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This week we were to view a multimedia program entitled The Art of Effective Communication (“the art of,"). The program presents a message that is given in three ways: by email, by voicemail, and face-to-face. Then we were to post our interpretation of each mode of communication.
Email- while reading the email I felt as if the sender
was pressuring the receiver to send the information that she wanted as soon as
possible. I also felt that the sender was being a littler sarcastic due to her
referring to how busy the receiver has been lately. I perceived that the success
or failure of her making her deadline is totally dependent on the receiver.
Voicemail- this was much better. The sender is
speaker in an easy tone and normal rate. She doesn’t sound as if is having a
meltdown. I can hear her sincerity in regards to bothering the receiver because
he has been so busy. But, she is also letting the receiver know in a calm
manner that she needs the report.
Face-to-face- this mode of communication is the best
of the three. The sender is being tactful and professional communication her
needs to the receiver. The receiver is able to see the sender and interact. The
receiver is able to pick up on the sender’s body language and facial
expression. If I were the receiver I would get the report to her immediately.
I am wary of communicating important information via
email. You just don’t know how the person on the other end is going to perceive
it. At least with a voicemail the receiver can get a sense of how the sender is
feeling regarding the subject. Professor Stolovitch (n.d.) indicated that
effective communication is influenced by:
·
Spirit and attitude
·
Tonality and body language
·
Timing
·
The personality of the recipient
As noted in our resources this week, when
communicating with a project team it is best to talk to them face-to-face. That
way nothing can be taken out of context and there is a clear understanding of
what is needed.
Reference
Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (n.d.). Project
management and instructional design. [Video Podcast]. Retrieved from https://class.waldenu.edu/webapps/portal/frameset.jsp?tab_tab_group_id=_2_1&url=%2Fwebapps%2Fblackboard%2Fexecute%2Flauncher%3Ftype%3DCourse%26id%3D_4067415_1%26url%3D
The art of effective communication [Web]. Retrieved
from http://mym.cdn.laureate-media.com/2dett4d/Walden/EDUC/6145/03/mm/aoc/index.html
Hello Katie, I agree that face-to-face communication is best for conveying a message; you can ensure the receiver is paying attention and understands the message. I do suggest one small addition and that is to add a follow-up email to ensure the request is documented; the email also allows the receiver to add the request to a task list or priority list (Laureate Education, Inc., n.d.). The concise follow-up email is also a necessity in order to include others who may need to be informed about the request who were not present for the verbal communication; by carbon copying managers and project managers they will be able to better allocate resources and complete the higher priority requests first (Portny et al., 2008). From my experience I have to say email is a great resource, especially with task assignments for organizations with enterprise-level content management systems and other programs with automated workflows. My take-way from this week’s resources is that no matter which communication avenue is leveraged it is imperative to be clear and concise while document everything (Laureate Education, Inc., n.d.)
ReplyDeleteReferences:
Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (n.d.). Communicating with Stakeholders [Video webcast]. Retrieved from http://mym.cdn.laureate-media.com/Walden/EDUC/6145/03/downloads/WAL_EDUC6145_03_A_EN-CC.zip
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.
Thanks for you post Joe.
DeleteHi Katie
ReplyDeleteI can see you got the same result as I did when viewing this weeks resources on the effective communication. The email I found a bit harsh and the face-to-face approach was obviously the best out of the three as the body language and facial expressions were visible. I got mixed feelings about the voicemail, one minute it sounded harsh and the next minute desperate. I can see from your post that delivery of some correspondence via face-to-face meetings is the best way and should be used the most (at least the most important ones) but do you think it will be feasible?
Best regards
-Rósa