In order to effectively communicate the vision, the plan, and build consensus; the following six rules are needed:
1) Use concrete language to outline goals and sequence.
2) Follow up with other people to make sure they understand the vision and plan.
3) Maintain credibility.
4) Request small, incremental changes to enable people to adjust.
4) Promote the plan's potential for success.
5) Reiterate the vision and plan as opportunities arise (Beach, pp 78).
In the multimedia program, "The Art of Effective Communication, a message was delivered via text only, audio only, and video. After reviewing the typed (text) message, I was left with the impression that fault was being applied by the originator. The message appeared accusatory, as if one was finger pointing and applying blame. It appeared as though the person was being blamed or setup as a scapegoat. Scapegoating is the process of assigning blame to the closet person when things go wrong (Portny, et al, pp294). I drew this conclusion from the text message in the video that read,"I cannot get my work done because you did not..." The video message, on the other hand could best be described as bland, casual, and nonchalant. There is no sense of urgency in her attitude, body language, and tone. By fair, the best message is the voice recording. The voice is pleasant and the message is clear, concise, and direct. It is easy to sense both urgency and importance so much so that one understands further action is required.
When the need to deliver a message arises, one must think not only of the venue (text, voice, and video), but how also how the recipient will receive the message.
Resources:
Beach, L. R. (2006). Leadership and the Art of Change: A Practical Guide to Organizational Transformation. Thousand Oaks, Ca: Sage Publications, Inc.
Portny, S. E., Mantel, S. J., Meredith, J. R., Shafer, S. M., Sutton, M. M., & Kramer, B. E. (2008). Project Management: Planning, Scheduling, and Controlling Projects. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Stennes, B. The Six Rules of Effective Communication Retrieved from http://www.resourcesunlimited.com/images/The_Six_Rules_of_Effective_Communication.pdf
Angela, yours is the second blog entry I'm commenting on, and it's interesting that I found the face-to-face to be the most effective, Rikiah (http://rpratteducationaltraining.blogspot.com/)felt that the email was most effective, and you like the tone and nature of the voicemail!
ReplyDeleteAs I wrote in my comment to Rikiah's post, some researchers have found that, in general (by no means is this universal), men prefer the written communication while women prefer face-to-face. Since you picked neither option, that made me think that there is more information out there in Internet land that would help with different communication styles rather than tailoring your message based on the recipient's gender.
Lo and behold! I found a really cool table that shows how to determine whether the recipient is a driver, expresser, relater, or analytical person. Based on the criteria described in the chart (http://www.drbackman.com/communication-styles.htm), the rows for "best way to deal with" and "for best results" offer advice for how to structure a request or guide the other person toward the results you want. While this does not tell us which of the three ways to deliver the message (voicemail, email, f2f), it does give us some insight into how Jane might phrase her request for Mark's report in such a way that would motivate him to help her.
I hope you find this information as useful as I did!
Deanne
Reference
Dieter, W. (1996). Communication styles table. Retrieved from http://www.drbackman.com/communication-styles.htm
Hi Angela,
ReplyDeleteHow interesting that you chose voice, Deanne chose F2F, and I chose email. I guess that just goes to show you how we all how different interpretations of the same messages, which are influenced by our own personal perceptions and experiences. In my opinion, I feel the type of communication is best determined by the purpose of the message. Some messages that do not need discussion or response may be better delivered by email, whereas those that do would be better delivered in person. I came across an interesting blog post that discusses reasons for choices in communication. Ultimately, it says that "The choice depends upon you, the other person, the setting, the topic and the time required."
Teresa
http://tinalewisrowe.com/2010/10/20/email-phone-or-in-person/
Hi Angela,
ReplyDeleteIt is amazing how the same message can be interpreted differently. You felt that the voicemail message was the best. I on the hand, felt the face to face communication was the best. You stated you felt her voice was pleasant over the phone. I thought the caller sounded worried and sarcastic. This just goes to show that we must be careful on how we communicate, particularly in a professional setting. We should not leave things ambiguous and open to interpretation because it could be misleading.
Hi Angela,
ReplyDeleteIt crazy that we all read, heard, and saw the same thing this past week and still interrupted it in many different ways. Each one pointing out something that is intriguing and interesting. Your post had me thinking and I had to go back and review the messages. And the voice message was very was very clear and concise. I do agree that the point should have been well taken with the voice message. My only concern is the urgency of a voice mail. As we saw in the case study not everybody checks their emails and voice mails on the regular through out the day. I am guilty for this at work myself. I will get logged out of my work email due to inactivity on the page. And when I do see the email it is EOD and everyone is gone. I am working on checking it frequently. I just know that when I am engaged in my work I tend to forget to do something that simple.
Angela,
ReplyDeleteNice work on your blog post. Bringing up the scapegoating element is a great point—I also had the feeling Mark was being put in an awkward position. While I believed the most effective message was the face-to-face, because of its non-threatening, nonchalant heir, but I can certainly see your view. The voicemail was upbeat, and perhaps Jane’s body language could be more assertive to be effective. If we knew more about Mark’s personality, we might know a better approach as well. It is interesting to see all the different interpretations and it indicate that strong analysis skills coupled with the knowledge and ability to apply a variety of theory provides the best chance for successful communication. Thanks for sharing some great views.
Joseph