Effective communication is important to your career because no matter what line of work you pursue, you need to be able to share information with other people. In addition to benefitting you personally, your communication skills will help your company in multiple ways.
"Imagine that you've joined the Twitter team at JetBlue, one of the more than two dozen communication specialists tasked with monitoring conversations about the company in the Twitter-sphere and responding to questions, requests, and complaints from passengers
INDIVIDUAL CHALLENGE: Find a recent Twitter conversation between a passenger and JetBlue. It can be a compliment, a complaint, or a question. How well do you think JetBlue team handled the conversation? Does the conversation reflect well on JetBlue? If you had been the passenger, would you have been satisfied with the outcome? Why or why not?" (Bovée & Thill, 2018, p. 30).
When answering this discussion question, please do the following:
- Copy and paste the Twitter conversation into your answer so your audience can see the specific conversation you are analyzing.
- Answer the questions posed in the Individual Challenge.
- Frame your response using the discussion of effective business communication on page 6 and the discussion of the audience-centered approach on pages 9-10.
Page 6 Effective business communication
- * Provide practical information. Give recipients useful information, whether it's to help them perform a desired action or understand a new company policy.
- Give facts rather than vague impressions. Use concrete language, specific detail, and information that is clear, convincing, accurate, and ethical. Even when an opinion is called for, present compelling evidence to support your conclusion.
- Present information in a concise, efficient manner. Concise messages show respect for people's time, and they increase the chances of a positive response. Simplify complex subjects to help your readers, and make sure you don't inadvertently complicate simple subjects through careless writing.7 The ability to explain a complex subject in simple terms is immensely valuable, whether you're training new employees or pitching a business plan to investors.
- Clarify expectations and responsibilities. Craft messages to generate a specific response from a specific audience. When appropriate, clearly state what you expect from audience members or what you can do for them.
- Offer compelling, persuasive arguments and recommendations. Show your readers precisely how they will benefit by responding to your message in the way you want them to.
Audience-centered approach on pages 9-10.
An 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. This approach is also known as adopting the "you" attitude, in contrast to messages that are about "me." Learn as much as possible about the biases, education, age, status, style, and personal and professional concerns of your receivers. If you're addressing people you don't know and you're unable to find out more about them, try to project yourself into their position by using common sense and imagination. This ability to relate to the needs of others is a key part of emotional intelligence, a combination of emotional and social skills that is widely considered to be a vital characteristic of successful managers and leaders.11 The more you know about the people you're communicating with, the easier it is to concentrate on their needs-which, in turn, makes it easier for them to hear your message, understand it, and respond positively.