Business Communications: Communication Channels - SAQ 3-2

Self-Assessment Questions (SAQ) 3-2

1. Which of the four directions of formal communication within the organization do you participate in most often? Identify examples of each type of formal communication flow in your organization.

Being the section head of the SPC group, I think I participate in the four directions of formal communication in equal amount.

Examples of each type of formal communication in our organization

Downward – business updates are sent regularly via email by the company’s President/CEO

Upward – the company has a program called ‘Employee Suggestion Program’.  It is a venue for employees to voice their opinions on cost reduction, space maximization and the likes.

Horizontal – as a group, the SPC section would normally meet to discuss goals and objectives for the coming fiscal year, project updates, brainstorm on how we could improve the services we provide to our customers and discuss problems that we have encountered and how to solve them.

Cross-channel – after each statistics training that we conduct, we ask each trainee to submit a project for us to check if they really understood the topics discussed

2. What barriers or challenges have you observed or experienced in formal communication networks? How can these challenges be addressed?

Challenge: it is very difficult to collect training assignments/projects from the participants.  Either (1) they have forgotten about the project that they need to submit to complete the training they had recently attended or (2) there are a lot of tasks assigned to them that they can no longer do the project

How we addressed the challenge:

1.    certificates are given only to those who have completed the training (all certificates are Certificate of Completion).  We do not give Certificate of Attendance anymore.

2.    we created a master list of our training participants and tagged each one of them as ‘complete’ or ‘incomplete’ whichever is applicable.  Participants with ‘incomplete’ are not accepted to any other training offered by our group.
3.    to solicit help from the participants’ superior, we do not allow them to enlist their other subordinates unless the previous ones had submitted and completed the requirements of the training. 

You might also want to see my answers on:
Business Communications: Communication Channels - Activity 3-1
Business Communications: Communication Channels - SAQ 3-1

Business Communications: Communication Channels - Activity 3-1

1.    Consider the following verbal and non-verbal barriers to communication. Which

barriers are associated with which components of the communication discussed

above? Write your answers in the table below:

Components of communication	Barriers to communication that may be associated with each component
Stimulus	Non-verbal Barrier/s c) Inappropriate emotions It is generally more effective to depend on logic instead of emotions when communicating. For example, being overly enthusiastic about what you are saying can alienate some audiences. Or allowing your emotions to run away with you (e.g. not reining in your sadness or anger) can embarrass both you and your audience, or worse, result in a communication breakdown (e.g. excessive anger can create such an emotionally charged environment that reasonable discussion is not possible). d) Distractions Any environmental or competing element that restricts one’s ability to concentrate on the communication task hinders effective communication. Such distractions are called noise. Note that ‘noise’ in communication is not always something auditory (i.e. heard with the ear); it can be anything distracting such as the room layout or the way people are dressed or what they are doing (e.g. using their smartphones while someone is making a presentation).
Filter	Verbal Barrier/s a) Inadequate knowledge or vocabulary Before you can even begin to think about how you will communicate an idea, you must have sufficient knowledge about the topic to know what you want to say. b) Differences in interpretation Sometimes senders and receivers attribute different meanings to the same word or attribute the same meaning to different words. When this happens, miscommunication can occur. Non-verbal Barrier/s b) Differences in perception This may be influenced by people’s differences in orientation, exposure or experience, knowledge, values, and the like.
Message	Verbal Barrier/s e) Over abstraction and ambiguity An abstract word refers to an idea or feeling instead of to a concrete object or something that can be seen or touched. For example, ‘communication’ is an abstract word, whereas ‘memorandum’ is a concrete word. Abstract words are necessary in order to communicate about things you cannot see or touch. However, communication problems result when you use too many abstract words or when you use too high a level of abstraction. The higher the level of abstraction, the more difficult it is for the receiver to visualize exactly what the sender has in mind.
Medium	Verbal Barrier/s c) Language differences This includes the nuances of the same language. For instance, the English language may have different pronunciation, terms, expressions depending on whose English (e.g. American English, Australian English, British English, Filipino English, Singaporean English) is used. d) Inappropriate use of expressions Examples include slang, jargon, and euphemisms. Slang is a highly informal expression, often short-lived, that is identified with a specific group of people. Jargon is the technical terminology used within specialized groups. Euphemisms are expressions used in place of words that may offend. Non-verbal Barrier/s a) Inappropriate or conflicting signals When we say one thing — for example, that we are pleased to meet someone — but our actions, posture, or expression suggests a contradictory message, others will usually believe what we do rather than what we say.
Destination	Verbal Barrier/s f) Polarization At times, some people act as though every situation is divided into two opposite and distinct poles, with no allowance for a middle ground. What you say and do not say might create or lead to polarization. For example, when you congratulate only one of the three people who took part in making a company presentation, how would the other two presenters feel, even though you said nothing negative about their performance?

2. Recall situations when you experiences any or some of these verbal and non-verbal

barriers to communication. As a communicator, what can you do to minimize these

barriers to communication?

I would normally experience ‘Distractions’ during trainings.  As the trainer (communicator) I get easily distracted with my trainees borrowing calculators from one another reasoning out that they failed to bring one (despite the fact that the training is Basis Statistics and the course outline includes descriptive statistics computation).  To avoid or minimize such incidents, I will include the phrase ‘BRING A CALCULATOR’ in every email that I will send to the participants and every memo that I will post in the bulletin boards.

You might also want to see my answers on:

Business Communications: Communication Channels SAQ 3-1
Business Communications: Communication Channels SAQ 3-2

Business Communications: Communication Channels - SAQ 3-1

Self-Assessment Questions (SAQ) 3-1

Recall a communication situation in which you were involved. Identify the five components of communication (stimulus, filter, message, medium, destination) in that communication situation.

In 2006, the Total Quality Management section of the company where I work for had opted for customized SPC software instead of buying the canned applications available in the market.  As the Statistician, I was tasked to discuss the requirements and test results with the developers.

Stimulus – the need to discuss with the developers the detailed SPC software requirements of the company

Filter –having seen and used a few other statistics software and having had the opportunity to see the actual production line where the customized application will be used, I had the ability to tell, upon testing, whether the customized application is already good for deployment

Message – the software requirements and the results of the tests conducted

Medium – oral (formal meetings and telephone discussions) and written communication (emails, test reports, manuals)

Destination – the software requirements and test results will be given to the developers

Of the five components of communication, which do you think would be the most challenging for you as a communicator (i.e. as the one sending the message) to control or regulate? Why? Is it possible to compensate for your lack of control over this component by attending to the other components within your control? Explain.

For me, the most challenging component is the Filter.  My idea of SPC software was very far from the idea of the developers.  Theirs was an application that would collect and analyze the production data. Mine was an application that would collect and analyze the production data real-time and the fastest way possible because each delay in the results is equivalent to some degree of output loss.

To compensate for this, I brought the developers in the production line.  I allowed them to see the actual line processing and how the application should contribute in the operators’ efficiency.

Do you agree that feedback is not necessary for communication to take place? When is it not necessary to get feedback in a communication situation?

I think feedback is not necessary for communication to take place but for an effective communication, there has to be a feedback.  Feedback will tell the communicator that the message he/she sent was received by the destination the way he/she intended and expected it to be received.

Feedback is not necessary for commercials, billboard ads and fliers.  Though it is not necessary, I think that it is highly appreciated (when there is any) and is measured by the increase in the sales.

You might also want to see my answers on:
Business Communications: Communication Channels - Activity 3-1
Business Communications: Communication Channels SAQ 3-2