Certificate of Higher Education in Skills for the Workplace

Effective Team Working & Communication

(BMSW 4002)

Communication in
the Workplace
IN THIS SESSION WE WILL DISCUSS…..
 EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION in THE WORKPLACE

• Communication is an important skill in any

environment with human interactions.
However, in the workplace, good
communication is essential to business
success.
 EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION in THE WORKPLACE

BENEFITS of EFFECTIVE
COMMUNICATION
• 1. It reduces Conflict
• 2. It improves relationships between the
business and its clients.
• 3. It improves team effectiveness.
• 4. It improves employee engagement.
 EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION in THE WORKPLACE

• 1. CONFLICT – In any group of people,

whether it is family, friends or in the
workplace, conflict can arise. It can result in
shouting and screaming, bullying, humiliation
and demotivation.
• Often, this is because of ‘Noise’ (see Models
of Communication).
 EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION in THE WORKPLACE

• But it can also be caused by misunderstanding

what is said, how it is said and what body-
language accompanies it. People can also be
demotivated if they feel nobody is listening to
them.
 EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION in THE WORKPLACE

• To minimise conflict, everyone should be

aware of the barriers to communication and try
to avoid them ( see Maria and Pedro; The
Professor and the Village People; Barry;
Multi-tasking Max.). Management should also
provide training.
 EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION in THE WORKPLACE

RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN BUSINESS AND ITS

2.

CLIENTS

• When employees are trained to communicate more effectively and to connect with others, they can
better:

• Resolve conflict

• Understand needs

• Help the customer feel understood

• Present new information in a way in which the client will be more receptive
 
 EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION in THE WORKPLACE

• 4. EMPLOYEE INVOLVEMENT
• Employees are more engaged in their work and can better align with company objectives and goals
when a culture of good communication is established in a team or workplace.

 
• Communication can improve employee engagement in the following ways:
• Gives you tools to better understand the needs and goals of your employees.
• Allows you to better understand what motivates and satisfies the employee.
• Better understanding of employees’ talents and skills that may otherwise go unnoticed.
• Ability to cultivate talents and skills in a way that develops them in line with company goals.
• Improved connection between co-workers for a more positive and satisfying work environment.
• Better relationship with managers and leaders
EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION in THE
WORKPLACE
• Employee engagement is a significant factor in
the productivity of a workforce. But besides
contributing to increased employee
engagement, communication skills can also
help foster a more productive and talented
workforce in many other ways.
 TYPES OF
ORGANISATIONAL
COMMUNICATION
Every organisation must enable communication in several
directions;
• Vertical Communication
• Horizontal Communication
• Diagonal Communication
 VERTICAL COMMUNICATION
•Downward Communication •Upward Communication
•This is the type of communication associated
with the traditional type of business organisation
with extremely authoritative style of •This is where communication flows from
management (Weihrich, Koontz, 1993). workers to Management. It could be
Communication flows downwards from feedback or original thoughts and
Management to workers. Seniors, superiors or suggestions from the lower levels.
elder ones give information, advice, counseling, •Upward communication is often used for
suggestions, instruction, order or warning to their decision making. Subordinates pass
juniors, subordinates or younger ones.
information about progress and problems to
•It may be oral, written, or electronic.
superiors so that Management can decide
what to do and when to do it.

• 
 HORIZONTAL COMMUNICATION
It is the formal/ informal exchange of ideas
between different individuals/departments at the
same level in the organisation.

Advantages:
Encourages free information exchange.  
Higher information flow between departments is
necessary.
Creates an atmosphere where employees are
comfortable to talk to people in different departments
and gain from their learning.

Disadvantage:
Sometimes, horizontal communication leads to disputes
between individuals/departments. In such cases higher
officials have to step in to resolve the matter.
 DIAGONAL COMMUNICATION
Communication that takes place
between a manager and employees of
other workgroups is called diagonal
communication.

For instance - To design a training

module a training manager might
interact with someone from IT..
 ACTIVITY
Watch the below video and make notes of
the problems related to organisational
communication

https://www.bbc.com/bitesize/guides/zypsb9q/vi
deo
 METHODS OF
COMMUNICATION IN
ORGANISATIONS
•Internal & External communication
◦ Internal communications happen within the business.
◦ External communications take place between the business and outside
individuals or organisations.
•Formal & Informal communication
◦ Formal communications are official messages sent by an organisation,
eg a company memo, fax or report.
◦ Informal communications are unofficial messages not formally approved
by the business, eg: everyday conversation or gossip between staff.
•Verbal communication: face-to-face, telephone, radio or television and
other media.
•Nonverbal communication: eye movements, gestures, facial expressions.
CHANNELS OF COMMUNICATION

Source: Taylor. S (1996)

WRITTEN COMMUNICATION IN BUSINESS
EFFECTIVE BUSINESS COMMUNICATION DOCUMENTS:

EXERCISE:

NAME AND EXPLAIN THE PURPOSES OF FIVE

EFFECTIVE BUSINESS DOCUMENTS FOR
COMMUNICATION YOU KNOW
 PRINCIPLES OF WRITTEN
COMMUNICATION IN BUSINESS
Business Writing: It is a form of business writing and technical
writing. It can be both internal and external.

Examples include newsletters, memos, letters, e-mails, power point

presentation, reports, press release and fax.

There are seven key principles to effective business writing:

• Clarity
• Brevity
• Knowledge of audience
• Emphasis
• Identify purpose
• Use Appropriate tone
• Use Appropriate format
• Emphasis
 PRINCIPLES OF WRITTEN
COMMUNICATION IN BUSINESS
CLARITY the meaning must be clear. Lack of clarity is often
due to poor style and may be caused by too much detail and repetition, lack
of logical structure and excessive use of technical terms.

 BREVITY
– Text must be brief with unnecessary information which the reader knows
already.

 KNOWLEDGE of AUDIENCE
-know who you are writing to
 PRINCIPLES OF WRITTEN
COMMUNICATION IN BUSINESS
EMPHASIS
– Emphasize important information, i.e. information that is important to
the audience; and information that will support your arguments.

 IDENTIFY PURPOSE
- the reason for writing: Asking for or giving information. Instructing.
Rejection or acceptance.
 PRINCIPLES OF WRITTEN
COMMUNICATION IN BUSINESS
 USE APPROPRIATE TONE
- choose a tone appropriate to your purpose

 USE APPROPRIATE FORMAT

- e.g whether it is a letter or e-mail, follow the rules
 GROUP EXERCISE:

The Letter in the next slide is not a good one

for several reasons. Read the letter, state where
the issues are, and produce a simplified and
improved version of this letter
Dear Sir
PACKING AND REMOVAL OF OFFICE FURNITURE AND EQUIPMENT

We are in receipt of your esteemed favour of the 30th ult. and subsequent communication with regard to the estimate you require
for the packing and removal of your office furniture, equipment and records from your premises at 123 Main St to your new
premises at 456 Rivonia Rd on the 20th inst.
 
We wish to confirm the arrangement whereby our representative, Mr S Strydom, will call on you at 09:00 hrs on 6th inst. at the
above-mentioned address, to make an inspection of the above-mentioned items with a view to estimating the number of packing
cases and vehicles we will need to effect the packing and subsequent
removal of same.
 
We trust that the suggested time will suit your convenience. We will then submit our quotation for your consideration and hope
that we may be entrusted to undertake the aforementioned work. Our quotation will remain valid for seven days.
 
The time you suggest for removal, 08:00 on 20th inst., will be entirely convenient provided we receive your timeous response.
 
We beg to remain
 
Yours faithfully
 
 
W Smith
Removals Manager
 Suggested errors in the letter
• use of outdated abbreviations and terms, such as ult.(the
month before the present one) and inst. (Now), and ‘your
esteemed favour’;
• unnecessary detail. Does the customer need to know that
the cartage contractor has to estimate the number of
‘packing cases and vehicles’ needed?
• fuzzy facts. What precisely is meant by ‘subsequent
communication’ and ‘timeous response’?
• pompous words, e.g. ‘timeous’, ‘in receipt of’.
Technologies used
by organisations
for
communication
 Group Activity
Think of the technologies used by business
organisation for communication.

Choose 1 technology and prepare and deliver a 5

minute presentation which covers the key
advantages and disadvantages of it for a chosen
business organisation. Do a demonstration if
possible.