Communication is a complex topic. Depending on the method through which a
message is conveyed, the way that the audience interprets a message can change.
Portny, Mantel, Meredith, Shafer, Sutton, and Kramer (2008) state that
effective communication involves sharing the right messages with the right
people in a timely manner. In the multimedia presentation “The Art of Effective
Communication, learners can see how the same message can come across in
different ways, depending on the format in which it is delivered. As Dr. Stolovich discusses, 93% of
communication is not in the words.
Factors that can have an impact on communication include spirit and
attitude, tonality and body language, timing, the personality of the recipient
(Laureate Education, Inc., n.d.).
First, the message was conveyed through text in an
email. When observing the text, the
observer has difficulty understanding the tone that the person is trying to
convey. There are no visual or auditory
cues for the observer to pick up on the sense of urgency that there may
possibly be. Dr. Stolovich also says
that in written communication, set purpose at the beginning (Laureate
Education, Inc., n.d.). In the email,
this occurs because in the first sentence, Jane asks Mark what the ETA is on
the missing report. In the voicemail
message, Jane seemed rather monotone. As
a result, just like with the email, there does not seem to be a sense of
urgency with the missing report that is needed.
With the voicemail, there is more of a personal connection because of
the voice but communication still seems to be lacking. Through the three examples, the face to face communication
seemed to be the best way for Jane to convey her intended message. Between her tone and body language, there is
a sense of urgency created that she really needs the reports that are missing
from Mark. In addition, going out of her
way to go and talk to Mark directly helps demonstrate that the missing reports
are crucial for her to proceed with her own work.
While the request is direct and it is stated that
missing reports are needed, it is vague in all three situations as to what
exactly the reports are that are needed.
More than one project could be taking place at the same time so it would
be important to clarify exactly what the report is that is missing rather than
Mark trying to guess. In addition, Jane
leaves it up to Mark as to whether he provides her with the missing reports or
raw data. This has the potential to lead
to additional ambiguity. After observing
all three contexts of communication, it is important to be direct when
communicating. An individual must be
specific with their audience about what they may need or want their audience to
know. By being vague, room for
interpretation is left open which could potentially create additional work or
create an unsatisfactory product with missing pieces.
Resources:
Laureate
Education, Inc. (n.d.). Communicating With Stakeholders. Video presentation.
Laureate
Education, Inc. (n.d.). The Art of Effective Communication. Multimedia
presentation.
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.
Earl,
ReplyDeleteGreat post. Your point about which data was being requested was great. This never occurred to me, but you are absolutely right. The clarification that I was looking for in this communication was a deadline for submitting the requested data. Also, if only the data was needed, why not just request it directly? This would certainly eliminate any potential excuses about being in the process of finishing the report.
Thanks,
Marc
Hi, Earl, I was interested to see how differently we all would interpret the message in our assignment. We seem to mostly agree that the voicemail was too passive and vague, but I felt the written message was the most powerful only because I could control how and where I received the message. But you are right in that the face to face created some urgency because she actually took the time to approach him and that requires you to stop and give that person your attention. However, you also bring up a good point that we still don't know exactly what the reports are for or any exact time that they are needed, which leaves the door open for them to be delayed much longer!
ReplyDeleteHi, Earl
ReplyDeleteI agree with you that the face-to-face method of communication in this case is the best approach. Whenever there is something of import to communicate, a face-to-face conversation is probably the best choice. Stolovitch tells us that important messages should be communicated face-to-face for best results (Laureate Education, n.d.). I thought your point about the content of the message presented in The Art of Effective Communication being too vague was a good one (Laureate Education, n.d.). I focused more on the tone of the three modalities and how they might be perceived. But you’re right, there is a lot of important information that is missing from the communication to begin with – such as, which report is Jane referring to? What data does she need? There easily could be more than one report, and Mark needs to know which report Jane is referring to. In a real workplace situation, Jane would need to communicate more and better information to Mark to have a successful outcome.
References
Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (n.d.). The Art of Effective Communication [DVD]. Baltimore, MD.
Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (n.d.). Communicating with Stakeholders [DVD]. Baltimore, MD: Dr. Harold Stolovitch.
Hi Earl,
ReplyDeleteAs someone else had commented they were interested to see how everyone would interpret the communication. I actually sat at the computer for a while looking at my notes and deciding if I thought that the outcome I had come to would be shared by others. It seems that we share the same opinion about the messages. I too found it odd that the report that Jana refers to is extremely important but yet she fails to provide the exact name of the report. That in and of itself maybe why Mark is not responding because he is doing multiple reports for her and he's unsure which one she needs.
Talk to you later,
Andrea
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ReplyDeleteGreat Perspective and Thoughts!
I had not even thought about what work she needed him to do to meet her deadline. It is nothing new that we all see things differently, however this week's assignment has brought it home for me. It has made it even more clear the importance of communication not just in a professional and business setting, but overall. In all aspects of our life we can work on communicating effectively.
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