I. INTRO
There is an old saying: “It’s not what you know but who you know” that helps people get ahead in life. That has more truth than most people realize. The ability to communicate is vital in today’s business and not just at the upper levels of management. Everyone needs to be able to communicate at multiple levels. They better they do the more successful the business can become. As our textbook says: “Communication Ability = Promotion” further supports the theory of knowing who to effectively communicate with can get you very far in life. Just like a bad communicator turns people away, a good communicator will often leave people wanting more. The most effective communication however requires a lot more listening than speaking. II. What role does business communication play in your day to day activities at work?
Business communication occurs on many different levels in my office. Associates’ communicating with customers is the most obvious example. Yet there is still the communication between managers, associates, vendors, staff, directors, contractors, etc that has to occur in order for our business to run. Many people, like managers, have to be able to communicate on many different levels and to many different people. Most of the communication is rarely addressed or received the exact same way thus being able to adjust and conform to your audience is vital III. How does it help manage your daily work activities?
In my daily business life I spend most of my time communicating with customers. I find the best way to communicate with my customers is by asking a lot of questions; more specifically open-ended questions. An open- ended question is a question that has no direct answer but rather requires an explanation. Getting the customer engaged and open for dialog allows us to better assist them by finding out what is important to them. Communication also helps me maintain a working relationship with my peers and my managers. If I can communicate effectively what I need then I am more likely to get results because it is clearly understood. Being able to listen to my managers and peers is vital because if I can’t receive the message that was intended for me to receive then my performance will likely decline along with their trust or they may stop communicating with me all together. IV. What trends have you seen in your workplace or previous workplace?
Over the past four years I have seen my business and other businesses take an Active Listening approach on most all levels. Our leaders believe the true method to learning your next move is listening to where you have been, where you are at, and where you are going. Our leadership asks for a lot of feedback. They get involved into their departments and listen in on production, meetings, training and even personal time. They have also offered more methods to be express needs and wants as well as open-ended discussion on forums. V. What message types are results of these trends?
Aside from direct person to person communication, technology has really helped in taking multiple steps forward in