7 Cs of Effective Communications in Business OR principles of Effective Communications

DEFIITION

TO COMPOSE EFFICTIVE WRITTEN OR ORAL MESSAGES, WE MUST APPLY CERTAIN COMMUNICATION PRINCIPELS. THESE PRINCIPLES PROVIDE GUIDELINES REGARDING PURPOSE , STYLLE , RECIVER ETC CALLED THE SEVEN CS .

Seven Cs of Effective Communication

1. 2. 3.

4.
5. 6. 7.

Completeness Conciseness Consideration Concreteness Clarity Courtesy Correctness

Completeness

Provide all necessary Information

One way to make your message complete is to answer the five Ws. WHO? WHAT? WHEN? WHERE? WHY?
For instance, to order (request) merchandise, make clear WHAT you want, WHEN you need it, WHERE it is to be sent. and HOW payment will be done. The five question method is useful when you write requests, announcements, or other informative messages.

Completeness

Answer all questions asked

Stated questions from questioner Implied questions from questioner

Give something extra when desirable

The customers may not know what they need

Conciseness

Conciseness means convey the message by using fewest words.

Eliminate wordy expressions Include only relevant material Avoid unnecessary repetition

Eliminate Wordy Expressions

Wordy: At this time Concise: Now Wordy: Due to the fact that Concise: Because Wordy: Please be advised that your admission statement was received Concise: Your admission statement has been received.

Include Only Relevant Material

Stick to the purpose Go to the important point concisely Avoid long introductions and unnecessary explanations

Avoid Unnecessary Repetition

Use a shorter name after you have mentioned the long one. Instead of North Central Company use North Central

Use pronouns or initials E.g., Instead of world trade organization use WTO or you can use IT for Information Technology

Consideration

Consideration means to consider the receivers Interest.

Focus on you instead of I or We Show audience benefit or interest of the receiver Emphasize positive, pleasant facts.

Focus On You Instead Of I Or We

Always try to address receivers needs and wants.

Using you help you, but over use lead a negative reaction. The use of you in negative situations can be avoided by employing the passive voice. Insensitive: You failed to enclose your check in the envelope

Considerate: The check was not enclosed.

Emphasize positive, pleasant facts

Negative - Unpleasant: It is impossible to open an account for you today Positive Pleasant: as soon as your signature card is received, we will gladly open an account for you.

Concreteness

It means that message should be specific instead of general. Misunderstanding of words creates problems for both parties (sender and receiver). When you talk to your client, always use facts and figures instead of generic or irrelevant information

Concreteness

Use specific facts and figures Put action in your verbs. Choose vivid, image building words

Use Specific Facts and Figures Vague statement: GMAT scores are higher Concrete statement: In 1994, the GMAT scores averaged 500; by 1995, they had risen to 510. Put action in your verbs Use active voice Put action in verbs, not in nouns

Put Action in your Verbs

Use active voice

Passive: The tests were administered by the professors. Active: Professors administered the tests

Active verbs help make your sentence more specific and concise.

Passive voice can be used when you want to avoid personal comments

Put action in verbs, not in nouns

Action hiding in Quiet Noun: Professor younis will give consideration to the report.

Action in the Verb: Professor younis will consider the report.

Clarity

Choose familiar words

Familiar difficult
After Pay Invoice IMO LOL

Unnecessary

subsequent remuneration statement for payment in my opinion Laughing out loud

Avoid jargon when the receiver is not accustomed to it.

Construct effective Sentences and Paragraphs

Unity One main idea in a sentence and others must be closely related Poor Sentence: I like Mr. Baig and Eifel Tower is in Paris Length Try to write sentence with 17 to 20 words

Coherence Arrangement of words correctly so that ideas clearly express the meaning. Unclear: His report was about managers, broken down by age and gender Clear: His report focused on age and gender of managers. Emphasis Put main ideas up front within a sentence.

Courtesy

Courtesy shows politeness, love, and respect for the reader please and thank you are courteous words. Be sincerely tactful and appreciative Tactless, blunt More Tactful Its your fault, you did not Sometimes my wording is not properly read my latest FAX precise; let me try again Use expressions that show respect Omit irritating expressions E.g., you failed to, you are ignorant of, you leave us no choice

Choose Non discriminatory expressions Man Words Questionable More Desirable Freshman First year students Manpower workforce, employees

Correctness

Use the Right Level of Language Formal language is used for legal documents, top level Govt. agreements Informal language is more used in business communication Check accuracy of Figures, Facts and words Maintain Acceptable Writing Mechanics Grammar-checks Spell-checks