Portfolio Project

1. BEST PRACTICES IN
BUSINESS
COMMUNICATION
MEGAN GARLAND
ORG 536: CONTEMPORARY BUSINESS WRITING
AND COMMUNICATION
NOVEMBER 3, 2019
DR. BRIAN NEFF

2. “Business communication is the process of
sharing information between people within and
outside a company”
-Yaniv Masjedi

3. BUSINESS COMMUNICATION
 Business communication allows team members and
supervisors to interact and work together to reach
organizational goals.
 Allows for success in
 Presenting new ideas
 Producing proposals
 Decision-making execution
 Coming to an agreement
 Effective meetings
 Business communication components (Shrivastava, 2012)
 Organizational business communication
 Interpersonal business communication
 Leadership business communication

4. EFFECTIVE AND ETHICAL BUSINESS COMMUNICATION
 Organizations highly value communication skills (Shrivastava, 2012)
 Effective communication happens when the sender communicates the message in a way that the
receiver understands it in the way it was intended (Johnson, 2019).
 Effective and ethical business communication can be achieved if Lasswell’s (1948) The Five W’s
theory is followed:
 Who should be told?
 When should they be told?
 What should they be told?
 Where should the message be conveyed?
 Who should control the communications process?

5. EFFECTIVE AND
ETHICAL BUSINESS
COMMUNICATION
 Choosing the correct communication
channel based on the purpose of the
communication (Guffey, M., and Loewy,
D., 2015)
 Face-to-face
 Telephone
 Video chat
 E-mail
 Instant message
 Letter
 Memo
 Blog
 Report
 Wiki

6. PROFESSIONALISM IN THE WORKPLACE
 Professionalism is a style of behavior that we exhibit
in the workplace, including the way one chooses to
communicate, their image and demeanor (Campbell
and Taylor, 2019).
 Characteristics that exhibit professionalism include:
(Haywood and Wygal, 2009; Janowiak, 2015))
 Honesty
 Fairness
 Objectivity
 Responsibility
 Competence
 Confidentiality
 Integrity

7. ELECTRONIC MESSAGES
AND DIGITAL MEDIA FOR
BUSINESS
COMMUNICATION
 Electronic messages and digital
media for communication at work
include
 Email
 Instant messaging
 Text messaging
 Video chat
 Telephone
 Advantages of these communication
styles include instantaneous delivery,
quick feedback and the ability reach
multiple receivers (Thompson,
2019).

8. EFFECTIVE USE OF ELECTRONIC MESSAGES AND DIGITAL
MEDIA
 Emails (Underwood, 2012)
 Most effective and used format in the workplace
 Express ideas clearly and be concise
 Use subject lines that are relevant
 Adjust the tone of the message to be appropriate to the purpose of the message
 Include subject line, opening, body and closing
 Instant Messaging (IM) and Texting
 Most effective for short messages that require quick responses (Guffey, M., & Loewy, D., 2015)
 Be brief, appropriate and understandable (Maina, 2013)
 Do not send confidential information
 Follow policies and guidelines regarding IM and text messaging

9. EFFECTIVE USE OF ELECTRONIC MESSAGES AND DIGITAL
MEDIA
 Video Chat
 Most effective for group interactions when team members are dispersed (Guffey, M., & Loewy, D., 2015)
 Useful when face-to-face communication is not an option, but the communicator wants to remain personal
 Remain engage and interested (Gamblin, 2017)
 Telephone
 Most effective, personable option when in-person meetings aren’t an option (Guffey, M., & Loewy, D., 2015)
 Set up the area to support an effective telephone conversation—avoid loud noises and distractions (Aba, 2019)
 Use appropriate language (Aba, 2019)
 Prepare for the call
 Be mindful of tone of voice (Major, 2019)

10. POSITIVE AND NEGATIVE MESSAGES
 Delivering Positive Messages
 Be direct
 Give supporting details and an explanation
 End with congratulating the recipient
 Doesn’t require face-to-face communication or
privacy
 Delivering Negative Messages
 Eliminate assumptions (Leddy, 2015)
 Find an appropriate, private setting (Leddy, 2015)
 Express emotion (Leddy, 2015)
 Answer clarifying questions (Manzoni, 2002)
 Be direct and get right to the point (Manzoni, 2002)

11. BUSINESS
PRESENTATIONS
 Audience analysis—gather information
about the audience for the ability to
base the presentation around the
audience (Lucente-Cole, 2004)
 Connect with the audience (n.d., 2015)
 Use relatable stories
 Components of a business presentation
(n.d., 2015)
 Introduction
 Overview
 Presentation of content
 Promote active listening
 Summary/conclusion

12. BUSINESS PRESENTATIONS
 Ensure presentation is not cluttered or visually unappealing
 Consider background, font size and type, slide layout and visual aids (n.d., 2015)
 Steps for Effective Delivery
 Frame the story
 Plan the delivery
 Develop stage presence
 Plan the multimedia
 Putting it together

13. CONCLUSION
 Today’s workplace communication
avenues have progressed
drastically in recent years
 With so many avenues to choose
from, it is crucial for employees to
pick the appropriate channel
dependent on each situation
 Each channel has its pros and cons
and is most effective in certain
situations
 Communicating effectively,
ethically and professionally will
contribute to one’s workplace
success

14. REFERENCES
Aba., E., (2019) Effective telephone communication. American Bankers Association. 20 (3), 22-26
Campbell, S., and Taylor, D., (2019) Professionalism in the workplace. Retreived from: https://www.umkc.edu/starr/Workplace_Professionalism.pdf
Gamblin, H., (2017) Channel tips for internal office communications. Business Communications.
Haywood, E., and Wygal, D., (2009) Ethics and professionalism: bringing the topic to life in the classroom. Journal of Accouting Education. 27 (2), 71-84
Janowiak, A., (2015) 5 ways to show professionalism in the workplace. Retrieved from:
https://www.conovercompany.com/5-ways-to-show-professionalism-in-the-workplace/
Johnson, S., (2019) Ethical communications in the digital age: navigating the murky waters. Retrieved from: https://ethicalcommunicationsintechnology.weebly.com/ethical- communication-vs-effective-communication.html
Leddy, C., (2019) Effective business communication: 8 steps to a better conversation. Retrieved from: https://www.middlemarketcenter.org/expert-perspectives/effective-business- communication-8-steps-to-a-better-conversation
Major, K., (2019) 10 tips for effective communication on the telephone. Retrieved from: https://englishwithkirsty.com/2015/04/20/10-tips-for-effective-communication-on-the- telephone/
Manzoni, J., (2002) A better way to deliver bad news. Harvard Business Review. 80 (9), 114-119
Masjedi, Y., (2019) What is business communication & why do you need it? Retrieved from: https://www.nextiva.com/blog/what-is-business-communication.html
n.d., (2019) Principles, theories and methods of effective communication and in a management context. Health Knowledge. 48 (2) 19-21
Shivastava, S., (2012) Identifying the major components of business communication and their relevance: a conceptual framework. IUP Journal of Soft Skills. 16 (4) 52-66
Thompson, J., (2019) Methods of communication in business. Business Communication Methods. 54 (3) 79-82
Underwood, D., (2012) Electronic messages and digital media. Retrieved from: https://prezi.com/wpiwowrnntjs/electronic-messages-and-digital-media/