ESSENTIALS OF COMMUNICATION,

TODAYS COMMUNICATION CHALLENGES

Lecture 3
Business Communication

Instructor: Syeda Nitashah

syedanitashah@uosahiwal.edu.pk
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 Learning Objectives
1. To explain benefits of communication.
2. To understand trends in the workplace or new
workplace.
3. To learn about barriers to effective listening.
4. To know the culture and communication.
5. To know how to improve communication with
multi-cultural audiences.

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 Trends in the New Workplace
Communication within the workplace
 Information flow is crucial to any organization and
the better the flow the more successful the
company or organization
 Being an effective communicator means being
 Honest with yourself and others
 It means having the ability to say what you want
or feel but not at the expense of others
 Not about getting your own way and winning
every time/by manipulating/
 Effective communicator avoids quick fix tricks or
techniques
 Trends in the New Workplace
 For business decisions to be effective and relevant
-Timely and appropriate information has to be
obtained and communicated throughout the
organization
 The successful organization is the one that has
effective communication both within the
organization and with other companies & clients
 Trends in the New Workplace
 Using listening , speaking, questioning and
feedback skills when dealing with clients about
simple ,routine matters

 Effective communicators will also use their internal

personal skills

 These interpersonal skills are used to greet the

clients, find out and satisfy their expectations and
needs and finish the interaction courteously
 Trends in the New Workplace

Communication barriers can be caused by the

 sender
 the receiver
 Lack of feedback
 A poor choice of channel
 The wrong context or any other element in the
communication model
 Trends in the New Workplace
communication barrier
Status Effects
 Status differences in organizations create potential
communication barriers between persons of
higher and lower ranks-managers do a lot of
telling than listening
 Mum effect(occurs when people are reluctant to
communicate bad news)
 MBWA –Management by wandering (involves
getting out of the office to directly communicate
with others)
 Barriers to Effective Listening
• Physical barriers—hearing disabilities, noisy
surroundings
• Personal barriers—tuning out ideas that counter our
barriers
• Language problems—unfamiliar words or incorrect
pronunciation
• Nonverbal distractions—clothing, mannerisms,
appearance
 Barriers to Effective Listening
• Thought speed—our minds process thoughts faster
than speakers express them
• Faking attention—pretending to listen
• Grandstanding—talking all the time or listening only
for the next pause
 Barriers to Effective Listening
 Listening is a matter of intelligence.
– Fact: Careful listening is a learned behavior.
 Speaking is more important than listening in the
communication process.
– Fact: Speaking and listening are equally important
 Barriers to Effective Listening
Listening is easy and requires little energy.
– Fact: Active listeners incur physiological changes
similar to a person engaged in intense physical activity
such as long distance running.
 Listening and hearing are the same process.
– Fact: Listening is a conscious, selective process.
Hearing is an involuntary act.
 Barriers to Effective Listening
Speakers are able to command listening.
– Fact: Speakers cannot make a person actually listen.
 Hearing ability determines listening ability.
– Fact: Listening happens mentally—between the ears.
 Barriers to Effective Listening
Speakers are totally responsible for
communication success.
– Fact: Communication is a two-way street.
 Listening is only a matter of understanding a
speaker’s words.
– Fact: Nonverbal signals also help listeners gain
understanding.
 Tips for Becoming an
Active Listener
• Stop talking.
• Control your surroundings.
• Establish a receptive mind-set.
• Keep an open mind.
• Listen for main points.
• Capitalize on lag time.
• Listen between the lines.
 Tips for Becoming an
Active Listener

• Judge ideas, not appearances.

• Be patient.
• Take selective notes.
• Provide feedback.
 Nonverbal Communication

• The eyes, face, and body send silent messages.

– Eye contact
– Facial expression
– Posture and gestures
• Appearance sends silent messages.
– Appearance of business documents
– Appearance of people
 Nonverbal Communication

• Time, space, and territory send silent messages.

– Time (punctuality and structure of)
– Space (arrangement of objects in)
– Territory (privacy zones)

Ch. 1-17
 Tips for Improving Your Nonverbal
Skills

• Establish and maintain eye contact.

• Use posture to show interest.
• Improve your decoding skills.
• Probe for more information.
• Avoid assigning nonverbal meanings out of
context.
 Tips for Improving Your Nonverbal
Skills

• Associate with people from diverse cultures.

• Appreciate the power of appearance.
• Observe yourself on videotape.
• Enlist friends and family.
 Communication Barriers
Cause of Barrier Outcome Strategies to avoid
barrier

Difference in perception People often see and Listen carefully speak

interpret the same clearly and directly to
event or action in a the other person
different way Ask questions. Give
feedback

Differing attitudes and People often form Listen carefully speak

values different interpretation clearly and directly to
the other person
Ask questions. Give
feedback

Inconsistency between Poor communication Match the verbal and

spoken and nonverbal and confusion because nonverbal parts of the
communication of the ambiguous total message
message
 Communication Barriers
Cause of Barrier Outcome Strategies to avoid
barrier

Witholding information Others operate with Plan and structure the

only part of the message message to include all
so mistakes are more necessary information
likely to occur

Passing judgment by The receiver can Listen actively. Ask

telling people their become angry and questions. Give
reaction is stupid retaliate feedback

Dismissing the concerns The receiver may Listen carefully. Show

or point of view of withdraw you are aware of the
others others points of
view.Ask questions.Give
feedback
 Culture and Communication

Good communication demands special

sensitivity and skills when communicators are
from different cultures.
 Culture and Communication
Intercultural communication
 Intercultural communication is communication
between people living in the same country but
from different cultural backgrounds
 Over time a culture develops distinctive national
patterns of communication and social behaviour
 These patterns are the customs and conventions
regarded as the characteristics of a particular
culture
 They affect the way people communicate and act
as individuals or in groups
 Culture and Communication

Key Canadian Beliefs:

– Individualism
Initiative, self-assertion, personal achievement
– Informality
Less emphasis on rituals, ceremonies, rank; preference for
informal dress, direct business dealings
– Direct communication style
Straightforward, literal, suspicious of evasiveness
– Importance of time
Precious, correlates with productivity
 Cultural Values Comparison
• Compared to Americans, Canadians tend to be
more
– collective
– conforming
– conservative
– supportive of civil and political institutions and
collective decision making
 Cross Cultural communication
• People must always exercise caution when
they are involved in cross cultural
communication
• Whether between persons of different
geographic or ethnic groupings within one
country or between persons of different
national cultures
• Common problem is ethnocentrism-believe
one’s culture and its values are superior to
those of others
 Cross Cultural communication
• Difficulties with cross cultural
communication –respect to language
differences
• Advertising message-work well in one
country but encounter difficulty when
translated into the language of others
• Ka –mosquito in Japanese(introduction of
Fords Europeans model)
• Crossed legs rude in Saudi Arabia
acceptable in UK. Pointing at someone not
considered appropriate in Asia
 Culture and Communication

• Overcome misunderstanding by developing tolerance.

– Empathize with others.
– Try to see the world through another person’s eyes.
– Accept others’ contributions in solving problems.
 Improving Communication With
Multicultural Audiences

• Oral Messages
– Use simple English.
– Speak slowly and enunciate clearly.
– Encourage accurate feedback.
– Check frequently for comprehension.
– Observe eye messages.
 Improving Communication With
Multicultural Audiences

Oral Messages (continued)

– Accept blame.
– Listen without interrupting.
– Remember to smile!
– Follow up in writing.
 Improving Communication With
Multicultural Audiences
• Written Messages
– Adopt local formats.
– Consider hiring a translator.
– Use short sentences and short paragraphs.
– Avoid ambiguous expressions.
– Cite numbers carefully.
 Effective Communication With
Diverse Workplace Audiences
• Understand the value of differences.
• Don’t expect total conformity.
• Create zero tolerance for bias and stereotypes.
• Practice focused, thoughtful, and open-minded
listening.
• Invite, use, and give feedback.
 Effective Communication With
Diverse Workplace Audiences
• Make fewer workplace assumptions.
• Learn about your cultural self.
• Learn about other cultures and identity groups.
• Seek common ground.
 Effective Communication With Diverse
Workplace Audiences

• Different cultural groups have different rules for

• Use of humor and irony
• Courtesies in speech such as when to say
please ,thank you or excuse me
• The meaning of yes and no
• Rules of politeness –who can speak to whom and
who can begin a conversation
• Dress
• Use of time
 Check your Cross cultural belief
• Naming systems
1.In the Chinese naming system the surname is placed
first

2.In China, descent is traced though the female line

3.In Vietnamese naming system the surname is placed

first

4.In the Arabic naming system the surname is placed

last
 Check your Cross cultural belief
Etiquette
• 5.In Australia direct eye contact is a sign of discourtesy
• 6.In Asia avoidance of eye contact is a sign of respect
• 7.To touch South –East Asians on the head is an act of
extreme discourtesy
• 8.In a Muslim culture, people do not pass things to each
other with the left hand
• 9.In Asian cultures people find it easy to say No
• 10.For Thais to share the cost of an outing is against
accepted custom
 References
• Murphy & Hilderbrant (1991) Effective Business
Communication, 6th Edition, McGraw-Hill 2.
Raymond V. Lesikar (1996) Business Communication,
Richard D. Irwin, Inc. 3. Bovee & Thill (1995)
Business Communication Today, 4th Edition,
• McGraw-Hill 4. Shirley Taylor (1994) Communication
for Business-A Practical Approach 2nd Edition,
Pitman Publishing

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THANK YOU

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ANY QUESTIONS !!
Contact me at syedanitashah@uosahiwal.edu.pk

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