Learning Unit1 | US: 8647, NQF LEVEL 5 WORTH 10 CREDITS APPLY WORKPLACE COMMUNICATION SKILLS |
Unit Standard Purpose | A person assessed as competent against this unit standard will be able to: Produce and respond to accessible written and oral communication in the workplace. This competence will equip individuals with the communication skills to operate more effectively in their workplace. It will contribute to more effective communication within the workplace environment. |
Learning Assumed to be in Place | A person taking this unit standard is assumed to have acquired the competence described in the ABET communication standards at levels 1 – 3. |
| INTERPRET AND RESPOND TO ACCESSIBLE WRITTEN COMMUNICATIONS IN THE WORKPLACE. |
Learning Outcomes (Assessment Criteria) | The assessment of a person against this standard should meet the requirements of established assessment principles. It will be necessary to develop assessment activities and tools which are appropriate to the contexts in which the skills will be applied. These activities and tools may include an appropriate combination of self-assessment and peer assessment; formative and summative assessment; and portfolios and observations. The assessment should ensure that all the specific outcomes, critical cross-field outcomes, and essential embedded knowledges are assessed. |
Workplace communication is the process of exchanging information, both verbal and non-verbal, within an organization. An organization may consist of employees from different parts of the society. In order to unite the activities of all employees, communication is crucial. Communicating necessary information to the entire workforce becomes necessary. Effective workplace communication ensures that all the organizational objectives are achieved.
The following are the factors influencing workplace communication:
Interpreting and translation are communication processes which involve speaking, listening, reading, and writing to express and negotiate messages between participants in the communication exchange.
Whether we are at work, in the courtroom, during doctor-patient interviews, at the immigration office, conferences, business meetings, etc., we need to speak, listen, read, and write in any language to communicate. For instance, other applications of language interpreting and translation uses can be seen in satellite and global positioning systems, world-wide assistance telecommunication(s) centers; geo conferencing, videoconferencing, videophones, teleconferencing; internet delivery of instruction on-line; email tutorials; intranet web-based education; audio computer-based tests for ESL listening skills, remote learning, multimedia, etc. Interpreting through spoken communication is used simultaneously or consecutively, on a regular basis in the business world, consulate offices, legal settings, in the medical field, technically, for liaison and group escorts, telephone transactions, conferences, etc. Translation is also a written mode, a process of communication and a language tool on-line, on the internet and the World Wide Web, through machines, electronically, commercially, legally, medically, and otherwise.
The communication exchange and/or transaction consists of spontaneous dialogue interaction, involving turn-taking conversation, in two languages, a source and a target. It is usually goal-directed in the sense that there is some outcome or message to be negotiated. The interpreter is perceived as one of the parties to this three-way exchange, in which each participant’s moves can affect each participant and thus the outcome of the event. The interpreter is a “critical link” in spoken triadic communication. Translation as a communication process also involves a three-way transaction for meaning between the writer, the reader, and the translator in a written format–it is a semantics exchange. According to Random House Webster’s Dictionary, a translation is a rendering of the same ideas in a different language from the original text. A translator communicates the writer’s message to the reader from one language to another through written text. In the same way that a computer compiler decodes and encodes data from a high-level language to a machine language, a human translator decodes and encodes the assigned meaning of symbols from a source language to a target language.
Practice:
Tone:
Opening:
Thank the person for writing about the problem. Acknowledge the person and the feelings. People write complaints to be heard, to get sympathy, an apology, action, or some financial adjustment.
“I’m sorry” and “I regret” means you did nothing wrong.
“I apologize” means you did do something wrong.
Focus:
Relate to the specific problem. Explain why you are not at fault.
Do not suggest that the reader shares the blame, even if s/he does.
Action:
Relate to what the reader wants.
Closing:
End on a positive note.
Practice
Tone
Opening
Acknowledge the mistake.
Focus
Admit your mistake and accept responsibility for the error: the “pure apology” sentence.
Do not suggest that the customer share the blame (e.g. by suggesting s/he is too sensitive).
Do not blame someone else.
Action
Be clear about the solution, adjustment or compensation (if asked and appropriate).
Closing
Try to restore the customer’s faith. You could apologize again.
Explain how you will avoid similar problems in the future.
End on a positive note.
Write a response to this e-mail from your manager. Department Heads: In preparation for the managers’ meeting, I want to know your opinion about how the present economic situation has impacted your job and your department. 1. What challenges have you faced? 2. What changes have you needed to make? 3. What challenges do you see in the future? 4. What can we do to meet these challenges? 5. What is positive about our current situation? Please respond this week. Thank you, Christine |
Write a response to this e-mail from your manager, (or a manager from an imaginary company.) Department Heads: We are updating the information we give to new employees about our company. We want to know what you think is the most important information to include. 1. What our company is like now: including the values, work environment, expectations etc. 2. A description of our company’s background and history. 3. What our company will be like in the future. Please respond this week. Thank you, Christine |
PRODUCE SIMPLE WRITTEN COMMUNICATION IN THE WORKPLACE. | |
Learning Outcomes (Assessment Criteria) | The assessment of a person against this standard should meet the requirements of established assessment principles. It will be necessary to develop assessment activities and tools which are appropriate to the contexts in which the skills will be applied. These activities and tools may include an appropriate combination of self-assessment and peer assessment; formative and summative assessment; and portfolios and observations. The assessment should ensure that all the specific outcomes, critical cross-field outcomes, and essential embedded knowledges are assessed. |
How to Make Your Writing Communicate
Effective writing allows the reader to thoroughly understand everything you are saying. This is not always easy to do. Here are a few tips that will help you:
• Affect and effect – “Affect” means “to influence” and it is a verb, like “It affected his work.” “Effect” is a noun and means “result” like in “side effects.”
• Then and then – “Then” is an adverb which refers to a time, like “We ate and then saw a movie”. “Than” is used in a comparison and is a conjunction, like “My car is bigger than yours.”
• Your and you’re – “Your” is possessive, like “Is that your boat?” “You’re” is a contraction for “you are” like “You’re so funny.”
• Its and it’s – “Its” is possessive, like “Its shape is oval.” “It’s” is a contraction for “it is” like “It’s time to go.”
• Company’s and companies – “Company’s” is possessive, like “The company’s logo is colorful.” “Companies” is plural, like “He owns three companies.”
• There, their, and they’re – “There” is an adverb meaning in or at that place, like “There it is!” “Their” is the possessive form of the pronoun “they”, like “Their hair was soaked.” “They’re” is a contraction for “they are” like “They’re going to get in trouble.”
Effective writing in the workplace is an essential skill. The rules are basically the same for any type of writing, however there are some special issues which arise in the business context. Knowing the elements of good business writing can make or break a career. This article addresses some of these basic elements.
The key to effective business writing is to know your audience. Before you sit down to compose your letter, memo or report, think about the recipient of your document. What are you trying to say to this person? Organization is crucial. Outlines are an invaluable aid to writing a lengthy report or memo. Remember, time is in short supply for most business professionals. By organizing your thoughts beforehand, you can determine what exactly you are trying to say. Decide what details must be included in the report or memo. Look for graphic elements to add to your presentation, especially if your report contains many boring statistics. Statistics and research bolster your conclusions, especially if they are presented in a visually appealing manner. With the advent of modern word processing programs such as Microsoft Word and Corel WordPerfect, it is easy to include spread sheets, graphs and colorful clip art to your report, thereby making your work memorable and convincing.
After you have decided what the message is that you are trying to convey, work on saying it in concise language. Be brief, whenever possible. Avoid wordiness and unnecessary large words.
Strive for clarity in your writing and avoid vagueness (unless there is good reason to be vague). For example:
Avoid using vague words when a more precise word will do. Take a tip from the journalists. Tell the audience what you are going to say, say it using action verbs, then sum up what it is you have said — and say it in as few words as possible.
Professional communication encompasses written, oral, visual and digital communication within a workplace context. This discipline blends together pedagogical principles of rhetoric, technology, and software to improve communication in a variety of settings ranging from technical writing to usability and digital media design. It is a new discipline that focuses on the study of information and the ways it is created, managed, distributed, and consumed. Since communication in modern society is a rapidly changing area, the progress of technologies seems too often outpace the number of available expert practitioners. This creates a demand for skilled communicators which continues to exceed the supply of trained professionals.
The field of professional communication is closely related to that of technical communication, though professional communication encompasses a wider variety of skills. Professional communicators use strategies, theories, and technologies to more effectively communicate in the business world.
Successful communication skills are critical to a business because all businesses, though to varying degrees, involve the following: writing, reading, editing, speaking, listening, software applications, computer graphics, and Internet research. Job candidates with professional communication backgrounds are more likely to bring to the organization sophisticated perspectives on society, culture, science, and technology.
PRODUCE AND RESPOND TO ACCESSIBLE ORAL COMMUNICATION IN THE WORKPLACE. | |
Learning Outcomes (Assessment Criteria) | The assessment of a person against this standard should meet the requirements of established assessment principles. It will be necessary to develop assessment activities and tools which are appropriate to the contexts in which the skills will be applied. These activities and tools may include an appropriate combination of self-assessment and peer assessment; formative and summative assessment; and portfolios and observations. The assessment should ensure that all the specific outcomes, critical cross-field outcomes, and essential embedded knowledges are assessed. |
In seeking to free ourselves from the biases of a print-oriented culture, we need to consider, not only the kinds of media and discourse genre (e.g., narrative) that are most appropriate for oral cultures, but also the most effective ways to use those genres and media. What do non-readers like to see and hear? What do they enjoy listening to? Their choices will not necessarily be the same as those of print communicators. If the styles of presentation are ones which oral communicators prefer, then they will be more likely to listen, to understand, and to remember what they hear.
Know your listeners and adapt your message to them.
Speaking is fundamentally different from writing because listening is fundamentally different from reading.
One of the most valuable communication skills you can learn is the ability to respond when you are being verbally attacked. Most people who are verbally attacked respond in like fashion. Because they interpret what the other person says as a threat, they go into fight-flight mode and either hit back or run away. In hitting back, their brains short-circuit their thinking processes and so respond with words that they later regret. The damage is done, and the relationship suffers. In the skilled communicator, a verbal attack, for whatever reason, is dealt with in another way that defuses the attack, wrong-foots the attacker, and rescues the relationship. Here are 3 techniques that you can use to achieve these results.
When most of us are attacked verbally, we go into self-defense mode and argue back. We assume that what the other person is saying is unfair and we stop listening and focus on ourselves. Psychologist George Miller suggests that, in order to rescue the exchange, we should do something different: assume for the moment that what the other person is saying is true and find out what it could be true of. So, if someone angrily says, “You xxxxxx, you’re always ignoring me”, respond with, “Yes, I have a tendency to do things that do look like I’m ignoring people sometimes” and then listen to find out more.
Another way to respond to a verbal attack is to use the Boring Baroque Response, or BBR. The BBR tactic is to give a long-winded explanation of why the other person may be right that simply takes the sting out of their argument. So, if someone angrily says, “You xxxxxx, you’re always ignoring me”, respond with, “you know, I was reading the other day in the New York Times, or was it “The Washington Post”, or maybe “The Herald”, about something similar, well it’s sort of similar, well, in any case, it struck me as similar…” and on and on. Do this while staring into space and in a straight way and you’ll defuse the tension and stop the exchange going downhill.
The third way to defuse verbal attacks and not give the attacker any fuel to keep an argument going, is to use a tactic that originally comes from Virginia Satir and is called “Computer Mode”. In Computer Mode, you talk in platitudes, generalities, and hypothetical’s and avoid anything personal. Your words can even be meaningless. So, if someone angrily says, “You xxxxxx, you’re always ignoring me”, respond with something like, “Nothing is more distressing than talking to people who don’t respond the way you want”, or even, “We’re all like ships that pass in the night”. In doing this, you signal to your attacker that you’re not going to play the personal attack game no matter how much they want a response they can feed on.
It is now proven that hostile language can be as damaging to you as hostile actions. People who are exposed to verbal attacks get sick more, are injured more, take longer to recover, and suffer more complications. It’s toxic stuff.
By managing your response with one of the 3 tactics above, you not only keep your health intact, but you also ride out a temporary aberration in your relationship and make you both safe to re-start it on a better tack.
End