order to carry out business activities. The use of communication may be of different type for instance oral, verbal and written. The main purpose of business communication is to make sure that all goals of organization are achieved by explaining business roles through communication and taking feedbacks and also by solving problems if one arises. Moreover this unit also describes and gives detail knowledge about what should be one’s line of action and which kind of technologies can be used. Giving details of how effective messages can be created or directed. Task(s) [Unit Tasks](2 marks) I have undertaken several different tasks and assignments in this course. Various oral presentations by using different techniques were done. Use of slides and presentation transcripts were also part of my study activities. Weekly MCQ’S were also part of my studies in this semester as after completion of lectures online MCQs were carried out on weekly basis. Portfolios part comes with two different parts. Part A consists of article review and speech review. Different tasks were performed which improved my capacity and learning towards article and speech review furthermore part B involved self reaction and poster submission. I learned through a workshop that how effectively one can design posters and what should one consider in order to effectively conveying message through poster. Learning activities [Activities and Processes](2 marks) Week 1: The course started with the focus on history of business communication deriving it from different eras and also telling about different developments chronologically, such as the era before 1600 and so on. Furthermore a brief summary of history of communication was presented. We were then told about effectiveness of business communication, definition, need, importance and trends. Later different communication models were put up such as transactional, transformational and basic model. Furthermore barriers and flow of information in an organization were studied. Week 2: Started with the topic behavioral protocols and ethical communication in which do’s and don’ts regarding how to be professional on jobs were told. Later four views of ethical behavior and their factors were discussed with further emphasis on how ethics in communication should work. Different ethical traps were also part of our study such as eight common ethical traps and organizational ethical trap. Moreover goals, values and adaptation of ethics were explained. Week 3: Started with one of my favorite topic emotional intelligence and gender communication. In which IQ and emotional intelligence role and importance were explained. Further managing and developing of emotions were highlighted. Different strategies and models were also explained, such as nine strategies for promoting emotional intelligence and Mayer’s and Salovey’s ability model. However in the end gender differences were studied by us. Week 4: Started with the topic team work. Its importance, advantages, disadvantages were told. Moreover culture, norms, developments, and different phases of team development were also the part of study. Conflicts and resolving conflicts techniques and methods were discussed and different ingredients of creating successful team work such as group decisions, team leadership and their duties were also exposed to us. Week 5: Started with oral and online presentation techniques from preparation to delivery point. Explaining different important factors like analyzing the situation, selecting the medium and organizing presentation. Moreover coping up with various presentation issues were discussed such as stage fright, managing materials and data, adapting situation in terms of cross cultural or international audiences. Week 6: Started with intercultural communication with prime focus on elaborating culture. Its concepts, types, importance in business settings. Moreover cultural context and improving inter cultural communication skills were also part of the study. Cultural differences in terms of gender, religion and ability were also studied and techniques and methods regarding adapting these cultural differences were also exposed to us. Week 7: Started with conflict and negotiation and their importance, reasons, types, consequences and causes were remarkably told to us. Moreover forms of conflicts and their possible solutions were also discussed. Different methodologies and techniques were explained in order to manage conflict. Definition, importance, approaches, relationship and strategies of negotiation were also exposed to us. Moreover dynamics of interviewing and their types such as, employment interviews, appraisal interviews etc. Week 8: Started with overall topic understanding i.e. meeting online, technology and interpersonal communication. Definition, importance, competencies of interpersonal communication was initially explained to us. Later emphasis on non verbal communication and types of listening was also highlighted to us. Techniques regarding building listening skills, process of listening and barriers were also part of our lecture. Moreover one on one business communication was explained with focus on technology such as audio, video and web conferencing and various techniques were discussed in order achieve successful virtual meeting. Week 9: Started with overall understanding towards report writing and poster development. Key features were types of reports, classification of reports. Moreover report writing styles and preparation were also explained to us. Designing of documents and posters were also explained to us. Purpose of poster, designing of poster and different types of posters were also highlighted by lecturer. Week 10: Started with the topic routine and positive messages. Drafting techniques, using different mediums and selecting outline for written and spoken messages were explained, importance of proof reading and use of direct approach were exposed to us. Routine requests, types and recommendations were also briefed with further emphasis on feedback and request for information was also part of our lecture for this week. Week 11: Started with the topic negative messages explaining the reason for studying negative messages. Moreover goals and composition of negative messages were briefed to us. With further focus on elaboration of writing process and types of negative messages were explained to us. Crisis communication and delivering of bad news using different methods and techniques were explained to us. Furthermore legal liability in terms of conveying negative news and finally delivery of bad news to the superior was exposed to us. Week 12: Started with persuasive messages and their importance. Uses and basic expectancy model was explained, overall method and technique of writing and directing persuasive message was explained through analyzing different situations in terms of audience. Writing and editing of messages and balancing in between logic and emotion were also exposed to us. Moreover different techniques in order to build and maintain standards and motivation actions with respect to high context and low context culture were explained as well. Resources [List of Resources Used](1 mark) In order to comprehend the topics under discussion in different weeks and lectures I used several resources apart from the core unit book. Some of the resources used are: Bovee, C., Thill, J., and Chatterjee, A. (2011). Business Communication Today. New York: Prentice Hall Guffey, M., and Loewy, D. (2011). Business Communication: process and product. Mason, OH: South-Western Cengage Learning Plutsky, S., and Wilson, B. (2000). Study to validate prerequisites in business communication for student success. Journal of Education for Business, vol. 76, no. 1, pp. 15-18 http://www.barcodesinc.com/articles/business-communication-resources.htm http://www.mhhe.com/business/buscom/lesikar10e/student/index.html Self Evaluation [Self Evaluation](3 marks) The course allowed me to explore my potential as a communicator the oral presentations facilitated me in enhancing my speaking skills and confidence level. At the same time it helped to explore my presentation making skills. The poster making workshop allowed me to understand the effective and efficient methods for designing posters for different purpose and for different audiences Conclusion [Summary of what you have learnt] MMH299 is a unit that enhanced various different skills in me in terms of business communication. I equipped myself with the knowledge of history of communication and types of communication and do have proper understanding about barriers of communication and their effects. Furthermore what necessary measures should be taken in order to deliver message clearly. I was exposed to knowledge that how one can work as professional considering all ethical perspective of communication and what ways one can effectively convey message. Moreover role of intelligence and emotions were also key learning from this unit. Testing of my abilities in this regard was also done through various different seminars and workshops. However I gained experience working with teams and develop different team working skills that will play an important part in my career. I have learnt how to effectively take decisions and learn how to respect others decision as well. Moreover by giving different presentations and seeing my fellow mates giving presentations I gained confidence and overcome various different lacking that I was having as mentioned by my teacher and fellow mates. Importance of cultural differences and various other important topics were also new for and as I gained confidence in differentiating factors and took effective participation in group tasks and assignments. Furthermore I learnt effective report writing techniques and am still working on gaining more confidence and command in this field. In the end directing positive and negative messages and their impacts and contribution has enlightened me. My overall learning shows that I am now more confident in initiating communication which before was not the case with me. I have now clear vision in terms of business communication unit. Read More