Managerial

Communication
Professional Communication
Basics
 Communicating as a Professional

• Professionalism is a quality of performing at a high level and conducting

oneself with purpose and pride.

• Professionalism can be broken down into six distinct traits: striving to

excel, being dependable and accountable, being a team player,
demonstrating a sense of etiquette, making ethical decisions, and
maintaining a positive outlook.

• Without strong communication skills, you will not be able to perform to

your potential and others will not recognise you as the professional you
would like to be.
What employers expect from you?
• Recognizing information needs; using efficient search techniques to locate
reliable sources of information, particularly from online sources, and using
gathered information ethically; this collection of skills is often referred to
as digital information fluency.

• Organising ideas and information logically and completely.

• Expressing ideas and information coherently and persuasively.

• Actively listening to others.

• Communicating effectively with people from diverse background and

experiences
Contd..

• Using communication technologies effectively and efficiently.

• Following accepted standards of grammar, spelling, and other aspects of

high quality writing and speaking.

• Communicating in a civilized manner that reflects contemporary

expectations of business etiquette, even when dealing with indifferent or
hostile audiences.

• Communicating ethically, even when choices are not crystal clear.

 Adopting an Audience – centered
Approach
• An audience-centered approach involves understanding and respecting
the members of your audience and making every effort to get your
message across in a way that is meaningful to them.

• This approach is also known as adopting the ‘you’ attitude, in contrast to

the messages that are about ‘me’.

• This ability to relate to the needs of others is a key part of emotional

intelligence, which is widely considered to be a vital characteristic of
successful mangers and leaders.

• A vital element of audience –centered communication is etiquette.

Ethical Communication
• Ethical communication includes all relevant information, is true in every
sense, and is not deceptive in any way.

• Unethical communication can distort truth or manipulate audience in a

variety of ways:

1. Plagiarizing
2. Omitting essential information
3. Selective misquoting
4. Misrepresenting numbers
5. Distorting visuals
6. Failing to respect privacy or information security needs.
 Ethical Dilemmas Vs. Ethical Lapses
• An ethical dilemma involves choosing among alternatives that are not clear cut. It is
a choice between alternatives that may all be ethical and valid.

• In contrast, an ethical lapse is a clearly unethical choice.

• Ensuring ethical business communication requires three elements: ethical

individuals, ethical company leadership, and the appropriate policies and structure
to support employees' effort to make ethical choices.

• Many companies establish explicit ethics policy by using a written code of ethics to
help employees determine what is acceptable.

• To ensure ongoing compliance with their codes of ethics, many companies also
conduct ethics audits to monitor ethical progress and to point out any weaknesses
that need to be addressed.
 Ensuring Legal Communication

• Promotional communication: False or deceptive advertisements, fake product reviews by

bloggers, misleading or inaccurate labels on product packages should be avoided.
• Contracts: the clause of the contracts signed in course of daily business should be
respected by all parties involved.
• Employment communication: covers all communication between employers and both
potential and current employees.
• Intellectual property : It includes copyrights, patents, trade secrets and internet domains
and business should abide by the laws governing these.
• Financial reporting: Timely and accurate reporting to the regulatory authorities is a
must.
• Defamation: The intentional communication of false statements that damage character
and reputation of others is defamation.
• Transparency requirements : Organisations should be able to carry out business in
transparent manner providing all and every kind of information to internal and external
stakeholders through ethical communication.
 Business Etiquette In the Workplace

Tips for using phones at work:

1. Be conscious of how your voice sounds.

2. Be courteous when you call someone.

3. Convey a positive, professional attitude when you answer the phone.

4. End calls with courtesy and clarity.

5. Use your own voicemail features to help callers.

6. Be considerate when leaving voicemail messages.

Contd..
Telephonic Etiquette

1. Warm opening
2. When busy, take a call back
3. Keep a pen and a paper handy
4. Listen carefully
5. Keep noting
6. Personalize the call
7. Be courteous
8. Follow the proper hold procedure
9. Acknowledge
Business Etiquette in Social Settings
From business lunches to industry conferences, you may have to represent your
company in public thus, your appearance and actions should be appropriate to
the situation.

- Get to know the customs of other cultures when it comes to meeting new people.

- When introducing yourself, include a brief description of your role in the company.

- When introducing two other people, speak their first and last names clearly and
then try to offer some information (perhaps a shared professional interest) to help
the two ease into a conversation.

- Generally, the lower-ranking person is introduced to the senior-ranking person,

without regard to gender.
Contd..
- Knowing the basics of dining etiquette will make your more effective.

- Start by choosing food that are easy to eat.

- Avoid alcoholic beverages in most instances.

- Leave business documents under your chair until entrée plates have been
removed.

- Do not discuss politic, religion, or any other topic that’s likely to stir up emotion.

- Do not complain about work, do not ask deeply personal questions, avoid
profanity, and be careful with humor.
Business Etiquette Online
• Avoid personal attacks.

• Stay focused on the original topic.

• Don’t present opinions as facts, and support facts with evidence.

• Follow basic expectations of spelling, punctuation, and capitalization.

• Use virus protection and keep it up to date.

• Use difficult-to-break passwords on emails, Twitter, and other accounts.

• Ask if this is a good time for an instant message (IM) chat.

Contd..
• Watch your language and keep your emotions under control.

• Avoid multitasking while using IM and other tools.

• Never assume privacy.

• Don’t use “Reply All” in email unless everyone can benefit from your reply.

• Don’t waste others’ time with sloppy, incomplete or confusing messages.

• Respect boundaries of time and virtual space.

• Be careful of online commenting mechanism.

 Business Etiquette Using Mobile Device
Mobile device habits to avoid:

• Selecting obnoxious ringtones.

• Talking loudly in open offices or public places.
• Using your phone right next to someone else.
• Making excessive or unnecessary personal calls during work hours.
• Invading someone’s privacy by using your phone’s camera without
permission.
• Taking and making calls in restrooms and other inappropriate places.
• Texting during a meal or while someone is talking to you, and
• Allowing incoming calls to interrupt meetings or discussions.