UNIT II

INTERNAL AND EXTERNAL COMMUNICATION

Lead-in
1. Will the workforce consist of merely digital nomads? Will they manage to communicate
and collaborate effectively?
2. Must universities, companies and other entities have a crisis communication plan to control
their response to a societal crisis such as the crisis generated by the Covid-19 pandemic or
a civil war?
3. Can you give examples of IT companies that create communication appropriate within a
variety of channels (for example, email, SMS, push notifications, social, IVR systems,
chatbot introductions, homepage modals, and headers, and dedicated web landing pages)?
4. What is the relationship between influencers and followers?
 Reading
Leveraging Technology to Bolster a Sense of Community
— Microsoft’s Practical Strategies —

As organizations become increasingly global, and remote, for many leaders, walking around
the office, greeting newcomers, and connecting with people is no longer an option. Getting together
in person to discuss pressing matters has been replaced by meeting through online conferences.
Below are the some of the practical strategies Satya Nadella and his team rely on to build community
and create connection between employees and leaders.
Enterprise-Level Social Networking
Enterprise social networking services are an important channel for employees to connect and
share ideas with each other. Microsoft uses Yammer as a channel for Nadella and other leaders to
engage with employees, listening to and learning what’s on their minds. On a “CEO Connection”
page, employees can pose questions and connect with other employees on a gamut of topics —
everything from product strategy to employee benefits. This helps to bolster a sense of community
and creates a direct connection between employees and leadership.
Microsoft takes a proactive approach to monitoring questions on its social network in real
time, with senior leaders often directly answering questions. By engaging in this virtual conversation,
leadership is able to respond quickly and at scale, while gaining an invaluable view into employee
concerns and conversations on any given day. Leaders can jump in to engage in a conversation and
provide perspective, a critical benefit that’s lacking in traditional enterprise communication methods
such as surveys. Instead of being present only with the people in their office, Microsoft leaders can
directly engage employees on the other side of the world, crossing time zones and accommodating
varied schedules.
Daily Pulse Checks
Every day, a small sample of Microsoft employees receives a survey called Daily Pulse.
Driven by the HR division, Daily Pulse takes a snapshot of how employees are feeling about the
company, its culture, and other timely topics. The survey is carefully shaped to ensure the results
will be easy to analyze. Daily Pulse consists of approximately 20 core questions and up to five org-
specific questions (as needed by Microsoft’s senior leadership team). In addition, there are rotating
open-ended questions that change monthly to get additional sentiment on specific topics. These
questions might include, for example, “In what ways do you think Microsoft is different today than
it was one year ago?” or “What is the biggest change you’d recommend your leadership make to
allow you to be more effective in your job?” Having the flexibility to add in timely questions
provides more regular insights into employee sentiment when acquiring companies, orchestrating
large reorgs, and making other changes within the organization.
Monthly Live Events
 Every month, Microsoft holds an employee town hall meeting where company priorities,
progress, and culture are discussed in an open forum. This meeting is broadcast live for employees
around the globe and is also available on-demand for employees in other time zones. Along with
members of his leadership team, Nadella provides a monthly business update and takes questions
directly from the audience as well as from his CEO Connection page on Yammer. This gives him a
chance to share his thoughts across a number of areas — including business, industry, and society
— and allows employees to raise topics that matter to them. During the event, employee engagement
is measured to capture real-time sentiment. Once the event is over, the Yammer page is updated with
a searchable table of contents for the event and short clips of key moments, which allow the team to
highlight priority messages.
“Growth Mindset in Action” Video Series
Nadella has said he wants Microsoft to be a company of “learn-it-alls,” not “know-it-alls.”
In support of this ambition, he hosts a video series spotlighting individuals and teams that are
embracing a growth mindset. The goals of the video are to model the shift toward creating a learning
organization, to spark dialogue, and to prompt employees to talk about their learning. The company
has helped increase the reach of these videos by using an influencer model. This means the videos
are shared directly with relevant groups through email each month, depending on the topic. For
example, a recent video highlighted the Ink to Code project from Microsoft Garage, an internal
incubator. This video was shared with the Garage and maker distribution groups. Microsoft has
hundreds of distribution lists for people with specific interests, so these self-selected communities
help with message targeting. An “evolutionary” editorial calendar — one that can shift, surprise
employees, and serve their needs — is critical to long-term success.
Microsoft’s experiences not only provide a window into the technologies it uses but also
offer an inspiring picture of its underlying motivation — to better enrich and engage people all
around the world. Leveraging technology to connect with people at scale is a cornerstone of the 21st-
century leadership journey.

I. Decide if the following statements are true (T) or false (F):

1. Microsoft developed practical strategies to build community and create connection between
employees and leaders.
2. Microsoft has taken a reactive approach to monitoring questions on its social network in real
time.
3. Satya Nadella engages with employees on the other side of the world through Yammer,
listening to them and learning what is on their minds.
4. Employees can engage in a conversation and provide perspective, a benefit that is lacking in
traditional enterprise communication methods such as surveys.
5. The leadership team can pose questions and connect with other employees on a gamut of
topics.
 6. Daily Pulse is a well-crafted survey taken by employees, which consists of approximately 20
core questions and up to five org-specific questions about the company, its culture, and other
timely topics.
7. Rotating open-ended questions are also used to get additional information about employees’
performance.
8. Employee engagement is measured in an open forum about company priorities, progress,
and culture.
9. Nadella supports his ambition by hosting a video series spotlighting individuals and teams
that are embracing the principles of open innovation and co-creation.
10. Microsoft increases the popularity of the “Growth Mindset in Action” video series by using
social media influencers.

Focus on Vocabulary
II. Match the words on the left with the words on the right to make collocations:

1. timely a. technology
2. underlying b. scale
3. leverage c. perspective
4. add d. community
5. at e. motivation
6. employee f. messages
7. provide g. in
8. build h. questions
9. raise i. sentiment
10. highlight j. topics

III. Find the word that is not synonymous with the other words in each line:

1. CHANNEL PATH COURSE STREAM

2. GAMUT COVER RANGE SPECTRUM
3. SUSTAIN UPLOAD SUPPORT BOLSTER
4. PROACTIVE PROSPECTIVE VISIONARY FORESEEING
5. SPARK ACTIVATE DEBUNK TRIGGER
6. ORCHESTRATE MANIPULATE ARRANGE COORDINATE
7. SHARE INCENTIVE QUOTA PART
8. INFLUENCE AFFECT IMPACT CONVEY
9. DIVISION FORUM MEDIUM PLATFORM
 10. MODEL CUSTOMIZE DOWNSIZE GEAR

IV. Fill in the gaps with the words below (there are three extra words!):

craft, enticed, introduced, quality, podcasts, make, opinion, descriptor, tool

Influencers are similar to key .............. leaders but usually have gained their reputation
more ............... through their online activity. And they have created that reputation through the
............... of the social posts they make, the blog posts they write, the .............. they speak, and the
videos they ............... and post on their YouTube channels. These influencers have the best
communication skills and engagement with their audience. They have .............. their followers and
become recognized as experts in their field.

V. Use the words given in CAPITALS to form a word that fits into the gap:

People seek connection during times of (CERTAIN) ............... .Companies in our communities
play a role in this. .............. (CONSIDERATION) a message to customers to show you’re aware
of the issue and offer ................ (HELP) resources. Social media, email, or your online community
are ................. (PARTICULAR) accessible mediums for a brief and immediate message. ...............
(PROACTIVE) announce changes or impacts to your business. Do not make customers hunt for
the .............. (INFORM) they need – instead, bring it to them. Proactive communication will free
up staff to focus on tasks other than ............... (ANSWER) the same customer questions over and
over again. ............... (CREATION) communication that is appropriate within a ...............
(VARIOUS) of channels, including email, SMS, push notifications, social, IVR systems, chatbot
.................. (INTRODUCE), homepage modals, and headers, and dedicated web .................
(LAND) pages.
Review your entire messaging stream, including social media, ............... (PROMOTE) and
transactional emails, push notifications, and SMS, to identify communications that need to pause
or shift as a result of the ................. (SITUATE).

VI. Choose the correct option(s):

1. Internal communication can occur between:

a. individuals
b. groups
c. departments or units.
d. all of the above
2. Internal communication is a ............ tool that leads and motivates the employees to put
their best in the job.
a. business
 b. managing
c. profitable
d. cooperative
3. Internal Communication uses ..................................., etc. as a mode of communication.
a. memo, circulars, staff news letter, fax, notice
b. minutes on meetings, video conferencing, presentations
c. seminars, agenda, manuals
d. highly-documented instruments, technical writers, technical assistants
4. Internal Communication is used to guide, ............ individuals to work efficiently for the
success of the organization.
a. praise and coordinate
b. inform and motivate
c. form and stimulate
d. care for
5. The objective of external communication is to ............... relationship or exchange
information with the outside parties.
a. create
b. maintain
c. devise
d. evaluate
6. External communication is:
a. both formal and informal
b. formal
c. formal and largely documented
d. creative
7. The methods of external communication are:
a. advertisements, customer’s feedback material, service calls
b. press releases, invitations, circulars
c. price lists, manuals, customized reports
d. effective only for the company’s management
8. The frequency of internal communication is relatively higher than that of external
communication.
a. true
b. false
9. External communication helps in presenting a good image of the business to the employees,
politicians and to the public.
a. true
b. false
10. Top-down communication influences ................as it offers managers an effective channel to
motivate the subordinates.
 a. employee performance
b. executives
c. clients
d. the media

VII. Read the timeline of how technology opened the doors for remote work and complete
the blanks with the missing information/sentences (a-m):

1. 1975: .............................................................. . Employees are finally able to work remotely

outside of the office and eventually get to take their work on-the-go with a laptop or tablet.
2. 1990: ....................... and the World Wide Web helps connect remote workers with email and
virtual office tools.
3. 1994-1995: ........................................................ . With continued success, the idea quickly
catches on and spreads.
4. 1997: ..................................................................... . Google Search breaks down barriers and
creates a place where employers and employees can find each other no matter where they live.
You can still locate remote work or workers anytime today, all from performing a simple Google
search.
5. 1999: ....................................................................... . This keeps everyone on the same page,
despite living in different zip codes, so everyone’s on the same page when it comes to deadlines
and open-ended projects. Over 100,000 companies still use this project management software.
6. 2000s: ............................................................... . Remote employees can finally work without
being tied to a physical location for their ethernet internet connection. This also makes slow speeds
from dial up internet a bad memory of the past.
7. 2002: ......................................................................... . You can still network with old friends or
coworkers, reach out to potential employers, and follow your favorite companies to see what’s
new on this professional platform boasting 562 million users across 200 countries and territories.
8. 2003: ........................................................................ . This video conference software helps
organizations maintain genuine face-to-face connections with employees even if everyone’s
working remotely. It’s also used heavily in remote interviews to put a face and personality to each
candidate behind the screen.
9. 2004: ........................................................................, files, and brainstorm together. GTM
currently has 2 million active daily users.
10. 2009: Slack, ........................................................, creates a way for teammates and managers
to communicate from anywhere. Slack continues to be the glue holding entire remote teams
together. It supports 8 million active daily users and has over 70,000 paying customers.
11. 2012: ..............................................., known as Google Drive. This becomes the modern day
workspace where employees, both in-house and remote, access important documents and files
while also collaborating and giving feedback in real time.
12. 2016: Dell reports an annual savings of \$12 million since expanding its telecommuting and
remote work programs. .............................................................................................. .
13. 2018 and beyond: “4.3 million people currently work from home in the United States at least
half of the time,” and this figure has grown 150% in the last 13 years. ..................................., and
the technology to support these needs only gets better.

a. Wireless internet and broadband open the floodgates.

b. Google introduces its suite of office tools and digital file storage,
c. Reports like these prove remote work is beneficial to employers just as much as remote
employees.
d. A surge of remote workers inspires Skype, a better communication tool for virtual employees.
e. Virtual meeting software GoToMeeting (GTM) helps employees “meet” in a virtual conference
room to share presentations,
f. which is also the fastest-growing business application in history, creates a way for teammates
and managers to communicate from anywhere.
g. The future of remote work continues to explode
h. The first “personal” computer is introduced.
i. The internet is born.
j. Centralized project management tools like Basecamp (originally named 37signals) give both
management and employees one centralized place to manage workflows remotely.
k. Companies like American Express, IBM, and AT&T start allowing their employees to
telecommute.
l. LinkedIn launches and connects millions of professionals across the globe.
m. Google launches the powerful search engine we know today.

VIII. Think proactively and add to the timeline other technological breakthroughs that
will impact you and our society. (group work)

IX. Read the paragraphs below and write a short essay 1 expressing your opinion
about remote work and its implementation by companies so far:

1
Use linkers and connectors.
Linkers: in spite of/ despite, although, however, but, on the one hand.......on the other hand, whereas, in contrast (to
express contrast), so that, in order to, to, so as to (to express purpose), because, as, since, because of, on account of,
owing to, due to (to express reason and cause), consequenrly, as a result, therefore (to express consequences),
furthermore, in addition, moreover, besides (for addition).
Connectors: I think, I believe, in my opinion, in my view, Personally, I think (to express opinion), especially, also,
in particular, above all, specifically (for emphasis), as...as, equally, similarly, likewise, in comparison (for
comparison), because, since, for, as a result of, thus, hence (to express cause and effect), evidently, surely,
undoubtedly, clearly (for persusion), for example, such as, for instance, in other words (for illustration), to conclude,
finally, on the whole, summarizing, overall, to sum up (for conclusions).
 Corporate executives are cognizant that their employees enjoy the chance to work from
home, they’re able to do their part in helping the environment (as less people drive or take busses
to and from the office) and their real estate costs will drop precipitously (as less people will be
working in the office).
CEO and founder of Shopify, Tobi Lutke, tweeted “As of today, Shopify is a digital by
default company. We will keep our offices closed until 2021 so that we can rework them for this
new reality. And after that, most will permanently work remotely. Office centricity is over.” Lutke
added, “Until recently, work happened in the office. We’ve always had some people remote, but
they used the internet as a bridge to the office. This will reverse now. The future of the office is to
act as an on-ramp to the same digital workplace that you can access from your #WFH setup.”
Critics of the work-from-home trend contend that companies will lose their identity and
culture. Employees, particularly younger ones, will miss the lack of social interactions. Part of the
camaraderie at work is seeing your co-workers, going out to lunch together or having a drink after
work. This will be absent from the new remote environment.
Acknowledging the challenge, Lutke said “We haven’t figured this whole thing out. There is a lot
of change ahead, but that is what we’re good at. ‘Thrive on change’ is written on our (now digital)
walls for a reason.”

Communication Skills

X. Watch Bob Davids speaking about leadership without ego

https://youtu.be/UQrPVmcgJJk and answer the questions below:

Why did Bob exemplify the interplay of money, quality and time?
What personalities inspired Bob to build his visionary self?
How did his actions impact the workers at his company in China?

Grammar Practice

Verbs with Prepositions

I. Fill in the gaps with the correct prepositions:

1. She concentrated ....... her career to get promoted.

2. The company apologized ....... customers for the late delivery.
 3. I checked my email, nobody responded ....... my complaint about the product.
4. We agreed ....... the terms of the contract.
5. The manager’s decision will depend ........... the number of products sold.
6. Did they recover ......... the car accident?
7. Our colleague will provide ........ with more information about our application.
8. The department manager relies ......... the professional competence and ethics of
20 people from various cultures.
9. She didn’t approve .......... the proposal made by the database administrator.
10. I would like to introduce you ....... the branch manager.

II. Read the sentences below, identify the incorrect prepositions and provide the
correct ones:

1. It smells about mint in the office.

2. You should have learned that business environment consists to the macro environment and
the microenvironment.
3. My cousin is doing an engineering degree, specializing in industrial robots.
4. They succeeded for raising awareness about the advantages of remote work.
5. I would like to apply for this position.
6. You should ask in the invoice, I have not seen it on my desk!
7. Please refer to the marketing campaign when you meet the finance manager to establish
the budget.
8. During a crisis, it is recommended to connect in employees, listening to them and learning
what is on their minds.
9. A key account manager is in charge with developing trusting relationships with major
clients and managing communications between key clients and internal teams.
10. They respond to emails promptly, the communication with customers is effective!

III. Translate the following sentences into English:

1. Așteptăm cu nerăbdare părerea dumneavoastră despre site-ul lansat recent.

2. Se pregătește pentru ședința virtuală care are pe ordinea de zi aprobarea planului de
invățământ pentru anul academic următor, stabilirea metodelor de evaluare față în față și
online, propuneri pentru achiziția de echipament IT necesar instruirii studenților și diverse2.
3. Te-am căutat să te invit la petrecerea de Crăciun organizată de departamentul nostru.
4. Am aflat că preocuparea majoră a companiilor de socializare este detectarea știrilor false și
eliminarea infodemiei.

2
Diverse = Any Other Business (AOB)
5. Nu îmi aduc aminte să fi revizuit sondajul pe care îl vor primi angajații din partea
Consiliului de Administrație.
6. Această lucrare tratează un subiect de mare interes în zilele noastre – avantajele economice
ale inteligenței artificiale.
7. În timpul implementării proiectului toți au realizat că munca depusă de această echipă
tânără va duce la rezultate foarte bune.
8. Nu a putut să dezvolte aplicația pentru Primărie, așa că a recurs la serviciiile unei firme
locale.
9. Din cauza măsurilor de distanțare luate de companie, mulți angajați tânjesc după zilele în
care se strângeau în biroul coordonatorului de echipă să discute organizarea evenimentului
Innovation Hub.
10. Încă de când am colaborat prima oară, am știut că mă pot baza pe profesionalismul și etica
lui și nu am ezitat să îl recomand și altor parteneri de afaceri din străinătate.

IV. Add the right prepositions to the following verbs then make up sentences to
highlight the meaning of the combinations:

argue ..........
apologize ..........
confide ..........
appeal ..........
allow ..........
boast ..........
pay ..........
insist ...........
protect ..........
contribute .........
plan ........
lead ........
share …….
lag .........
sympathize ..........

V. Match the sentences below and analyze the combinations of verbs with
prepositions:
1. The Mobile Wallet represents a major challenge for mobile financial service
providers,
2. However, as technology vendors, the SPA membership is concerned that a “wallet
war”
 3. The standard should establish a minimum set of additional functionalities, propose
security and data protection requirements,
4. One possible reason for international workers who lag behind national workers
5. Individuals have rights under EU data protection law,
a. elaborate on already existing specifications and support competition by not
necessarily addressing implementation details.
b. could be the lack of training for using the machinery and lack of user
manuals in their native language.
c. including the right to object to the processing of personal data by the
public administration on grounds of public interest.
d. may result in excessive market fragmentation.
e. which has led to fierce competition for offering the best product that has
resulted in a highly fragmented market.

VI. Identify verbs with prepositions in the paragraph and use them to summarize the
paragraph:

If a company is processing your personal data by automated means based on your consent or
a contract, you have the right that the company transmits to you your personal data that you
provided them. You can also ask for your personal data to be transmitted directly to another
company whose services you would like to use, when it’s technically feasible. However, this right
does not apply, where the data that you provided are needed for the task carried out by a public
authority or other organization for the performance of their public tasks, laid down by law. For
example, when you provide a public authority with your personal data for getting social benefits
or a building license, you have no right that the public authority transmits those data to you or to
another organization. A public administration must reply to requests from individuals without
undue delay, and in principle within 1 month of receipt of the request. It may ask for additional
information in order to confirm the identity of the person making the request. If the request is
rejected the individuals must be provided with the reasons for rejection and informed of their right
to file a complaint with the DPA and to seek a judicial remedy.