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Group 6 Workplace Communication

The document discusses the importance of effective workplace communication, emphasizing the need to consider purpose, audience, and tone. It outlines three main purposes of workplace writing: to recreate a record, request or provide information, and persuade, while also detailing different communication categories such as upward, lateral, downward, and outward communication. Additionally, it highlights the significance of maintaining a respectful and reader-centered tone, as well as adhering to ethical standards to avoid tactics that can corrupt communication.

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prinzjoemermadera1612
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5 views4 pages

Group 6 Workplace Communication

The document discusses the importance of effective workplace communication, emphasizing the need to consider purpose, audience, and tone. It outlines three main purposes of workplace writing: to recreate a record, request or provide information, and persuade, while also detailing different communication categories such as upward, lateral, downward, and outward communication. Additionally, it highlights the significance of maintaining a respectful and reader-centered tone, as well as adhering to ethical standards to avoid tactics that can corrupt communication.

Uploaded by

prinzjoemermadera1612
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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COMMUNICATION FOR WORK

PURPOSES

GROUP 6

MEMBERS:

PALDING, JEMERSON
PASION, DARENE ALEIJAH
ORENIA, SHANLEY
MADERA, PRINZ JOEMER
EVANGELISTA, MARK BRYAN
A. WORKPLACE COMMUNICATION?

Workplace communication is a discipline of its own that is unlike academic or


scholastic writing. Workplace writing serves specific purposes for particular individuals,
groups, organizations, or departments. The same is true to spoken communication in the
workplace both in personal interactions or through phone conversations. Therefore, in
communicating in the workplace, your purpose and audience should be identified and
specifically considered to ensure that your message and the way you deliver your message
are appropriate to the context.

In communicating in the workplace, there are 3 things you need to consider:


1. PURPOSE. According to Searles (2014), nearly all workplace writing is done for at
least one of three purposes: to recreate a record, to request or provide information, or to
persuade.

So, before attempting to compose a letter, you must first do some thinking in order to identify
which of the three categories of purpose applies. Ask yourself two questions: Am I writing
primarily to create record, to request/provide information, or to persuade? Summarized in
one sentence, what am I trying to say? To answer, focus on your subject matter, with special
emphasis on the most important elements. To enable you to get off to a running start,
answering the five W's (who, what when, where,why) might be a helpful strategy.

2. AUDIENCE. Who will read what I have written? That is the next logical question. Also,
the following questions should be considered: Am I writing to one person or more than one?
What are their job titles and/or areas of responsibility? What they do already know about the
specific situation? Why do they need this information? What do I want them to do as a result
of receiving it? What factors might influence their response? (Searles, 2014).

By answering these questions, you will be better able to state the purpose of your
communication, provide necessary details, cite meaningful examples, achieve the correct
level of formality, and avoid possible misunderstandings, thereby achieving the outcome that
you desire.

In identifying your audience, the following broad categories of workplace communication


must be considered:

a. Upward Communication– from your position to an audience above you in the job
hierarchy. Example: A response to a letter from your manager.

b. Lateral Communication– between you and an audience within your level of hierarchy.
Example: A phone call to/from a coworker you are collaborating with.

c. Downward Communication– from your position to an audience below you in the job
hierarchy. Example: An oral reminder to a trainee.

d. Outward Communication – between you and a company that you do business with or an
audience outside your workplace. Example: A letter of inquiry addressed to a supplier
regarding a delivery to your office.
The category influences workplace communication in many ways, particularly in
determining format. For example, for the first three categories, memos and emails are the
preferred mediums. For the fourth one, writing business letters, and sometimes for efficiency
purpose, emailing are the norms.

3. TONE
Tone in workplace communication means the feeling your words give — are you being
polite, bossy, friendly, or cold?

When you start a message, you can use two styles:

Writer-centered:
You focus on yourself (the sender).
Example: "I want this done today."

Reader-centered:
You focus on the person you're talking to (the reader).
Example: "Can you please finish this today so we can stay on track?"

Reader-centered tone is better at work because it shows respect and teamwork.

- Expressing messages in a gentle manner is important, even when discussing negative topics
such as delayed projects, going beyond a deadline or denied claims.
-Use the most upbeat, relatable, gentle and reader-centered wordings
- Using positive words like "please" and "thank you" can help create a sense of
understanding between the sender and receiver.
- Rephrasing negative content into more positive climate can impact the tone of the
message.

Examples:
1. Instead of "I cannot process your request for a credit in your account unless it has
been investigated by the fraud department", say "Your request for a credit in your
account will be processed after it has been investigated.”
2. Instead of “We are closed after 5:00 PM daily”, say “You may visit us daily before
5:00 PM.”
3. Instead of “Wait for our call regarding your concern.” say “Please be advised that
you can expect a call from us regarding your concern.”
- When acknowledging mistakes, it's important to apologize without incriminating oneself
or one's group. A simple acknowledgment and apology can go a long way in maintaining
positive relationships.

Making an apology which is vague and rather impersonal does not mean that workplace
communication suggest to falsify responsibility. It is important that you uphold moral
and ethical standards in providing sincerity to an issue.

Speaking of moral and ethical standards, remember that workplace communication will fail
the ethics test if it is corrupted by any of the following tactics identified by Searles (2014):

1. Suppression of information: The outright burying of data to hide inconvenient


truths. (Example: A company fails to reveal product-testing results that indicate
potential danger to consumers.)
2. Falsification or fabrication: Changing or simply inventing data to support a desired
outcome. (Example: A company boasts of a fictitious enterprise to lure investors
into supporting a new venture.)
3. Overstatement or understatement: Exaggerating the positive aspects of a situation
or downplaying negative aspects to create the desired impression.
(Example: A public-opinion survey describes 55 percent of the respondents as a
"substantial majority" or 45 percent as "a small percentage.")
4. Selective misquoting: Deleting words from quoted material to distort the meaning.
(Example: A supervisor changes a report's conclusion that "this proposal will seem
feasible only to workers unfamiliar with the situation" to
"this proposal will seem feasible... to workers.")
5. Subjective wording: Using terms deliberately chosen for their ambiguity.
(Example: A company advertises "customary service charges," knowing that
"customary" is open to broad interpretation.)
6. Conflict of interest: Exploiting behind-the-scenes connections to influence decision
making. (Example: A board member of a community agency encourages the agency
to hire her company for paid services rather than, soliciting bids.)
7. Withholding information: Refusing to share relevant data with coworkers.
(Example: A computer-savvy employee provides misleading answers about new
software to make a recently hired coworker appear incompetent.)
8. Plagiarism: Taking credit for someone else's ideas, findings, or written material.
(Example: An employee assigned to prepare a report submits a similar report
written by someone at another company and downloaded from the Internet.

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