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CHAPTER 1: Professional Communication in Today’s Digital, Social,
Mobile World
CHAPTER SUMMARY
Chapter 1 focuses on the importance and benefits of becoming an effective business
communicator and highlights characteristics of effective communication. A definition of
effective communication is followed by a discussion of why communication is important in
business, and what it means to communicate effectively as a professional in today’s global
business environment. The eight phases in the communication process are also explored, and the
traditional “publishing” model of communication is compared with the newer, more interactive
social communication model. The challenges and opportunities presented by the rise of mobile
communication in business are also explored.
Three key ways to improve business communication are addressed in detail: committing to
ethical communication, communicating in a world of diversity, and using communication
technology effectively. Examples of unethical communication practices and a discussion of how
to recognize ethical choices precede a list of questions to help a communicator make an ethical
decision. Readers will learn about ways to recognize cultural differences in areas such as cultural
contexts, ethics, social customs, and nonverbal communication. The suggestions for polishing
both written and oral intercultural skills can help a businessperson communicate more effectively
with those of differing cultural backgrounds, as can the list of tips for working in a culturally
diverse workforce. Readers are offered an overview of technologies that connect businesses, and
aspects of using communication technology effectively are presented. The chapter introduces six
related skills that readers can develop as they progress through the course. The information
presented in Chapter 1 provides a base for all the remaining chapters in the text.
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CHAPTER OUTLINE
Why Communication Is the Most Important Business Skill
Communication Is Important to Your Career
Communication Is Important to Your Company
What Makes Business Communication Effective?
Communicating as a Professional
Understanding What Employers Expect from You
Communicating in an Organizational Context
Adopting an Audience-Centered Approach
Exploring the Communications Process
The Basic Communication Model
The Social Communication Model
The Mobile Revolution
The Rise of Mobile as a Business Communication Platform
How Mobile Technologies Are Changing Business Communication
Committing to Ethical Communication
Distinguishing Ethical Dilemmas from Ethical Lapses
Making Ethical Choices
Communicating in a World of Diversity
The Advantages and Challenges of a Diverse Workforce
Key Aspects of Cultural Diversity
Cultural Context
Legal and Ethical Differences
Social Customs
Nonverbal Communication
Age Differences
Gender Differences
Religious Differences
Ability Differences
Advice for Improving Intercultural Communication
Writing for Multilingual Audiences
Speaking with Multilingual Audiences
Using Technology to Improve Business Communication
Keeping Technology in Perspective
Using Tools Productively
Guarding Against Information Overload
Reconnecting with People Frequently
Developing Skills for Your Career
The Future of Communication: Real-Time Translation
What’s Your Prediction?
Chapter Review and Activities
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TEACHING NOTES
Why Communication Is the Most Important Business Skill
Communication is the process of transferring information and meaning between senders and
receivers using one or more media and communication channels.
You can have the greatest ideas in the world, but they’re no good to your company or your career
if you can’t express them clearly and persuasively.
Effective communication yields a number of important benefits for both you and your company:
• A stronger sense of trust between individuals and organizations
• Closer ties with important communities in the marketplace
• Opportunities to influence conversations, perceptions, and trends
• Increased productivity and faster problem solving
Good ideas must be expressed clearly and persuasively. To develop effective messages, be sure
to follow these steps:
• Provide practical information.
• Give facts rather than vague impressions.
Communicating as a Professional
Professionalism is the quality of performing at a high level and conducting oneself with purpose
and pride. In this section, readers will learn the significance, and expectation of, being
professional.
Professionalism can be broken down into six elements:
• Be the best.
• Be dependable.
• Be a team player.
Readers will understand how professionalism interacts, and depends upon, effective
communication. They will learn the nature of organizational communication and what
competencies employers expect:
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• Recognizing information needs, using efficient search techniques to locate reliable
sources of information, and using gathers information ethically (these skills are
collectively known as “digital informational fluency”)
• Organizing ideas and information logically and completely
• Expressing ideas and information coherently and persuasively
• Actively listening to others
• Communicating effectively with people of diverse backgrounds and experiences
Readers will learn to differentiate between social, scholastic, and professional styles of
communication. They will look at the audience-centered approach to professional
communication and begin to understand the importance of proper business communications
etiquette.
Exploring the Communication Process
Communication is a dynamic, two-way process containing eight steps. It is helpful to understand
these steps so that you may improve your own skills and be able to recognize the many places
and ways in which communication can fail.
The following eight steps make up the communication process:
1. The sender has an idea.
3. The sender produces the message in a transmittable medium.
5. The intended audience receives the message.
7. The receiver responds to the message.
8. The receiver provides feedback.
The communication process described above generally represents the traditional nature of much
business communication, which was primarily defined by a publishing or broadcasting mindset.
In contrast, a newer and increasingly effective social communication model has emerged,
characterized by communication that is interactive, conversational, and usually open to all who
want to participate. Instead of transmitting a fixed message, a sender in a social media
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between personal and professional lives. A hybrid approach is emerging, with some
communications following the traditional approach and others following the social model.
The Mobile Revolution
Some experts predict that mobile communication will change the nature of business
communication even more than social media has. Mobile devices are the primary communication
platform for many professionals. Professionals use many of the same mobile communication
tools you use now, along with thousand of business-focused mobile apps. Many users feel an
intense and personal connection to their mobile devices, and mobile communication can start to
Here are some of the most significant ways mobile technology is changing the practice of
business communication:
• Constant connectivity is a mixed blessing.
• Physical layouts of mobile devices present challenges for creating and consuming
content.
• Mobile users are often multitasking and therefore distracted.
• Put the right information in the hands of the right people at the right time.
• Allow companies to create more engaging experiences for customers and other users.
The mobile revolution complicates business communication in some ways, but it can enhance
communication in many ways if done thoughtfully.
Committing to Ethical Communication
Business communicators have a responsibility to communicate ethically with audiences. Ethics
are the accepted principles of conduct that govern behavior within a society. Ethical
communication includes all relevant information, is true in every sense, and is not deceptive in
any way. Unethical communication can include falsehoods and misleading information (or
exclude important information).
Examples of unethical communication include the following:
• Plagiarizing
• Omitting essential information
• Selectively misquoting
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• Failing to disclose financially beneficially relationships
Transparency involves giving audiences access to the information they need to make effective
decisions. Native advertising and stealth marketing are unethical if the intended targets of these
messages are not informed about the true promotional nature of the communication.
Deciding what is ethical can be quite complex.
Employers have a responsibility to establish clear guidelines for ethical behavior. Many
companies establish an explicit ethics policy by using a written code of ethics to help employees
determine what is acceptable.
Asking yourself six questions can help you make an ethical decision:
• Have you defined the situation fairly and accurately?
• What is your intention in communicating this message?
• What impact will this message have on the people who receive it, or who might be
affected by it?
• Will the message achieve the greatest possible good while doing the least possible harm?
• Will the assumptions you’ve made change over time?
• Are you comfortable with your decision?
Communicating in a World of Diversity
Diversity includes the traits and experiences that define people as individuals. Some aspects of
diversity, such as race and age, are inherent. Others, such as work history, language, religion,
cultural immersion, and education, are acquired through life experience. Together, these
A diverse workforce offers a broader spectrum of viewpoints and ideas, helps companies
understand and identify with diverse markets, and enables companies to benefit from a wider
range of employee talents. Culture can also create friction, however, because it leads people to
assume that everyone thinks and feels the way they do.
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useful definition includes looking at individuals as they are defined by their life experiences and
characteristics they possess.
Culture affects the way you think which, in turn, affects the way you communicate.
Every attempt at communication occurs within a cultural context, which includes:
• Patterns of physical cues
• Environmental stimuli
• Implicit understanding of how to convey meaning between members of different cultures
High-context cultures rely less on the explicit content of the message and more on the context of
nonverbal actions and environmental setting to convey meaning. The primary role of
Low-context cultures rely more on the explicit content and less on circumstances and cues to
convey meaning. The primary task of communication in low context cultures is to exchange
information.
Legal and ethical behaviors are also affected by cultural context. Making ethical choices across
cultures can seem complicated, but you can keep your messages ethical by applying four
principles:
Rules governing social customs differ from culture to culture. Some rules are formal and
specifically articulated (e.g., table manners) and some are informal and learned over time (e.g.,
the comfortable standing distance between two speakers in an office).
Nonverbal communication is a vital part of the communication process. Nonverbal
communication includes everything from facial expressions to style of dress. Interpreting
nonverbal communication according to your own culture can be dangerous. Even simple hand
gestures change meaning from culture to culture.
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Perspectives on gender also vary across cultures, resulting in vastly different views of men and
women in business. Gender influences workplace communication in several important ways:
• Perception of men and women in business varies between cultures
• Men in management roles increases steadily as one progresses
Religious differences can lead to a great deal of controversy since religion is one of the most
personal and influential aspects of life.
Working effectively with others whose hearing, vision, cognitive ability and/or mobility differ
from yours requires respect and care. Follow the tips below to communicate more effectively in
cross-cultural situations:
• Avoid ethnocentrism (the tendency to judge all other groups according to the standards,
behaviors, and customs of one’s own group).
• Avoid stereotyping (assigning a wide range of generalized—and often inaccurate—
attributes to individuals on the basis of their membership in a particular culture or social
group).
• Don’t automatically assume that others think, believe, or behave as you do.
• Accept differences in others without judging them.
To help you prepare effective written communications for multicultural (and multilingual)
audiences, remember these tips:
• Use plain language.
• Avoid words with multiple meanings.
• Be clear.
To help you prepare effective oral messages for those for whom English is not their native
language, remember these tips:
• Speak clearly, simply, and relatively slowly.
• Look for feedback, but interpret it carefully.
• Rephrase if necessary.
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• Clarify your meaning with repetition and examples.
• Don’t talk down to the other person.
Using Technology to Improve Business Communication
Today’s businesses rely heavily on technology to facilitate the communication process. The
benefits of technology are not automatic—to communicate effectively, keep technology in
perspective:
• Keep technology in perspective.
When sending a message, ensure it is meaningful and important to the receiver. As the receiver,
try to control the number and type of messages received. Focus on job-related messages.
Step out from behind technology frequently to learn more about other people in the workplace.
Developing Skills for Your Career
In addition to helping develop your communication skills, this course will help you enhance a
wide range of other skills vital for success in the 21st-century workplace:
• Critical thinking
• Collaboration
If you’ve ever tried to converse in a language other than your native tongue, you know what a
challenge it can be. Translating speech in real time is a challenging proposition, but a number of
companies are making progress.
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OVERCOMING DIFFICULTIES STUDENTS OFTEN FACE
Getting off to a good start is essential to a successful term. Students will most likely experience
some anxiety about the course requirements and content. Taking the time to provide an overview
of the various chapters and elements of communication they will study can help overcome this
initial uneasiness.
Although students will typically follow along with an explanation of the model of the
communication process presented in the text, take time to discuss the model in class and provide
numerous illustrations. Provide examples of feedback that is immediate, (for example, feedback
given in a face-to-face conversation) versus feedback that is delayed (for example, a letter to a
newspaper editor). Provide examples that illustrate where problems can arise within the
Students will have grown up with social media and mobile technology in a way that previous
generations have not. This familiarity may present them with certain advantages in navigating
the use of these technologies in business today. However, it may also impact their expectations
of what professional writing should be, and how “connected” they need to be via technology.
This can lead to a robust discussion about some of these issues, like where the boundary should
be between personal and professional lives, and the difference between appropriate social
communication versus business communication conventions and expectations. Practice Your
Skills Activities 1-21–1-23 provide some opportunities to explore these kinds of issues.
Students should all be able to provide examples of unethical business actions; however, they may
not have viewed some of these as ethical issues as they relate to communication. Engage students
by discussing communication documents such as product warranties, product assembly
instructions, customer service documents, telephone conversations, marketing brochures and
Helping students understand the importance of intercultural sensitivity often becomes a
challenging task. During the class coverage of this topic, some students may argue that if a
company from another part of the world wants to do business with a U.S. firm, then the other
organization should adjust to U.S. business practices. Some will ask why U.S. companies are
always expected to give in to the other companies’ practices. Other students may suggest that if
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The idea of high-context and low-context cultures will undoubtedly be very new to students.
Give various examples of how the context can affect business negotiations, ethical decisions, and
the manner in which business is conducted. Since many students may not have traveled
extensively, they may not understand how differently business is conducted in other countries.
Provide examples of how to conduct business with firms in South America, Japan, Germany,
France, and so forth. Or, have students do some research on the Internet to find country-specific
information about business negotiations, high- and low-context cultures, and social customs
(other than just dress and dining issues), all of which they can share with the class.
Building on the oral communication discussion, help students develop a list of things they should
do and things they should avoid when writing to an intercultural audience.
Some students may be employed by companies with a diverse workforce. Lead a discussion to
help the entire class identify the responsibilities a businessperson has to communicate effectively
with co-workers. Help students understand that even though employees were born and raised in
the United States, they may not share the same cultural background. Pointing out such
differences can help students understand that we all need to follow the tips provided for
SUGGESTED CLASSROOM EXERCISES
1. Get Acquainted. To help start the class and the term in an enthusiastic manner, ask students
to work in teams of two and interview each other. Give students five minutes to gather
information about each other. You can either provide a list of facts you want the students to
2. The Communication Process. Assign students to work in teams. Each team should prepare its
own interpretation of the communication process by drawing a communication model and