Building Critical Skills,

Business Communication, Building Critical Skills, 6th Canadian Edition 6e Kathryn Braun Kitty Locker Stephen Kyo Kaczmarek (Solutions Manual All Chapter)

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1 Copyright © 2016 McGraw-Hill Education Limited

Module 1 Introducing Business Communications

Module Overview

Module 1 covers workplace communication. Perhaps because of social media (SM), the importance of communication skills has never been more obvious. As with all modules, we recommend that you read Module 1 thoroughly before reviewing the discussion that follows.

The Conference Board of Canada’s 2000+ Employability Skills identify key workplace communication competencies. You may want to refer to this list to give students the language of competent communication skills.

The module exercises encourage students to consider their own writing experiences, to identify the differences between academic and business communications, and to begin to consider how and how well businesses use technology to communicate.

Module Learning Objectives

After reading Module 1, students will be familiar with • Why we communicate • What business communication accomplishes • What communication and interpersonal skills employers seek • How to begin to analyze communication situations By applying the information students will be able to • Identify the characteristics of effective business messages • Analyze communication situations

What’s in This Supplement

• Part 1: Key Discussion Points, Teaching Tips, and In-Class Exercises

• Part 2: Answers to Textbook Assignments

Part 1: Key Discussion Points, Teaching Tips, and In-Class Exercises

 Why Do We Communicate?We communicate to connect. We communicate out of an innate drive to connect, and to understand ourselves and others. Workplace communication is only one aspect of our innate drive to make meaning through communicating. 2 / 4

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 The second paragraph introduces the central theme of the text: all

successful communication is audience-centred. How Is Business Communication Different?Business communication uses specific conventions to get the job done.Some students struggle to transfer what they’ve learned in previous writing courses—usually composition courses—to business communication. And because it’s likely they’ve taken several composition courses prior to business communication, they want to apply composition strategies to your course.

Concepts may seem at odds with one another, even contradictory. For instance, while they were rewarded for broad, expressive writing in composition, business communication privileges brevity and plain language. Exposition is less important than clarity, precision, and completeness.

Students who apply other disciplines’ strategies indiscriminately often produce business documents that are wordy, confrontational, inappropriate in tone, or incorrect in format.Encourage discussion and ask for specific examples to demonstrate that all good writing shares some features—organization, detail, and so forth—but business communication audiences have unique expectations (Figure 1.1).

Differences between school writing and business writing include • Purpose • Audience • Information • Organization • Style • Document Design • Visuals • Medium

In-Class Exercise: Ask students to e-access or bring copies of their writing– including social networking updates, text messages, etc., – to class. In small groups, have them spend 10-15 minutes analyzing their messages for purpose, audience, information, and so forth.Could the writing be adapted to a business message? What kind? How? What changes would they make and why? What qualities or features of the writing would not work? Why not?

Today people juggle multiple tasks. Communication, including listening, reading, speaking, writing, making decisions, problem-solving, thinking critically, managing time, organizing, reflecting, is constant. Learning to manage communication is the key to productivity.

The best business communications are audience-focused, with two broad categories of audience: internal and external. Internal audiences are other people in the same organization: subordinates, superiors, and peers. Figure 1.2 shows the internal audiences for a small 3 / 4

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technology business. Figures 1.3A and B offer examples of internal communication using email and text messages.

External audiences are people outside the organization: customers, suppliers, unions, stockholders, potential employees, government agencies, the press, and even the general public.Figure 1.4 shows a corporation’s external audiences.

Module 2 provides a more detailed analysis of audience.

In-Class Exercise: What do students perceive as the differences between internal and external audiences? Have them brainstorm for 10-15 minutes as a group on how these audiences are similar and how they are different. If students are writing to an internal audience, what are they concerned about? If to an external audience, what would be their concerns? In particular, ask students what would be similar or different depending on the medium (smartphone, tablet, hard copy).

While emails and newsletters are more formalized ways of communicating in the workplace, many employees rely on the grapevine as an informal channel for information. Sometimes, employees will see the grapevine as more credible than “official” company organs, especially during periods of poor labour relations.

Teaching Tip: Ask the students to share their experiences with a company or organization grapevine. Did they believe the grapevine information to be more reliable than information on company letterhead? Why or why not? How accurate was the grapevine?What effects did it have on organization morale and behaviour? If the effect was poor, why did people choose to pay more attention to it? You may want to refer students to research claiming that relying on informal communication channels, like gossip via the grapevine, is an evolutionary derived coping strategy. What Communications Skills Are Essential for Employment?Effective listening, reading, speaking, interpersonal, and writing skills are vital.

Listening, reading, speaking, and working in groups are essential to doing business. In every job, employees need to listen to others to understand their tasks, to learn about the organization’s culture and values, and to establish and maintain work relationships. Employees need to read a variety of informal and formal documents, including text messages, emails, blogs, industry journals, newspapers, magazines, instructions, and reports in order to keep current and keep learning. Moreover, networking and working with others—inside and outside the workplace— demand conscious, practised interpersonal skills crucial to developing positive relationships, and to personal and professional growth.And, of course, every business, government, and not-for-profit organization depends on written messages to record, inform, request, and persuade. How Much Will I Really Have to Write?Students will have to write a lot. Luckily, they already do.

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