Excellence in Business Communication

Thirteenth Edition

Chapter 1

Professional
Communication in a Digital,
Social, Mobile World

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Understanding Why Communication
Matters
(LO 1.1) Explain the importance of effective communication
to your career and to the companies where you will work.
Communication is the process of transferring information
and meaning between senders and receivers, using one or
more written, oral, visual, or electronic channels.
Successful communication involves a transfer of
understanding.

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Communication Is Important to Your
Career
• The changing nature of employment is putting new
pressure on communication skills.
• In every career path you can take, you’ll need to have
strong communication skills.
• If you move into an executive role, communication will
likely consume the majority of your time.

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Communication Is Important to Your
Company
• Operations
– Companies need fast, effective communication
between managers and staff, between departments,
and between company and external partners.
• Intelligence
– Companies need to keep an “ear to the ground”.
• Relationships
– Effective communication strengthens the connections
between a company and its stakeholders.

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What Makes Business Communication
Effective?
• To make your communication efforts as effective as
possible, focus on making them practical, factual,
concise, and clear.
– Provide practical information.
– Give facts, not vague impressions.
– Deliver information concisely and efficiently.
– Clarify expectations and responsibilities.
– Offer compelling, persuasive arguments and
recommendations.

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Communicating as a Professional
(LO 1.2) Explain what it means to communicate as a
professional in a business context.
Professionalism is the quality of performing at a high level
and conducting oneself with purpose and pride.
Professionalism means going beyond minimum
expectations and committing to making meaningful
contributions.

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Elements of Professionalism
Figure 1.3 Elements of Professionalism

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Understanding What Employers Expect
from You
• Acquiring, processing, and sharing information
– Digital Information Fluency
▪ Recognizing information needs, locating and evaluating
reliable sources of information, organizing information into
cohesive messages, and using information ethically
▪ Includes critical thinking – ability to evaluate evidence
completely and objectively to form conclusions and make
recommendations
• Using communication to foster positive working relationships
• Representing your employer in the public arena
• Efficiently using the tools at your disposal

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Communicating in an Organizational
Context (1 of 2)
• Every organization has a formal communication network in
which ideas and information flow along the lines of command.
– Downward communication flows from top executives to
middle managers to frontline employees.
– Upward communication flows from employees to middle
managers and from middle mangers to top executives.
▪ Horizontal or lateral communication flows between
departments to help employees share information,
coordinate tasks, and solve complex problems.
▪ Diagonal communication crosses department lines
while moving up or down.

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Communicating in an Organizational
Context (2 of 2)
• Organizations also have an informal communication
network which encompasses all communication that
occurs outside of formal channels.
– Informal communication is healthy and important
because the formal network can’t always capture
and share all the information that helps people do
their jobs.

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Adopting an Audience-Centered
Approach
• The 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.
– “You attitude”
– Relating to the needs of others is a key part of
emotional intelligence, the ability to read other
people’s emotions accurately and to mange one’s
own emotions in productive ways

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The Conventional Communication
Model (2 of 2)
1. The sender has an idea.
2. The sender encodes the idea as a message.
3. The sender produces the message in a transmittable
medium.
4. The sender transmits the message through a channel.
5. The audience receives the message.
6. The audience decodes the message.
7. The audience responds to the message.
8. The audience provides feedback to the sender.
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Barriers in the Communication
Environment
• Noise and distractions
– Examples: uncomfortable meeting rooms, computer
screens, multi-tasking
• Competing messages
• Filters
– Any human or technological intervention between
the sender and receiver
– Can be intentional or unintentional
• Channel breakdown

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Inside the Mind of Your Audience (3 of 5)
Figure 1.6 How Shared Experience Affects Understanding

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Social Communication Model

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Using Technology to Improve
Communication (1 of 3)
(LO 1.4) Identify five major benefits of business
communication technology and three major innovations that
are reshaping the practice of communication.

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Using Technology to Improve
Communication (2 of 3)
• The Potential Benefits of Communication Technology
Five Key Areas:
1. Making communication more effective by helping people craft
messages that convey their ideas more clearly and persuasively.
2. Making communication more efficient by reducing the time and
effort needed to create, transmit, and consume messages.
3. Improving research tools to help communicators discover,
process, and apply information.
4. Assisting communicators with decision making by guiding them
through complex sets of data.
5. Removing communication barriers so people can participate in
the communication process more easily.

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Using Technology to Improve
Communication (3 of 3)
• To use communication technology effectively, keep in
mind:
1. Keep technology in perspective.
2. Guard against information overload.
3. Use your tools wisely.
4. Use your tools efficiently.
5. Reconnect with people.

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What Is Ethics?
• Ethics
– Accepted principles of conduct that govern behavior
within a society
• Ethical Communication
– Includes all the information an audience needs in order
to make an informed decision or take an informed
stance on an issue, and is not deceptive in any way

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Forms of Unethical Communication (1 of 2)

• Withholding Information
Examples: Avoid taking responsibility for mistakes or
present an incomplete set of facts
– Transparency
▪ A sense of openness; giving all participants in a
conversation access to information to accurately
process messages
– Concerns
▪ Native advertising (sponsored content); stealth
marketing

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Forms of Unethical Communication (2 of 2)

• Distorting Information
– Words, numbers, or image
– Can exaggerate or conceal differences
▪ “Photoshopping” images
• Plagiarizing
– Presenting someone else’s work as your own
▪ “Fair use”

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Ensuring Ethical Communication
• Code of Ethics
Five Questions to Keep in Mind:
1. Am I being honorable?
2. Am I giving people the information they need?
3. Have I considered the effects of my message?
4. Am I respecting the rights of others?
5. Would a different approach be better?

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