Business Communication - Coursework Example

Business Communication is the process by which information is transferred from one party to another. Processed data is relayed from the sender through a medium to the recipient (Verderber, 2010). An effective communication process comprises of some basic elements. These include: the source, message, encoding, channel, recipient, decoding and feedback. The source idea refers to the process through which one develops an idea to share with a different person. It is usually influenced by external factors, such as books. Yum formulated the idea to pass to John by reading a mail that John had earlier sent to her. The message represents the actual information to be passed to the recipient. It is usually dependent on the source idea and is designed to meet the desires of the audience. Encoding is a process that involves the conversion of the message into an appropriate transmission form. The form of communication is dependent on the transmission medium. The channel is the means through which communication transpires (Verderber, 2010). It is the path through which a message is sent to the recipient from the sender without making alterations on it. The channel may vary from a paper to a radio or an email. The receiver is the party for which the message is intended. The recipient employs the channel to receive communication from a transmitter. Decoding refers to the process of interpreting the message passed. The recipient analyzes the message to facilitate internalization. Feedback refers to the relay of a response to the sender of a message by a recipient (Verderber, 2010). Communication is an unending process. Interruption of the process may cause emptiness in the system. Interpersonal communication has to be continued. In the circular interaction, an invariable response is made which provokes a reaction. The message relayed through communication channels is usually irreversible. It cannot be changed once transmitted. Effective communication may be deterred by various barriers to communication. First, lack of eye contact hinders effective communication. John stuck glued to the computer while conversing with Yum. This hindered the efficiency of communication. John employed an unfamiliar term to Yum while passing his message. This contributed immensely to ineffective communication since Yum could not interpret the message. John showed disinterest in what Yumi was trying to put across. Lack of attention and interest hinders the process of communication and may cause misunderstanding between the parties involved (Verderber, 2010). Emotional barriers are great obstructers of the flow of information. Yum grew angry over John’s disinterest in what she was saying which caused her to fail to pass appropriate message. The strategies I would adopt to overcome the barriers to communication are; adopting effective listening skills such as focusing on the opponent party, paying attention and avoiding distractions, being empathetic and asking questions for clarity. Secondly, I would adopt an approach that aids accurate perception such as not making presumptions about people or things and focusing on others. The other strategy would be adopting effective verbal communication skills such as being flexible. Finally, I would adopt a custom of inquiring for feedback to ensure that message interpretation is accurate (Verderber, 2010). Self-esteem refers to evaluation of one’s worth. It includes one’s opinions, thoughts and images about self. Domination over others and making decisions on their behalf may cause wrangles in the workplace. Reluctance to take risks may hinder the achievement of the group’s objectives. Reaction to colleagues with much emotion may hinder effective correlation. The conversations that would impact negatively on Yumi’s self-esteem are: ‘look! It says clearly. Bi-weekly!’ and ‘listen, I’m busy now. Can’t it wait until after lunch?’ The best strategy to adopt in order that the conversations do not affect her is changing her negative self-talk by making positive affirmations. Listening is a key factor to enhancing effective communication. Adopting listening skills such as maintaining eye contact and avoiding distractions while conversing will aid in achieving the goal of communication. More trust is earned through keeping contact. More so, it helps save on time that may be used advance other avenues (Verderber, 2010). Assertiveness aids in enhancing one’s self esteem and improving productivity at the workplace. Nevertheless, assertiveness may reflect over-confidence in an individual. It can also prove to be counter- productive. Intercultural competence refers to the capacity of uniting people from various cultures. The priorities of intercultural competence include; helping dispatch information on intercultural competence; to evaluate and plan for training; to develop a common definition of intercultural competence; targeting individuals that add value to the concept, and placing appropriate infrastructure for developing intercultural competence. The barrier to intercultural competence is linguistic and cultural barriers. The barrier can be curbed through creating cultural awareness of his worldview and how to interact with others. Steps to active listening include; maintaining eye contact, being attentive and empathizing with the situation. John would have expressed active listening in his conversation with Yumi through; failing to work on the computer so as to direct his attention to Yumi, paraphrasing Yumi’s statements and asking her questions. Finally, he would have maintained an open mind to her conversation. John is likely to tell Yumi, “I am grateful for your assistance in preparing for the Friday project meeting. I am truly sorry for having ignored you during the conversation held earlier.” Leadership styles may be classified into democratic leadership, autocratic leadership and delegative leadership. Democratic leadership is participatory. Leaders offer guidance to their members for their input and participation (Verderber, 2010). Autocratic leadership expresses a distinction between leaders and members. Clear objectives are stated, and the manner they should be achieved. Delegative leadership allows members to make decisions by themselves. The most effective style for John to use is democratic. It will allow for his members to air their views regarding the project. It will also assist in building trust among member. The elements of non-verbal communication include; eye contact, which means to face the recipient of the information so as to build trust; gestures, which involve the use of hands and face to describe an event. Postures are elements that represent bodily stances. They are rich in a variety of messages. The art of written communication is an essential aid to non-verbal communication. Finally, facial expressions play a key role in non-verbal communication (Verderber, 2010). Yumi may employ gestures and facial expressions to explicitly describe a message she wants to pass across. In addition, she may maintain eye contact to ensure that she adequately listens in the discussion process. There are various types of conflicts, which include relationship conflicts, conflicts associated with data, conflicts of interest, structural conflicts and value conflicts. Relationship conflicts arise as a result of misperceptions or poor communication whereas; data conflicts are caused inadequate information to make decisions. Interest conflicts arise as a result of competition over varying needs. Structural conflicts arise from forces external to the parties in disputes such as scarce physical resources, time constraints and changes in organization. Value conflicts are as a result of systems of beliefs among individuals that are not compatible. The type of conflict between John and Yumi is a relationship conflict. This is because there exists certain miscommunication. The four steps to perception process include; selection which involves directing attention to the most significant impressions to be attended to; organization ,which refers to the arrangement of the selected information; interpretation of the organized information in a sensible manner, and negotiation which involves influencing other people perception’s in order to make sense (Verderber, 2010). In the case study, attention is drawn towards the project of an internet use policy. Yumi assists John to gather and analyze information in preparation for the Friday meeting. The information is interpreted in the meeting. A notice of a meeting is a brief statement of awareness presented orally or in writing with regards to a specific matter. The notice includes the day and date of the meeting, time for commencement and the agenda of the meeting. In order to effectively manage the meeting, John could employ both verbal and non-verbal communication skills such as asking questions and using gestures to aid in discussion. In addition, he may maintain eye contact with the members so that the decisions made may accrue viability. To aid the discussion process, John may empathize with each situation addressed by the members, avoid distractions and respond positively to suggestions aired by the members. Reference Verderber, K. (2010). Communicate! London: Cengage Learning. Read More