Use effective communication skills according to organisational standards

Use effective communication skills according to organisational standards.........................................................1 Receiving client requests and enquiries in a polite and courteous manner.....................................................................2 Verbal and non-verbal communication..................................3 Body language........................................................................3 Spoken language....................................................................4 Common documents................................................................6 Memos....................................................................................6 Faxes......................................................................................7 etters.....................................................................................7 !mail.......................................................................................7 usiness etiquette....................................................................! "elep#one manners................................................................$ !mail manners........................................................................$ "ummar#..................................................................................1$ %#eck your progress.............................................................&'

Reading: Use effective communication skills according to organisational standards

2005

(eceiving client re)uests and en)uiries in a polite and courteous manner

Most jobs in the IT industry require you to interact regularly with clients in many ways, such as by: attending to customer enquiries, problems and complaints determining a clients needs obtaining feedback from a client with regard to an installation, customisation, training or support issue providing a client with information or instruction

!equests and enquiries come by email, phone, fa", letters and personal contact In all cases you must establish and maintain a polite and courteous manner To be polite and courteous means to show good manners and to respect the opinions and needs of others

(eflection activity
Imagine you are a client asking an IT support person for help #hat behaviour from them would you e"pect and consider courteous $ourteous behaviour is: being friendly showing respect for the other person, and assisting the other person as much as possible

$an you think of particular ways that this behaviour might be e"pressed%

*elp t#e desk procedures

Most organisations have a procedural manual for the help desk that includes a section on dealing with client requests and enquiries This will include treating other staff with respect and using a polite and courteous manner when responding to and recording client requests and enquiries

Reading: Use effective communication skills according to organisational standards

2005

+er,al and non-ver,al communication

The way you greet someone for the first time often determines the way that you will communicate with that person in future It is vital that we greet clients in a professional manner &ften clients contact you because they are e"periencing difficulties with their computer system They may have been trying to work out the problem themselves or they may fall into the 'I dont want to know about these things anyway category In order for you to solve their IT problems, you need to be able to get them to tell you precisely what their problem is

Body language
(ody language is one of the most important ways of e"pressing ideas #hen you talk to someone face)to)face, about *+, of the message that you send is non)verbal - that is, without words That means that *+, of the meaning of what you say is in the way that you project the message, and .+, of the message is the actual words that you use /on)verbal communication is usually referred to as body language

*o. do .e learn our ,ody language/

#e learn our body language from those around us 0or e"ample, in our society, it is a generally accepted rule or norm that it is rude to stare at someone or to point your finger at them 1nother e"ample is: if you like someone, you try to stand closer to them If they like you, they let you stand close These are both gestures of body language

(eflection activity
&ver the ne"t couple of days, make a conscious effort to observe the body language of people around you in different situations, such as: in a shopping centre at the family dinner table on a bus or train

Reading: Use effective communication skills according to organisational standards

2005

#hat body language do people e"hibit when: bored% angry% unhappy% contented%

First impressions
Its important when dealing with clients, that your body language is appropriate, particularly the first time you meet them 0irst impressions are vital to other peoples acceptance of us If they like 'the look of us, then there is a fair chance that they will like us

(eflection activity
Think about how phone contact might differ from face)to)face contact

Spoken language
The language you use when communicating with clients is also very important, not just your clarity of e"pression 2the way you speak, which is also physical3 but the manner in which you speak 4ome companies, such as fast food companies and call centres, e"tensively train their employees in the use of standard greeting techniques They develop scripts for their staff to use when taking requests and enquiries from clients 5ou have no doubt been on the receiving end of such techniques

(eflection activity
Think of the last time you rang an organisation for assistance, such as Telstra or your bank 6id the staff use a script to greet you% 6id they sound as though they had been trained to have a prepared response to everything you said% The use of prepared scripts that have been 'drilled into staff during training sessions is becoming commonplace They serve two purposes: to make the communication process more effective, and to ensure staff do not say something to clients7customers that they should not

Reading: Use effective communication skills according to organisational standards

2005

"ec#nical versus everyday language

8eople who work as IT professionals have a great deal of technical knowledge, which allows them to do their job well 9owever, the clients you work with probably wont share that knowledge: they just want their computers and software to work; This means that you should be careful about using technical words when talking to clients 4ometimes, if youre talking to someone who understands the terms then a highly technical e"planation is appropriate 9owever, technical words can often make clients defensive This can make it harder to identify whats gone wrong or for them to understand your solution

Reading: Use effective communication skills according to organisational standards

2005

%ommon documents

Information is largely conveyed by documents 5ou need to know about the range of documents in workplaces and how to produce them

Memos
Memos 2short for memorandums3 are the means of conveying reminders or simple messages, and often the same message is sent to all staff Memos are of less formal in appearance than letters and should have information about only one topic 2which also allows them to be filed accurately3 The paper form of the memo is becoming rare as organisations increasingly use email for this purpose Memos are succinct They generally have a header section with the date, names of the sender and receiver and the subject of the memo Memo headings replace greetings - they identify who the writer is and what the memo is about 1 memo doesnt need to be signed by the author 5ou can see who has sent it from the heading

Example
To: <im =ones CC: #endy (rown 'CC stands for $arbon $opy It comes from when a carbon layer under the note would impress a copy on a duplicate form In this case, the main person you are sending the memo to is <im, but you are also sending #endy a copy

From: !obyn 8erkins Date: >7*7+? Re: @eave application Re is short for 'in regard to and means the same as '4ubjectwhat the memo is all about

The body of the memo then has the main idea, secondary ideas and action The main idea of a memo should be the first sentence or paragraph It might identify a problem or issue, or provides information about organisational policies 1ction is usually the final paragraph, with details of what to do about the problem7issue and who to contact

Reading: Use effective communication skills according to organisational standards

2005

Faxes
Its hard to imagine a business without a facsimile 2fa"3 machine 0a" documents look somewhat like memos 9owever, while memos are never sent outside an organisation, fa"es are 1 fa" is structured in a similar way to memos, while the header should include the number of pages being sent

"#e ,ody of t#e fax

The main idea is usually in the first sentence or paragraph and usually states the purpose The secondary idea then provides more detail about the purpose, and the final paragraph is the '1ction, which details of what to do about the problem and who to contact

etters
@etters are still the most formal way to e"press our ideas The layout for letters and the accepted standards for punctuation have changed a lot in the last A+ years Blectronic keyboards, word processors and spell checkers have changed the way we present our letters Bach organisation will have its own standard layout for a letter and this will usually be kept as a template #henever you start work at a new place, find out what their standard letter layout is

!mail
The most recent form of widely used electronic communication is email @ike a letter, its in writing 2which is important;3 5et, its faster to send than a letter and its not as formal 2its structured rather like a memo3 There is one disadvantage to email 5ou dont control the format 2the software program does this3 9owever, you can personalise your email to some e"tent by adding features like your own signature at the end Many organisations have a standard format for email signatures These often include contact details for the person sending the email The structure for workplace emails is usually the same as for memos and fa"es, with a main idea, a secondary idea and action to be taken

Reading: Use effective communication skills according to organisational standards

2005

#hich email program have you used% 5ou should have a program such as Budora, Microsoft &utlook or Bntourage The screen below is the /ew Mail Message screen from Microsoft &utlook Make sure you know where to put: who the email is for who the email is from other people who need to receive the email the subject of the email 2often your application will prompt you if you havent3

The '$c line in an email works the same as for a memo, and the people who receive the email know who else has received a copy The '(cc line is for people who might receive a copy without a list of other recipients The body of the email, as with other short documents includes the main idea, secondary ideas, and any action required @arger documents or files can be sent as attachments 2note that organisational policies might restrict the type and siCe of attachments that can be sent3

Reading: Use effective communication skills according to organisational standards

2005

Business eti)uette
(usiness etiquette refers to the unspoken rules that guide the way we communicate and behave #hen we communicate on the telephone, by email or any other form of communication, we should follow standard etiquette

"elep#one manners
#hen answering the telephone, you should speak clearly and: ? . A F Dse a positive tone and say 'Eood morning or 'Eood afternoon 4tate the name of the organisation you are working for Introduce yourself 1sk the person how you might help them

(eflection activity
Think about how you last answered the phone 6id you do as above% 8ractise answering the telephone in this way

!mail manners
Bmail also requires etiquette 5ou may find the email etiquette that your organisation e"pects you to follow is a part of the IT policy &therwise, there are general rules: 1lways include a short subject line Dse one subject per email Monitor any confidential content $heck spelling 2keeping an eye for word forms a computer spell checker might miss, such as 'form for 'from3 <eep formatting to a minimum including the use of backgrounds

It is important to remember that when you communicate by email, the non) verbal communication is not coming through along with the written message If you are concerned that anything may be misinterpreted, it is a good idea to e"plain it, or just keep it simple It should also be noted that in many workplaces, email is a formal method of communication and can be kept as evidence of your actions as with any other forms of documentation

Reading: Use effective communication skills according to organisational standards

2005

Summary

This reading has given you an outline of skills, etiquette and standards applied to basic modes and formats of communication in business and work settings The workplace in which these modes or documents are used will often have organisation procedures and templates for you to follow

%#eck your progress

/ow you should try and do the Practice activities in this topic If youve already tried them, have another go and see if you can improve your responses #hen you feel ready, try the '$heck your understating activity in the Preview section of this topic This will help you decide if youre ready for assessment

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Reading: Use effective communication skills according to organisational standards

2005