Business Communication and Presentations - Essay Example

This is a key factor in the cohesion of a group of people working together to achieve common objectives. In the case of Rio Ferdinand, the communication was non-verbal and not successful or effective as he kept “forgetting” to get the tests done. This means the means of communication was not the right mode. It could also mean that he did not give the tests too much of importance due to which he kept “forgetting”. This again ultimately reflects on the wrong communication process.

For effective communication, managers need to understand the purpose of the message. This would ensure the right message at the right time and place. According to Bovée and Thill (2000), the three basic functions of business communications are “to inform, to persuade or to collaborate….” but Lowell adds another two functions which include to acknowledge and to empathize. Thus there are five levels and functions of the communications hierarchy (cited in WOC, 2004). In this case, information was merely given with no persuasion to act upon it timely.

The decision not to allow Rio Ferdinand to be selected to go to Turkey for the crucial European Championship qualifying match was taken unilaterally between the Manchester United and the Football Association, without giving Ferdinand an opportunity to explain. This form of communication was unethical and what was even worse was that information was sent out to the press without prior intimation to the defender or even to the rest of the England team. By adopting these modes of communication, the sender was trying to send out the message that Ferdinand was not required in the team.

For a communication to be effective it must be received and understood and only then it can produce resultant action (Kalla, 2005) but Ferdinand did not take action and hence the communication process was ineffective.