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Chapter 1: Communicating in the Workplace
employees are supposed to participate and expected to perform, would this be an issue for them?
Or would they enjoy this type of culture?
Connect Assignment 1-2 (a-e): Learning to Communicate in a New Job
Summary: To be an effective communicator, students need to be aware of the “big picture” in which
communication takes place. This activity (which includes five questions based on the provided case) tests
students’ understanding of communication environments and networks.
1-2-a
Learning Objective: 1-05
1-2-b
Learning Objective: 1-07
1-2-c
Learning Objective: 1-06
1-2-d
Learning Objective: 1-06
1-2-e
Learning Objective: 1-06
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The Business Communication Process
Slide 1-20
Because the communicating that goes on in business is done by people, it is helpful for us to know how
communication between businesspeople occurs. This model shows both process and contexts. Refer to
Exhibit 1-4 in Chapter 1 for a complete illustration and explanation of the process.
This model guides your discussion of the contexts for and steps in the business communication process.
A fun exercise for illustrating this process in action is to divide the class up into two opposing teams.
Team 1 must recommend a surprising change to the syllabus to Team 2. Team 2 then has to follow the
process of responding to this recommendation as laid out in this model. Do they agree? Will they propose
Slide 1-21
Communication Contexts
In the previous slide we saw that the two communicators in a communication exchange occupy similar
concentric spaces for their communication.
The relationship of the communicators also forms an important context for communication. Although
communication may be about moving information from point A to point B, it is also about interactions
between human beings. Perhaps the strongest influencing factors are the particular contexts that comprise
the relationship of the two communicators.
As the text says, communication is not simply about moving information from point A to point B.
Anyone who neglects the specific contexts in which communication takes place is likely doomed to be an
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unsuccessful communicator. Factoring these multiple contexts into communication decisions is a large
Slide 1-22
Here are the steps that usually occur when people are solving business problems and communicating
about them.
1. Sensing a communication need. You can emphasize that a “need” can be either a problem to solve or
an opportunity to take advantage of.
2. Defining the situation. Here, the writer/speaker gathers information about the situation—about what
3. Considering possible communication strategies. Given the situation, in what different ways might
4. Selecting a course of action. Here the writer/speaker decides not only what to say but also how to say
5. Composing the message. You can preview the advice in Chapter 2 about the writing process. Help
6. Sending the message. Students often do not realize how important message timing is, or how
7. Receiving the message. Now we’re over on the recipient’s side of the process. If the sender has made
8. Interpreting the message. As the recipient processes the message, he or she will be forming all sorts
9. Deciding on a response. If the recipient attends to the message, he/she will have a response, whether
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Chapter 1: Communicating in the Workplace
Power Charge Your Professionalism: Use the Right Word
1. The performance of our stock will (affect/effect) our shareholders’ willingness to continue investing
in our company.
3. Jeanette knew she had to raise more (capital/capitol) before starting her new business.
5. Jorge and Mira work well together because their skills are (complimentary/complementary).
7. Guests always receive (deferential/differential) treatment when they visit our company.
8. Good team members do not (desert/dessert) their teams just because the work isn’t going well.
For further instruction on using the right word, see “Using the Homophones Correctly” in the “Grammar”
section of LearnSmart Achieve.
Critical-Thinking Questions
1. Why do you think employers value transferable skills more highly now than in the past?
What changes in business over the last 20 years or so might account for this change?
(LO1)
2. “If there’s no definitive solution, then all ways of handling a business communication
problem are equally good.” Using the discussion of business communication problem
solving in this chapter, explain why this statement is false. (LO2)
3. In what ways is imagination important in business? In business communication? (LO2,
LO3)
4. Think of a time when insufficient verbal skills on the part of someone in the workplace
or in the public sphere led to a negative result. What kind of wording mistake did this
person make, and what kind of damage did it cause? (LO3)
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Chapter 1: Communicating in the Workplace
5. Think of or find an example of a time when someone used a visual effectively to make a
point. Why does the visual work so much better than words, or words alone? (LO3)
6. Think back through your work history and any team projects you’ve been on, and
identify someone who, in your opinion, was a great team player. What qualities and skills
made this person skillful at working with others? (LO3)
7. To get a feel for the importance of media literacy on the part of business communicators,
make a list of all the information technologies (devices, media platforms, and
applications) that you’ve used over the last two years. What kind of knowledge is
required to be able to use these technologies well? (LO2)
8. “People need to leave their cultures and values at the door when they come to work and
just do business.” Discuss the possible merits and flaws of this attitude. (LO3)
The main flaw of this attitude is that business communication is still human communication, and
9. How might people’s definition of “professional behavior” depend on which industry or
type of company they’re in? (LO4)
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Chapter 1: Communicating in the Workplace
The explanations should note that our specific contexts give us different mental filters
(storehouses of experience, knowledge, biases, and priorities). Thus, when two people interpret a
Skills-Building Exercises
1. Interview a successful professional in an area of business you’re interested in to find out
how he or she feels about the importance of communication skills. See how this person
defines such skills and their importance. Ask for a positive and a negative example of a
time when communication helped determine an important outcome. (LO1)
2. You purchased two pairs of expensive shoes (or substitute another product) about six
months ago at a specialty store located 20 miles from where you live. One of the pairs
needed to be ordered from the manufacturer because the store did not have the color you
wanted. The manager told you that he would call you when that pair came in, but three
months passed, and you heard nothing. So you called the store and left a message. The
manager called you back to say that those shoes wouldn’t be available for another three
months and asked if you wanted to wait for them. You said yes—but then four more
months passed, with no word from him. You called again and left a message, but, so far,
no one has called you back. Use Exhibit 1-5 to help you decide how to use communication
to solve this problem. Explain which communication solution you think would be best
and why. (LO2, LO8, LO9)
Each student should use critical thinking to consider what questions need to be asked to get at the
heart of this problem. Are there cultural differences that make the store manager avoid talking on
the phone? What are the lines of communication like at the store? Since the phone calls have not
3. Choose a certain national or regional culture, ethnicity, or generation—one different
from your own—and find out what values the people in this demographic are generally
known for. How might working or doing business with a person from this group require
you to adapt your own values and communication style? (LO3)
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4. Using the Internet, find a company that has a corporate social responsibility program
and study what the company’s website says about that program. What kind of image as a
corporate citizen is the company trying to project, and how? How convincing is this
effort, in your opinion, and why? (LO3)
5. What do you think would be the most professional way to handle these situations? (LO4,
LO5)
a. You’re the lead student employee of your school’s technology help desk. Each day, you
field questions from faculty, staff, and students about their email accounts, the Internet, and
other tech topics. The volume of calls and emails is high, so you’re worn pretty thin by the
end of your shift each day. Today, late in the day, you get an email from a faculty member
expressing interest in having her students design a tutorial to help faculty and students
learn one of the school’s tech tools better and asking which IT person would be best to
contact about this idea. You have no idea. How do you answer?
Consider each student’s answer on its merits. A good answer will include a polite explanation of
the student employee’s position and also some questions to clarify the skills the person is looking
b. You’re the chair of the employee volunteerism committee at your workplace. After three
years in this role, you’re ready to step down. At your latest meeting, one of the committee
members eagerly volunteered to be the next chair. The thing is, this person actually hasn’t
done much of the work, and you suspect that he wants the job just to make himself look
good to the company’s leaders. You didn’t say anything right then, but now the HR
director, in whose area this committee falls, has come to your desk to ask if the person who
wants the job should be appointed to it. What do you say?
Consider each student’s answer on its merits. Some students might suggest a bold response—just
being honest about their opinions of the person. However, the assessment of the potential chair’s
c. You recently served on a team that prepared an important proposal for your company.
During the presentation of the proposal to management, one of your teammates indicated
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that she had done most of the work, when in fact she had done very little compared to you.
Do you say or do anything in response or just let it slide?
Students may suggest a few possible approaches here. One could be to confront the person
directly and suggest they apologize to the team for taking the credit. But that could result in
strained relations and more bad feelings, especially if the person won’t agree. One could be to
d. You’ve had a long, successful relationship with the supplier of some of the materials that
your company uses in its products. The company is reliable, and the quality of their
products is solid. But the sales rep you usually dealt with at this company was recently
replaced by someone who isn’t very pleasant. She seems to regard each phone call or email
from you as an annoyance and is quick to become defensive when you call any little issue to
her attention. What, if anything, would you do about this situation?
Students’ answers should include acknowledgment of the skills needed to deal with this problem.
First, the employee needs to understand the sales rep as a member of their team in these
negotiations—the two of them need to work well together in order to complete their transactions
6. Find two websites of companies in the same industry—for example, two manufacturers
of household products or two wireless service providers. Using the evidence presented on
their websites, compare their company cultures. Look at their stated mission (if any),
their history (if provided), the gender and qualifications of their personnel (if given),
their employee benefits, their information for job applicants, their information for
investors, the company image projected by the visual elements on the site—anything that
suggests who they are or who they want you to think they are. Write up your comparison
in a well-organized, well-supported message to your instructor. (LO7)
7. After noticing that some workers were starting work late and finishing early, a
department head wrote this message to subordinates:
It is apparent that many of you are not giving the company a full day’s work. Thus, the following
procedures are implemented immediately:
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Chapter 1: Communicating in the Workplace
a. After you clock in, you will proceed to your workstations and will be ready to begin
work promptly at the start of the work period.
The message was not well received by the workers. In fact, it led to considerable anger and
confusion. Using the discussion of communication planning in this chapter, explain where
the department head’s problem-solving process went awry. What did he or she fail to take
into account? (LO8, LO9)
It is easy to see why this message evoked negative reactions. In most minds, the negative
language used here is associated with harsh, autocratic leadership—the kind most of us do not
like. As will be explained in following chapters, such negative words create unpleasant mental
8. Find an article in the business press or general news about a recent incident involving a
company—for example, a merger or acquisition, a scandal or crisis, or the launching of a
new product. What kinds of communication challenges might this event have posed for
the company, both internally and externally? What kinds of messages probably needed
to be written, and to whom? (LO1-LO9)