Why do you need to know the purpose of any communication you
are sending and its Intended audience (1.1, 1.2) In what way does this affect the language you
might use when producing written communication or information? (2.3)
The purpose of communication is for human us to be able to understand
each other for different reasons. So if we develop our communicative skills we
can use this skill as a tool to help me learn or explain something to someone
or both. We also communicate to help one another, listen to each others'
problems, and solve difficulties we face in life, find solutions to obstacles
that may come into our lives.
If we know the audience, we can more effectively communicate
with and persuade that audience. My motivation is to get satisfaction from
expressing my ideas and getting recognition from the audience.
Colloquial, casual, and formal writing are three common
styles that carry their own particular sets of expectations. Style also depends
on the purpose of the document and its audience.
Colloquial language is an informal, conversational style of
writing.
Casual language involves everyday words and expressions in a
familiar group context such as conversations with family or close friends.
Formal language is communication that focuses on
professional expression with attention to roles, protocol, and appearance. It
is characterized by its vocabulary and syntax or the grammatical arrangement of
words in a sentence.
Describe different methods of communication and when you would use them? (1.3,1.4)
Different methods of communication that I would use in a
business environment are:
Written
communication by exchange of letters, emails or faxes. I would use every day to
communicate with customer, colleagues at work and with my supervisors
Communication can be informal, like face to face
communication that occurs in general in a daily situation, or formal and It
follows proper order, and procedures, and can be recorded to store the
outcomes.
What are some of the key information sources you may need to
refer to when preparing written communication and information? (2,1)
The Key information sources I may need to refer to when
preparing written communication and information and that can guard me against
inaccuracies can be guidelines, policies, procedures, records, meeting notes,
specifications, handbooks, directories, service plans, organisation charts and
the organisation intranet and I could speak with colleagues or managers.
If I am responding to a customer or to a manager I would
read them through carefully to check I have addressed all the relevant points.
When using email what are some of the key principles you
should follow? (2.2)
The key principles I should follow when using email are:
Start the
email with a proper greeting as Mr, Mrs. If is acceptable within the organisation
we could ‘Hi’ or ‘Hello’.
We must
explain the purpose of the message in a concise manner in the subject line.
Get to
the point of the message as soon as possible.
Don’t
write in capital letters.
Be
careful of sending out email to a large number of people because some people
don’t want their email address to be known by estrangers.
Don’t
open an attachment or click in a link in an
email from someone I don know as it could end up infecting the computer
with a virus.
It is not
acceptable to use emoticons and abbreviations (like the ones used in mobile
text messages). I could look very unprofessional.
Never use
email to discuss confidential information and follow the Data Protection
legislation.
Don’t use
work email account to send personal emails.
What should you do to ensure that your written
communications are organised, structured and well presented to meet the needs
of the intended audience? (2.4)
To ensure that my written communications are organised,
structured and well presented to meet the need of the intended audience we
should start by identifying who will read the message. We need to think about
what they need to know and the vocabulary we need to use. We must think about
the tone of the message as well.
We should create an outline that will help to identify which
steps to take in which order and use simple language.
The structure of the document should be “reader friendly”.
What are the main ways you can check the accuracy of any
written communication you produce? (2.5)
Any written content or communication has to be free of
spelling and grammatical errors. It also has to be in the right and
professional format.
We need
to check the points written down: Whatever we write has to be accurate,
otherwise it will have disastrous effects and can even ruin the reputation of
the organisation, and the organisation can itself get into trouble.
We need
to do a spell check and grammar check. Spell-check is an option available to
easily correct typo errors. Sometimes it will not be 100% accurate, because if
you had typed a word instead of another, then spell check will not be able to
trace it. So it is always best to even read through the document twice before
finalising.
We could
use a template. Every organisation has a different style for documents they
produce. As an organisation, documents have to be produce in a standard and
professional format.
We could
have our document read by another reader. Sometimes when we read or own work
error can be hard to detect
What is meant by plain English and why is it used? (2.7)
Plain English sometimes referred to more broadly as plain
language is a generic term for communication styles that emphasise clarity and
the avoidance of technical language - particularly in relation to official
government communication, including laws.
The intention is to write in a manner that is easily
understood by everyone and is appropriate to their reading skills and knowledge,
clear and direct, free of cliché and unnecessary jargon.
Plain English is simple, straightforward, easily understood
English, in other words the opposite of the English used by lawyers which uses
long words, out-of-date words, technical words and Latin words.
Why is it important to ensure that spelling, grammar and
punctuation are accurate? (2.6)
The main purpose in the correct use of grammar, punctuation
and spelling is ensuring the receiver of the information reads it accurately.
Addition to this when given a task to do, your employer expects you to do it
perfectly. When a document has inaccuracies, readers tend to distrust
everything, including the statistics, opinions, and facts. This would be
relayed back to my employer who would themselves lose confidence in our
ability. For progression in my company I need to ensure I carry out all tasks
to a certain standard.
Why is it necessary to proof read and check written work?
(2.8)
Any work that is written has to be proofread and checked
because the content that we write is important. The way a paper or any
information looks affects the way others judge it. We all put in so much effort
to develop a document and put in all the ideas and skills we have to create a
document. So it has to be error free, else it will create a bad impression to
the reader, which affects the name of the organisation. So it is always best to
create the correct document and make a good impression. As they say, “The first
impression is the best impression”.
I should proofread virtually any written piece, from emails
to minutes.
Just proofreading will have a great effect on the quality of
my material, and I am sure that way, I will earn more compliments from people.
How do you distinguish between work which is important and
that which is urgent? (2.9)
Important communications those that can provide significant
value to the organisation This could be reports to managers, partners, emails
and letters to staff about developments or changes within the organisation.
Urgent communications are those which have deadlines. Urgent
task are not necessarily complicated but are usually linked to the organisation
targets for response times.
What are the
procedures you need to follow for saving and filing written
communications in your
organisation? (2.10)
The procedures I need to follow for saving filling written
communications in my organisation are when I file records, I organise files or
records with similar information together. Important documents that need
accessing by other departments or member of staff are saved in the shared
drive. Any confidential information are kept in personal folders or encrypted
with a password.
Records may be kept as paper files, or electronically in
shared drives, databases, or document management systems.
When speaking with people face to face and over the
telephone, what can you do to ensure you are presenting information and ideas
clearly and are contributing effectively to
discussions? (3.1, 3.2)
To ensure I am presenting information and ideas clearly when
speaking with people face to face or over the phone I should think about what I
am going to say before start talking so when I present information and ideas
they will be much more concise. Knowing the subject matter by reading about it, doing some research or asking
colleagues or managers will help as well. It is a good idea to write it down so
we can organise our thoughts and then express them clearly. We can ask
questions to get some feed back and make the other person participate in the
conversation.
How do you show people you are actively listening to them?
(3.3)
To show people that I am actively listening face to face or
over the phone I need to use appropriate phrases like I see, I understand, mmmm
and ask questions to check my understanding.
In face to face communication I can see as well facial
expressions of the person I am talking to and they can see mine. Not being
sincere or not showing interest in the other person when talking to them can be
notice from our facial expressions and our gestures
We should make eye contact with the person we are talking to
and show that we are actively listening by nodding our head or saying ‘yes’ or
‘I see’.
When talking to people face to face or over the telephone,
what are the key reasons you would summarise your conversations with them?
(3.4)
When talking to people face to face or over the phone they
reasons I should summarise my
conversation with them is to reflect back what I have heard and because is not
helpful to make assumptions. It always better to check if we are not sure of
something and ask the other person to give us further information.
Summarising can improve the quality and accuracy of our conversation.
What are the main ways you can get feedback on whether
communications with others have been effective and how can that feedback be
used to develop your communication skills? (4.1,4.2)
The main ways I can get feedback on whether communications
with others have been effective are asking questions and making sure they
understood fully. We should ask colleagues and mangers to give us feed back on
how we are communicating with others.
During face to face conversations you can watch the facial
expressions, gestures, and posture of the person you're communicating with and
from this determine their level of interest and agreement with your
message.
I should observe more experience colleagues and ask them
what I do well and areas where I can improve. I could collect examples of well
constructed email and letters and use them as a reference.
I will have to set the example for the team and create an
environment of trust that makes it okay to share feedback. I should provide my
team with a balance of positive feedback and feedback for improvement and
receive them too.
Mandatory Unit: 204: Level 2 Business and Administration
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