Business Communication: Assignment

Access to HE Diploma: Business

Business Communication and Information Management

Assignment Task 1: Writing a formal business report called “Effective Business Communications”

   1. Produce a cover sheet with the report title, your name, ID number and appropriate picture.

   2. The first part of the report is called an ‘Executive Summary’. Use this as a heading.

A summary that helps the reader quickly grasp the reports purpose, conclusions and key recommendations.

I would recommend you complete this last.

   3.  Next, ‘Introduction / Terms of Reference’.
   
What you have been asked to report on, the context and a brief profile of the organisation.

You could also mention the limitations, if any, of the report and any assumptions made.

 You could add a statement that because you only investigated a small part of a much larger organisation that the findings might not be representative of the organisation as a whole.

   4. The next heading is ‘Methodology’. 

Here you explain how you collected your primary (first hand) data. 

I would like you to use a questionnaire and a focus  group to collect evidence.

  Explain why you thought a questionnaire was            appropriate, how many questions you asked to how many people and on what topics. 

 Also, you may have used secondary sources of data. 

 You can briefly explain this here.

   5. Next, ‘Findings’.
   

   An audit of the different methods of internal and external communication used by the organisation.

   Start by explaining that 'communication' is often described as a model:

You need to explain the different components

of the model and explain what 'noise' means.

Then you need to explain what were the main

forms of workforce communication used within

your chosen organisation?

What were the factors that get in the way and
became barriers to good and effective
communication in the organisation?

    6. Next, ‘Discussion’. 
  

Were the chosen forms of communication      
appropriate?

How effective were the communication
methods used within the organisation?

How effective were communication methods
with external stakeholders?

Explain why there may have been barriers to 
effective communication.

Explain how barriers to communication may
cause problems, particularly with regard to
employee / stakeholder engagement, equality
and diversity and could affect organisational
performance.

    7. Next, ‘Conclusion’.

A summary and interpretation of the findings and explaining the outcomes from your discussion.

Link back to the terms of reference for the report and how you have met these.

Do not introduce any new material.

   8. Next, ‘Recommendations’.
  

   Specific solutions to overcome the barriers to communication you have identified..

   Describe how the recommendations should be implemented and any implications (costs, benefits, resources needed.)

   9. Next, ‘References’.

A list of any sources mentioned in the report. 

Use the Harvard referencing system.

   10. Finally, ‘Appendices’.

Additional information related to the report such as your questionnaire.

Barriers to Effective Communication in the Workplace

Barriers to effective communication:

·  At encoding stage, such as:

   Lack of sensitivity to the receiver.

Will the receiver understand the message? 

   Language/cultural issues .

     The same category of words, phrases, symbols, actions, colours mean different things to people of different countries or different cultural backgrounds.

   Use of jargon/technical terms.



Insufficient knowledge of the subject may be a problem. 

   Information overload will cause problems.

   Emotional and cultural factors.

A message sent when you are emotionally worked up will have a different meaning than when you are calm and composed.  



Filtering:

At transmitting stage, referred to in most
communication models as “noise” and includes:

Physical distractions; 

Lack of planning;

Body language; 

Conflicting messages;
  
A long communication chain causing distortion of key message.

At decoding stage, such as:

Lack of interest on part of receiver; 

Poor listening;

Lack of understanding; 

Selective perception; 

Body language;

Emotional distractions;

and physical disabilities or distractions. 

At feedback stage, whether there is a need to capture feedback and if this can improve future communications.

Communication tips:

Business Communication Task 2

You are required to write a report on Information Management within your chosen organisation or Company ZXY.

Explain:

What type of data is collected, stored and used by the organisation?

A front sheet for task 2 would be useful.

Adapt the sections (a – e) as headings i.e. a) The types of information / data collected, stored and used by x organisation.

You may wish to concentrate on HR data. More here.

How is the data collected and recorded?

How is this information used by the organisation?

What safeguards are in place to protect data and in particular personal data.

How effective are these safeguards?

Identify the current legislation the organisation should be complying with.

Personal data an employer can keep about an employee:

Employers must keep their employees’ personal data safe, secure and up to date.

Employers can keep the following data about their employees without their permission:

• Name
• Address
• Date of birth
• Gender
• Education and qualifications
• Work experience
• National Insurance number
• Tax code
• Emergency contact details
• Employment history with the organisation
• Employment terms and conditions (eg pay, hours of work, holidays, benefits, absence)
• Any accidents connected with work
• Any training taken
• Any disciplinary action

Employers need their employees’ permission to keep certain types of ’sensitive’ data, including:

• Race and ethnicity
• Religion
• Political membership or opinions
• Trade union membership
• Genetics
• Biometrics, for example if your fingerprints are used for identification
• Health and medical conditions
• Sexual history or orientation

Employers must keep sensitive data more securely than other types of data.

Assignment Part 3: GDPR

Prepare a PowerPoint presentation - up to 12 slides, with notes to provide a briefing for senior managers on the current legislation covering data protection.

You should also explain the consequences if the law is broken.

Click on the headlines:

Business Communication 1

Welcome to Business Communication

Business communications is an essential element within any organisation, it enables information to be passed to a variety of stakeholders in numerous forms and methods however it is essential that each method of communication is fit for the purpose intended. 

A stakeholder is an individual or group with an interest in the operations of an organisation.

Oral communication:

Introductions:

In business situations in the UK and US it generally involves a formal handshake.

Punctuality is considered to be very important.

Formality is taken to a different level in Japan:

Interviews:
Do's and don'ts?



Business meetings:
These are covered in more depth in the final task in this unit.

Customer service:

Sales and marketing:
What communication skills are necessary in a sales environment?

Business Communication

Non Verbal Communication - Body Language

The conscious and unconscious movements and postures by which attitudes and feelings are communicated.

Body language is not an exact science.

No single body language sign is a reliable indicator.

Body language involves:

How we position our bodies.

Our closeness to and the space between us and other people (proxemics), and how this changes.

Our facial expressions.

Our eyes especially and how our eyes move and focus, etc.

How we touch ourselves and others.

How our bodies connect with other non-bodily things, for instance, pens, cigarettes, spectacles and clothing.

Our breathing, and other less noticeable physical effects, for example our heartbeat and perspiration.

The six universal facial expressions:

Happiness.

Sadness.

Fear.

Disgust.

Surprise.

Anger.

Interpretation of body language. More here.

Producing and Structuring a Business Report

Producing and structuring a business report

At Level 3, a business report should include the following sections:

Title: A short and unambiguous statement, stating exactly what the report is about. (5 – 15 words)

Executive Summary: A summary that helps the reader quickly grasp the report’s purpose, conclusions and key recommendations (100 words)

Introduction / Terms of Reference: A brief description of the context, the issue or problem to be reported on, the specific questions the report answers, the limitations of the report and any assumptions made. (200 words)

Methodology: Methods of data collection, sources of primary data (interviews or questionnaires, sample size), secondary sources used, reasons for selecting the methodology. (200 words)

Results /Findings: The findings presented in a clear and simple format. Data should be organized in tables, graphs and/or charts where possible. May include an explanation of any statistical analysis.

Discussion: The discussion should give enough information, analysis, and evidence to support the learner’s conclusions and provide justification for their recommendations. It should follow a logical and systematic organisation. Where the report’s purpose is to recommend the best solution to a problem, the learner should show clear analysis of all the options. The learner should explain any analytical framework you used, such as SWOT or cost benefit analysis. (300 – 500 words)

Conclusion: A summary and interpretation of the findings; explaining what the results mean. Relate the conclusions to the original report issue/problem. Limit the conclusions to the data presented; do not introduce new material. (200 words)

Recommendations: Specific suggestions for actions to solve the report problem. Present each suggestion separately and begin with a verb. Number the recommendations and arrange them in order of importance. Describe how the recommendations would be implemented (if this was in the terms of reference). (200 words)

References: A list of sources cited in the text of the report (listed in alphabetical order by surname of the author).

Appendices: Additional information related to the report but not essential to the main findings, e.g. interview questions, questionnaire, glossary of terms, statistical data. Appendices are numbered, for referencing in the text.

Business Communication 3

Written Communication
Informal:

Formal:

Business Report:

Usually covers a specific topic and follows a recognised format.

Other forms of written communication:

Memorandum.

Invoice.

Charts / diagrams.

Publicity material.

Electronic communication:

Email

Apps / The internet.

SMS (Short message service).

Video conferencing.

Mobile phones.

Business Communications: Meetings

Business Meetings:

The Main Points That Should Be Covered by an Agenda:

The agenda is prepared before the meeting and is sent out to all the attendees. It is a list of topics that will be put forward for discussion.

An agenda needs to include:

• a brief description of the meeting objectives
• a list of the topics to be covered
• a list stating who will address each topic and for how long.
• The time, date and location of the meeting and any background information participants will need to know to hold an informed discussion on the meeting topic. More here.

Minutes are required in order to:

• Confirm any decisions made
• Record any agreed actions to be taken
• Record who has been allocated any tasks or responsibilities
• Prompt action from any relevant attendees
• Provide details of the meeting to anyone unable to attend
• Serve as a record of the meeting's procedure and outcome. More here.

Taking minutes is more difficult than you would think.

Have a go with this meeting:

Facebook and Communication

Facebook and communication

Is Facebook changing your identity?

Self Presentation:

Facebook gives us a way of presenting a narrative of ourselves to the world - a digital self. 

We are authors and gatekeepers. Do we have more control over the self- presentation of our virtual self compared to our actual self?

Language

Facebook allows us to use both verbal and non verbal communication.

NVC

This is largely expressed through the images we choose to post ... 

Think about your profile picture: what are you communicating through your posture, your facial expression & what you are wearing?

Accent cannot be communicated but dialect can be. Our choice of words is used to stage ourselves in a particular way - it is used as a code to create insiders & outsiders.

What words would you never use on your FB page?

What words and expressions do you always use?

How do you communicate tone and humour through the way you present words on your page?

Language

Facebook has even changed the English language, becoming a verb: I will Facebook you...

Other words have taken on new meanings too, like 'poke'...

Feedback

We gain feedback from others in various ways - through the number of 'likes' our comments receive,through the comments posted on our wall ... the feedback we receive is also just as likely to be cynical as it is sincere...

Does the number of 'friends' we collect also affect our self esteem? 

Marketing tool

Companies & institutions have FB pages too now. How does RUTC present itself on its Facebook page?

Marketing

Research shows that we are more likely to feel favourably about brands which are advertised on our own page compared to those advertised on other people's pages.

Cooley's Looking Glass Self

How other people react to our status updates & pictures probably affects how we feel about ourselves - perhaps sometimes leading us to edit and delete later...

Groups

The friends we collect on FB can be seen as a group - who isyour 'group' closed to? 

Do you let yourparents join your FB page?

As a group, we reinforce each other's self esteem and narrative. We might see this virtual community as fulfilling needs of belonging(Maslow). 

We share in-jokes and codes that others might not understand.#

The Self -Fulfilling Prophecy

Do you ever write in a certain way or express certain attitudes because you know that your 'audience' (your 'friends') are expecting you to?