Unlock document.
This document is partially blurred.
Unlock all pages and 1 million more documents.
Get Access
Chapter 1 Lecture Notes and Teaching Suggestions
Chapter 1 LECTURE NOTES
Business Communication in the Digital Age
CHAPTER SYNOPSIS
In today’s digital, fast-paced workplace, excellent communication skills matter more than ever.
As electronic and digital channels of communication continue to expand, today’s working
professionals must learn to write and speak effectively and ethically in this information-driven
workplace. This requires training, as we are not born with these skills. Moreover, workers need
to develop problem-solving and critical-thinking skills, identified as top priorities among human
resource professionals. Employees who master these skills are better equipped to evaluate
critically the avalanche of information that flows at great speed, across various media, and in
many directions.
In this chapter, students will learn how communication and critical thinking skills fuel career
success and understand significant workplace changes including social media,
anytime-anywhere availability, global competition, shrinking management layers, and an
increased use of teams. In addition, flexible work environments and a diverse workforce are
creating dramatic changes in how and where we work.
In this chapter, students will also learn how to compare and contrast internal and external
functions of communication, formal and informal forms of communication, and oral and written
communication. This chapter concludes with a summary identifying the goals of ethical business
communicators and provides practical guidelines for making ethical decisions and addressing
wrongdoing in the workplace.
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
1. Explain how communication skills fuel career success, and understand why writing skills are
vital in a digital workplace embracing social media.
2. Identify the tools for success in the hyperconnected 21st-century workplace, and appreciate
the importance of critical-thinking skills in the competitive job market of the digital age.
3. Describe significant trends in today’s dynamic, networked work environment, and recognize
that social media and other new communication technologies require excellent communication
skills, particularly in an uncertain economy.
4. Examine critically the internal and external flow of communication in organizations through
formal and informal channels, explain the importance of effective media choices, and
understand how to overcome typical barriers to organizational communication.
5. Analyze ethics in the workplace, understand the goals of ethical business communicators,
recognize and avoid ethical traps, and choose the tools for doing the right thing.
WHAT’S NEW IN THIS CHAPTER
Completely rewrote substantial sections of the chapter to reflect the pervasive influence of
new communication technology on business writing to prepare students for the digital-age
workplace.
Presented state-of-the-art research arguing the prominence of writing and other
communication skills in the thoroughly networked, hyperconnected workplace awaiting our
students.
Devoted much attention to social media such as Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter to impress
upon students that writing is more important than ever in the digital world because of the
global reach and repeatability of digital messages.
Showed how the explosive growth of social media networks, particularly Twitter, is changing
the global political landscape and shaping today’s communication in the digital-era
workplace.
Drew on latest statistics and examples to provide students with current practices in business
and to offer advice on “recession-proofing” their skill sets.
Added coverage of media richness and social presence to help readers better grasp which
communication channels are best suited for particular situations and purposes, ranging from
face-to-face interactions (rich) to bulk e-mail, posters, and flyers (lean).
Designed helpful graphics illustrating key concepts to facilitate understanding for visual
learners.
Created new activities for more than a third of the end-of-chapter items to provide fresh,
contemporary scenarios that foster student learning.
Conceived several end-of-chapter activities addressing the use of social media and reflecting
the preeminence of writing in the digital workplace by prompting students to inventory their
social media use, employ communication technology to introduce themselves, and choose the
most appropriate media for several communication situations.
LECTURE OUTLINE
I. Communicating in the Digital World (p. 3)
A. Communication Skills: Your Pass to Success
Communication skills are critical to effective job placement, performance, career
advancement, and organizational success.
Employers often rank communication skills among the most requested
competencies.
The National Commission on Writing found that two thirds of salaried employees
have some writing responsibility.
Communication skills include reading, listening, nonverbal, speaking, and writing
skills. In addition, workers today must be media savvy and exercise good
judgment when posting messages on the Internet and writing e-mails.
B.Writing in the Digital Age
Respondents to a Pew Internet & American Life study rightly believe that solid writing
skills are a necessity in today’s networked digital world.
Writing matters more than ever because the online media require more of it, not
less.
Employees with excellent writing skills earn more than those with poor writing
skills and have greater opportunities for advancement.
Figure 1.1 Timeline: Communication Technology and Social Media
C. It’s Up to You: Communication Skills Can Be Learned
Communication skills must be learned because we are not born with the abilities
to read, listen, speak, and write effectively.
This business communication textbook and course will help you develop the
communication skills you need to thrive in a demanding work world.
PowerPoint slides 1-10
II. The Digital Revolution and You: Tools for Success in the 21st-Century Workplace (p.
6)
Definitions: Knowledge workers are individuals who get paid for their education and
their ability to learn. Information workers describe those who work with information and
technology. Knowledge and information workers deal with symbols: words, figures, and
data.
A.Why Should You Care?
Knowledge and information workers can expect to be generating, processing, and
exchanging information across various communication channels and multiple
media.
Human resource professionals identify problem solving and critical thinking as
top workplace skills today.
B.Thinking Critically in the Digital Age
Thinking creatively and critically means having opinions that are backed by
reasons and evidence and offering good ideas.
The Osborn-Parnes Creative Problem-Solving Process illustrates critical thinking
and competent decision making. . Understanding the problem is essential and
must come first.
Figure 1.2 Osborn-Parnes Creative Problem-Solving Process
PowerPoint slides 11-19
C.Managing Your Career Well
As an employee, you must be willing to continuously learn new skills that
supplement the strong foundation of basic skills that you are acquiring in college.
Training programs will help you keep up with evolving technologies and
procedures.
In the networked environment of the digital era, you must carefully manage and
guard your office and online reputation. Be intentional about creating a positive
image with thoughtful blog posts, astute comments on LinkedIn and Facebook, as
well as competent e-mails.
D.Succeeding in a Volatile, Competitive Job Market
Employers are seeking employees who meet the employer’s fundamental criteria,
including having the required major, course work, and GPA.
Employers look for communication skills, a strong work ethic, the ability to work
in a team, and initiative.
Figure 1.3 Survey Shows Skills Employers Want
III. Trends and Challenges Affecting You in the Information Age Workplace (p. 9)
Social media and changing communication technologies
Anytime, anywhere: 24/7/365 availability
The global marketplace and competition
Shrinking management layers
Collaborative environments and teaming
Growing workforce diversity
Virtual and nonterritorial offices
Figure 1.4 Some Twitter and YouTube Facts
Figure 1.5 Internet and Facebook User Statistics
Figure 1.6 Communication and Collaborative Technologies
Figure 1.7 Racial and Ethnic Makeup of the U.S. Population
PowerPoint slides 20-33
IV. Information Flow and Media Choices in Today’s Business World
A. The Networked Workplace in a Hyperconnected World
Forms of interactive and mobile communication in today’s workplace include the
Internet, intranets, corporate websites, audio and video podcasting,
videoconferencing, and Web chats.
Smart mobile electronic devices include smartphones, tablets, and notebook PCs.
They are predicted to grow three times as fast as the overall mobile market by 2015.
Low-cost Android handsets will account for 80 percent of the smartphone market in
Africa, India, and China by 2015.
B. Internal and External Communication
Internal communication includes exchanging ideas and messages with people inside
the organization, including superiors, coworkers, and subordinates.
E-mail is the most common form of written communication within an organization.
External communication includes exchanging ideas and messages with those outside
the organization, including customers, suppliers, the government, and the public.
External communication is also handled by e-mail in most routine cases.
Figure 1.8 Comparing Oral and Written Forms of Organizational Communication
C. Media Richness and Social Presence
Daft and Lengel’s media richness theory attempts to classify media in organizations
according to how much clarifying information they are able to convey from a sender
to a recipient.
Rich media include face-to-face conversations and videoconferencing. Leaner media
include e-mail, memos, and newsletters.
Senders should choose the richest medium necessary to communicate the message to
the recipient with as little ambiguity as possible.
Social presence has come to mean the degree to which people are engaged online and
ready to connect with others. Social presence is greater in synchronous communication
(live chat, IM) than in asynchronous communication that is rather impersonal (e-mail,
forum post).
Figure 1.9 Media Richness and Communication Effectiveness
D. Formal Communication Channels
Downward Communication. Formal channels of communication generally
follow an organization’s hierarchy of command. Information flowing downward
moves from executives at the top of the organization through the management
level to lower-level employees. Downward communication includes policies,
procedures, directives, job plans, mission goals, and motivation.
Upward Communication. Information flowing upward begins with
nonmanagement employees and moves to management. This information, in the
form of phone messages, e-mail, memos, reports, department meetings, and
suggestion systems, guides managers in making decisions. Upward
communication includes product feedback, customer data, progress reports,
suggestions, problems, and requests for clarification.
Horizontal Communication. Horizontal communication takes place among
workers at the same level. This communication includes task coordination,
problem solving, conflict resolution, idea generation, team building, and goals
clarification.
To improve the downward flow of information, many companies are
reengineering themselves into small operating units and work teams and sharing
organizational information through intranet postings and announcements, e-mail,
meetings, videos, podcasts, company publications, and other channels.
To improve the upward flow of information, some companies are hiring
communication coaches to train employees, asking employees to report customer
complaints, encouraging regular staff meetings, cultivating an environment of
trust, and offering incentive programs that encourage employees to collect and
share valuable feedback.
To improve horizontal communication, companies are training employees in
teamwork and communication technologies, establishing reward systems based on
team achievements, and encouraging full participation in team functions.
Figure 1.10 Information Flow in Organizations
Figure 1.11 Barriers Blocking the Flow of Communication in Organizations
E. Informal Communication Channels
Definition: The grapevine is an informal channel of communication that carries
organizationally relevant gossip.
The grapevine can be a powerful, pervasive source of information, accounting for
as much as two thirds of an employee’s information.
Studies demonstrate that the grapevine can be nearly 80 percent accurate, but it
flows haphazardly.
Follow these tips for handling gossip ethically:
oRun, don’t walk, away from anyone who starts to gossip.
oEnd rumors about others.
oAttack rumors about yourself.
oKeep confidences.
oLimit the personal tidbits you share about yourself; keep them light.
oAvoid any form of coworker belittlement.
oBuild coworkers up; don’t tear them down.
PowerPoint slides 34-42
V. Ethics in the Workplace Needed More Than Ever (p. 24)
A.Defining Ethics
Definition: Ethics refers to conventional standards of right and wrong that prescribe
what people should do. These standards usually consist of rights, obligations, and
benefits to society.
Figure 1.12 Employees Reveal Office Dilemmas—Ethics Survey
Figure 1.13 The Context of Ethical Decision Making
B. Doing What Ethical Communicators Do
Abide by the law.
Tell the truth.
Label opinions.
Be objective.
Communicate clearly.
Use inclusive language.
Give credit.
C. Overcoming Obstacles to Ethical Decision Making
The false necessity trap
The doctrine-of-relative-filth trap
The rationalization trap
The self-deception trap
The ends-justify-the-means trap
D. Choosing Tools for Doing the Right Thing
Is the action you are considering legal?
How would you see the problem if you were on the opposite side?
What are alternate solutions?
Would a trusted advisor agree?
Would family, friends, employer, or coworkers approve?
Figure 1.14 Five Questions to Guide Ethical Decisions
PowerPoint Slides 43-47
