Chapter 1

Understanding
Workplace
Communication

© 2014 by McGraw-Hill Education. This is proprietary material

solely for authorized instructor use. Not authorized for sale or
distribution in any manner. This document may not be copied,
scanned, duplicated, forwarded, distributed, or posted on a
website, in whole or part.
 Role of Communication in Business

Whatever is your position, you performance will be

judged on your ability to communicate.
Employers’ view on Job Applicants’ Very Important Skills
1. Oral communication
2. Teamwork/ collaboration
3. Professionalism/ work ethic
4. Written communication
5. Critical thinking/ problem solving
 Communication Challenges
• The need for expanded media literacy
– Now you need social intelligence (quickly assess the
emotions of those around you & adapt their words, tone,
gestures accordingly)
• Increased globalism and workplace diversity
– Now you need cross cultural competency
• Increased need for strong analytical skills
– Now you need computational thinking, visual literacy
• Increased focus on ethics and social responsibility
– In this age of social accountability, you need to respond
through CSR
 3 Main Categories of Business Communication

A. Internal-operational communication
– All formal communications among the
employees within a business
– Many forms: senior mgt on goals, supervisor’s
advises, oral & written exchanges among
colleagues etc.
– Much is performed on computer networks
(email, online chat, blogs etc.), and mobile
networks
 Main Categories of Business Communication

B. External-operational communication
– Work-related communicating that a business does
with people and groups outside the business
– With suppliers, customers, service companies, govt.
agencies, auditors, etc.
– Includes all of the business’s efforts at selling (sales
letters, TV ads, company website, customer visits
etc.) and all that a business does to gain positive
publicity (promoting its CSR activities, writing press
releases for the media, contributing expert insights
at professional meetings and on webinars)
 Main Categories of Business Communication

C. Personal communication
• Not an official part of the business’s operation,
• Can have a significant effect on its success
• Employees’ attitude towards business, one another,
and assignments directly affect their productivity
• Affects both Internal and external operational
communication
• Wise managers cultivate the optimum balance
between employees focus on job-related tasks and
their freedom to engage with others personally
 Factors Impacting Communication

• Nature of the business

• Size and complexity
• Industry environment—stable or
volatile?
• Geographic dispersion
• Organizational culture
A Model of Business Communication
1. Senses a com. need
2. Defines the problem
3. Searches for possible
solutions
4. Selects a course of
action (message type,
contents, style,
format, channel)
5. Composes the
message
6. Delivers the message
7. Receives the
message
8. Interprets the
message
9. Decides on a
response
10. May send a
responding message
 The Bottom Line

“The goal of business communication is

to create a shared understanding of
business situations that will enable
people to work successfully together.”

1-9