MB 0039 BUSINESS COMMUNICATION IA ANSWERS

1a. Communication involves the imparting or interchanging thoughts,

opinions, or information among people by speech, writing, or signs. People
communicate in different ways.
Verbal communication entails the use of words in delivering the intended
message. The two major forms of verbal communication include written and
oral communication. Written communication includes traditional pen and
paper letters.
Oral communication is the spoken word, either face-to-face or through
phone, video conferencing or any other medium.
Non-verbal communication entails communicating by sending and receiving
wordless messages. These messages usually reinforce verbal
communication, but they can also convey thoughts and feelings on their
own.
1b. Non-verbal communication is an essential and can be classified as
follows;
Kinesics: This involves body movement of any kind that includes facial
expressions, eye movements, gestures, head movements, posture, physical
appearance that can be used to communicate.
Haptics: Occurs through touch. Touch can be used to represent our affection,
comfort, sympathy, familiarity, love as well as other emotions. However,
touch varies with culture and can easily be misrepresented.
Proxemics- This represents personal space and distance that can be used in
communication. The distance we maintain from one another can be used to
communicate the relationship that exists between or among people. For
instance we expect close friends and family to be part of our intimate space.
Personal space might include friends and co-workers, Social and public space
includes official or workplace relationship and so on.
Chronemics- Refers to how time is used as a communication tool. For
example attitudes of punctuality and willingness to persevere are all aspects
of chronemics.
Paralanguage- This refers to the syllables and not on what is actually said. It
is very close to verbal communication in this regard and can be easily
misunderstood. Emphasis however is on the tone of the voice including the
pitch, pace and volume that convey additional meanings to what is being
said.
Physical Context- Surroundings within which we communicate. For instance
color and layout are known for their symbolic meanings and associations

with different feeling. Design refers to what formality, informality and status
can convey from chairs, desk and carpets. Space management refers to
arrangement of spaces of people who work together regularly and how that
influence interaction and enable effective communication. Location within
which we communicate influences the manner and nature of communication.
Loud communication is relevant for vast audience. Distance also between
people can influence the communication.
2a. Listening is a very important tool in effective communication. It
represents reception of a message and it determines the quality or the result
of the message.
One notable instance where communication failed because listening was
faulty was when I asked my house help to purchase some items from a noisy
market on a sunny Saturday morning. I wanted to prepare a special delicacy
that requires specific local food stuff items. Time was of the essence so I
called my house help since he resided close to the market. Knowing that he
was keeping my money I then mentioned systematically what I want him to
do and purchase from the market. I also required him to make a note of all
the items. It was not until he came home with the items that I realized he
had actually misinterpreted my message because he had gotten some wrong
items and also insufficient quantities of the right ones. His excuse was that
the market and vehicle were noisy. He also elaborated that the traders
inability to get his message well also contributed to the ineffective
communication and that the trader listened with strained ears 5 meters
away from him.
2b. Some of the identifiable barriers to communication in the above situation
are as follows:
Bad Listening Habit- My help decided to pay attention only to the general
item names and not specific details (fish and not dried tilapia).
Physical barriers- This barrier proved to be an impediment in the entire
communication process. When I spoke to my help he claimed later on that he
did not hear the details because he was in a noisy car. He also claimed that
the market was very noisy and that some of the mistakenly packaged items
were as a result of misinterpretation by the trader.
Wrong Assumptions- My help also wrongly assumed that some of the items
were common so there was no need to pen down the names of the items.
Lack of training and attitudinal barriers- Listening is a skill and repetition of
the message by the receiver is a basic way to ensuring a message is
received well or not. In this situation I can say that ineffective

communication can stem from the senders inability to confirm receipt of the
transmitted message and also the attitude of the recipient.

3a. Five types of presentation:

Orientation- The particular interest and aims of the organization is made
known to newly selected staff or employees. This presentation usually occurs
in the first week or month of employment.
Reporting Research Findings- The informative report is a presentation where
you organize your information around key events, discoveries, or technical
data and provide context and illustration for your audience. For instance
consumer satisfaction survey.
Product Presentation: Emphasizing characteristics of a new product and the
benefits it will bring to its target audience or consumers. Product
presentation is part of a marketing strategy as it portrays the benefits of a
new and promising product.
Briefing and Information: Explaining to employees about procedures for a
new online leave system. Certain organizations make it mandatory for
employees to attend presentations for weekly briefings and information
dissemination. Department managers an also engage employees in this
regard.
Project Proposal: Refers to a new undertaken or endeavor that the company
wants to venture into. This presentation describes the objectives, benefits,
scope, cost and problems of such an endeavor. A project proposal
presentation seeks to convince especially funders of a project or
stakeholders with keen interest on the benefits of the projects.

3b. An audience that is interested in newly delegated responsibilities, work

procedures, work ethics, working hours, organizational culture such as newly
recruited and selected employees are the right kind of audience for a
presentation type known as orientation.
As a business communicator, you may be called upon to give an informative
report where you communicate status, trends, or relationships that pertain to
a specific topic. You might have only a few moments to speak, and you may
have to prepare within a tight time frame. Your audience may want just the
highlights only to ask pointed questions that require significant depth and

preparation on your part. The audience in Report Research Findings are

mostly superiors.
Product Presentation targets Consumers and intermediaries of a product. It
seeks to develop a brand and increase demand and subsequently sales of
the product. For instance For instance Barclays Bank Ghana holds a
presentation for all prestige costumers on its new and latest online banking
system with well-improved features.
Briefing and information often targets the employees.
Project Proposal presentation targets sponsors of a project (Bankers). A
project coordinator seeking funds might approach bankers to presents details
on why the project is viable.
4. Types of meetings:
Task Oriented Meetings- Meetings called for addressing specific events or the
success of a particular event. The emphasis is on work facilitation, structure,
roles and tasks. They are designed or arranged to set schedules, produce
desired results and set clear plan to achieve goals. For instance a bank
decides to open a new branch and before the upcoming event, a meeting is
called to set objectives for the success of the event.
Progress Meetings- The purpose of a progress meeting is to get up-to-date on
the progress of your team member and for them to be clear about how they
will achieve their next milestone. These are periodic meetings organized for
the purpose monitoring and evaluating the advancement of an activity or
project. It involves analysis of achievements and deficiencies, management
efficiency, controls, actions and so on. You may already know how your team
members are performing because you see their monitoring reports regularly
and you talk to them most days. However, the value in running progress
meetings, is more for your team member than for you. Most managers do
most of the talking during a progress meeting. If you do this you are training
your team member to let you take responsibility for their deliverables and
they are likely to become passive. Progress meetings are not an opportunity
for you to do all the talking. They are an opportunity for your team member
to prepare a presentation and then present to you their progress.
Information Sharing Meetings- are held to give people supported, Direct
Support Staff, families and any other stakeholder the opportunity to get
together and share information on regular basis. New information that is
useful for various departments, management, employees can all be
discussed in this meeting. For example research members can decide
collectively to meet regularly to share information about individual findings,
results and efforts.

Problem Solving or decision making- These meetings tend to be free-flowing.

It is one in which people feel free to come up with new ideas, slogans, ways
to save money, and so on. Try to be nonjudgmental. These meetings are
tricky because all their aspects demand a display of leadership. It requires a
collective effort also to face, overcome and device means of changing an
existing problem, an anticipated problem or procedure.

5. Some of the aspects to keep in mind during an interview for the post of a
manager-operations are as follows;
Opening Formalities: First impression goes a long way therefore introduction
of oneself, handshake remembering details such as name of interviewer are
all key factors together with waiting to be asked to seat and seating in an
erect position are all common courtesies.
Non-verbal Communication: Communicating a positive message by way of
firm gaze, maintaining eye contact and also using non-verbal means to
indicate confidence and attentiveness to what the interviewer is saying.
Group interviews: When asked questions from any of the interviewers, eye
contact must be maintained and questions addressed accordingly.
Two way interview: In this situation, apart from just answering questions,
interest can be shown in the job by asking relevant questions especially by
the interviewee wherever possible.
Honesty and Humility: Avoiding void and vague answers or beating around
the bush is important. Humility is also very important because sometimes
questions such as describing ones weakness can be asked and it is important
to be honest in this regard. Exaggeration must also be avoided as much as
possible especially when answering questions.
Positive answers: Speaking ill of previous employers must also be avoided as
much as possible. However, it is important to give honest feedback in a very
tactful way.
Salary Discussion: Allow the interviewer to initiate discussions about salary. It
is good to indicate ranges of salary expectation when asked instead of a
specific amount. Therefore it is good to find out the range of salary for
candidates with similar qualifications.
Closing the interview: Closing the interview is as important as commencing
it. Sometimes a signal is given by the interviewer about ending the interview
and at this point a repetition of the commencing handshake must be done
and an expression of your expectation. For instance telling the interviewer

that you are looking forward to hearing from the company soonest.
Sometimes in conclusion they interviewer can ask if there is any question
you intend to ask. In this case questions about the organization are
important and not questions on performance.

6. The Internet- is an integral part of our everyday lives. The Internet is the
largest computer network in the world, connecting millions of computers or a
global network of computers which may be server or client that exchange
information.

Benefits:
(i). Efficient Educational Tool- Increased ability to teach at more than one
place simultaneously. One may be in a small town but through the Internet,
they can be linked to students in more populated areas.
(ii). Globalization- While computers have been blamed for decreased activity
and interaction in the local community, the Internet has been credited with
providing a window into the global world. It allows anyone with a computer to
think globally and has allowed the business world to forge international
relationships with new vendors (to lower costs) and new customers (to
increase sales).
(iii). Improved Communication- 100 years ago it might have taken over a
month to get a letter to a friend in another country. Today, communication is
as easy as a mouse click, and much cheaper too. Anyone in the world can
communicate with another person through text messages, emails, and even
live video. For business, this means higher efficiency and quicker processing
of sales.

The Intranet- Intranet is also a network of computers designed for a specific

group of users or that is exclusive to a particular organization. Intranet can
be accessed from Internet but authority is restricted to limited users. This
private network uses Internet protocols and network connectivity to securely
share any part of an organizations information or operational systems with
its employees.
Benefits:
(i). Discourages grapevine Informal communication known as grapevine
can have damaging effect sometimes in an organization. Misinformation can
cause dissatisfaction and subsequently de-motivation. Using the intranet as

an official channel to post information for all employees to discourages

gossip and avoids creating a transparency gap can reduce the effect of
grapevine.
(ii). Facilitates pre-meeting discussion Preparation for meetings by posting
information on the intranet can prove vital. The intranet can be used to
discuss and debate ideas prior to a meeting, so that valuable meeting time is
spent focusing only on relevant ideas.
(iii). Saves time The intranet is paperless communication and is therefore a
big time saver. There is a tremendous amount of time reduction in
bureaucracy.
(iv). Is superior to e-mail Sending some types of information through e-mail
can sometimes create confusion and information overload.