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Fit1049 full set notes
IT Professional Practice (Monash University)
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Lecture 1 Notes: Introduction to IT Profession and
Communications
Objectives
1. Consider a number of communication models
Formal Communication Models
Laswell’s Model
Shannon-Weaver Model
2. Priestley’s paradox: the more we elaborate our means of
communication, the less we actually communicate.
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Lecture 2 Notes: Types of Communication
Outline
1. Types of communication
2. Intrapersonal communication skills
3. Interpersonal communication skills
3.1.
Assertiveness
3.2.
Listening
3.3.
Questioning
3.4.
Feedback
4. Intercultural communication
Types of communications
1. Intrapersonal
2. Interpersonal
3. Team/Group
4. Organizational/communal
5. Public/media
Intrapersonal communication
Benefits:
o Increased level of self-awareness
o Increased autonomy of self-management
o Increased self-confidence
Potential pitfalls:
o Over-thinking
o Misconceptions
o Incorrect decisions
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Four essential Interpersonal skills
o Assertiveness
o Listening
o Questioning
o Feedback
Assertiveness skills
1. Say No – provide explanation, speak without strain, offer alternative
2. Dismiss and redirect – dismiss query, redirect to something else
3. Prompting – ask questions that raise the persons inner thinking
4. Fogging – calmly acknowledge criticism
5. Forcing choice – get recipient to force a choice for you
6. Broken Record – calmly repeat everything
7. Asking for Specifics – get a specific explanation after being criticized
8. Workable Compromise – cannot resolve problem, have a compromise
9. Threat – very carefully use threats as last resort
Listening Skills from non-verbal cues
1. Nodding head
2. Upright posture
3. Body towards speaker
4. Facial features
5. Direct eye contact
6. Friendly grunts
Listening Barriers
1. Changing the subject
2. Not paying attention
3. Focusing on facts communicated without paying attention to talk
4. Over-interpreting speaker’s words
5. Letting judgement interfere with message
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6. Rehearse response
Listening techniques
1. Clarifying the speaker’s meanings
2. Checking the accuracy of what the speaker has said
3. Summarizing back to the speaker
4. Open a door, prompting speaker to continue
Questioning skills
1. Direct probe – direct, blunt question
2. Open – can get broad range of answers ranging who, what, when, where, how
3. Closed – questions seeking yes or no response
4. Objective criteria – questions focusing on objective facts
5. Testing – questions which speaker already knows the answer, but testing the
responder
6. Softening up – soften up audience by building flattery
7. Hypothetical – what if questions
8. Reflective – reflect
person feelings back
to them
9. Leading – suggests
the response to
person
10. Rhetorical
11. Stupid
12. Trick compliment
13. Back on Track
14. False dilemma
Deciding when to use open or closed questions is key for IT professional
practice.
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Feedback skills – effective feedback must be constructive and hence:
1. Fair
2. Accurate
3. Specific
4. Formally structured
5. Solution oriented
6. Focused on behavior, not personality
Intercultural communication – the process of sending and receiving meaningful &
unambiguous information between two or more individuals from different cultures
o Stereotypes vs inter-cultural understanding
o Cultural influence vs individual attributes/preferences
o Your own cultural background vs their cultural specificity
o Culture is not Race or Religion
Cultures differ
o Power differences
o Masculine & feminine culture
o High and low ambiguity tolerant culture
o Individualist & collective orientations
o High & low context cultures
Improving Cross-cultural communications
o Prepare ourselves, research and understand culture of individuals
o Reduce uncertainty by engaging effective communication techniques:
▪
Active listening
▪
Perception checking
▪
Seeking feedback
o Recognize differences
▪
Between yourself and group
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Lecture 3 Notes: Research Skills
Outline
1. What is and is not research
2. How to perform information searching
3. How to find and cite information
4. Where information can be sound
5. How to present information effectively
6. Difference between quoting, paraphrasing and plagiarism
Research – actively finding information new to researchers
Research process
1. Collection – Seeking data for research
2. Analysis – Filtering and transforming data into information
3. Synthesis – Processing information to understand connections
4. Insight – Achieve deep understanding of research
Three types of research
1. Theoretical – Uses theory papers from credible authors
2. Quantitative – Numerical data source
3. Qualitative – Non-numerical data source – interpretation based
Sources of information
1. Primary – data collected closest to the source
a. Research papers
b. eyewitness
2. Secondary – data utilizing primary sources
a. Dictionaries
b. Journal article
3. Tertiary – data combining both primary and secondary
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Attributes of information
1. Currency (timeliness) – how up to date information is
a. Should be relevant and recent
b. Depending on field, IT should be newer the better
2. Accuracy – how correct information is
a. Hard to critique, so must check sources
b. Credible author?
c. Credible source?
d. Multiple sources agree with info claim?
3. Authority – similar to accuracy
a. Higher the authority figure, more reputable the information
b. Source should be written by expert, or well-known publisher
c. Utilize and source other credible sources
4. Accessibility – how easy it is to find the resource or understand the info inside
a. May require payment
b. Different language
5. Stability – how likely the information is to remain the same
a. Can be volatile and irrelevant instantly
b. Or can be involatile and relevant for long time
Organising and working with information
o Must sort resources
o Ensure can access whenever needed
o What notes to take for them
Evaluating sources
o What does the source have to offer?
o Strengths and weaknesses of each source ( Source of info, attribute of info)
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Presenting Information – sharing findings, many ways to do this
1. Reports
a. Summary
b. Statement to find
c. Explanations
d. Findings
e. Possible future lines of enquiry
2. Presentation
a. More complex, have to consider audience, purpose, knowledge
Citing and Referencing
1. Author-date citation – Includes author and date of work in body text references
2. Numbered citation – uses numbered footnotes for references and places
reference source at the end of each page
APA 6th for FIT1049
End of text reference
For book, Order will be Author, year published, book title, city published, State,
publisher.
For journal article, Order will be Author, year published, article title, periodical title,
volume issue, page number
ALL In text citation is the same for all mediums,.e.g.
(Bernal & Wilson, 1998), (Jones & Liu, 1997), Malone, 1981)
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Lecture 4 Notes - Oral Presentation as a Form of Communication
Outline
1. Appreciate how you can change your presentation approach for different
contexts required
2. Be familiar with the best way to present given the context
3. Understand basics of preparing your oral presentation
4. Recognize how to deliver an oral presentation through verbal and non-verbal
communication
Preparation
1. Purpose and context
o Size of audience
o Time allowed
o Audience characteristics
o Speaker’s objective
2. Content and structure
o Build structure around main
points
o Make content interesting
o Easy to follow
o Tell a story
3. Visual aids
a. Content – don’t overload – minimize clutter
b. Font type and size – easy to read – standard font - consistent
c. Animation – avoid unless has purpose – can be annoying
d. Images/figures/video – use to explain concepts effectively
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Delivery
1. Non-verbal communications
o Confident, open posture
o Avoid submissive/closed posture
o Use hands naturally, avoid being too wooden
o Eye contact – always make with entire audience
2. Voice
o Control modulation/intonation
o Articulation and clarity
o Speed
3. Language
o Fluency
o Formality
o Beware of Jargon
4. Managing timing
o Time constraints
o Leave time for conclusion
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Lecture 5 Notes – Meetings – Purpose & Structure
Outline
1. The basics of a meeting
2. The structure for a successful meeting
3. Meeting terminology and procedures
4. The work of the chair and committee members
5. Job Interviews (a form of meeting)
Meeting – Two or more people coming together to communicate for a particular purpose
Formal Meetings
o Well structured
o Rules and regulations for framework of meeting
o All members can communicate, but in limited procedural manner
o Focuses on leader who manages flow of meeting
o Leader generates final decision
Informal Meetings
o Not well structured
o Held to exchange information, solve problems, make decisions, set goals
o Task oriented, group participation and interaction
o Usually final decision decided based on group consensus
Purpose of meetings – Too many….
o Solve problems
o Make decisions
o Form plans
o Exchange information
o Boost group morality
o Planning strategies
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o Motivating
o Evaluating performance
o Building a team
o Give and receive feedback
Keys for a successful meeting
1. Well-defined purpose for meeting
2. Only key participants should be there
3. Plan date early
4. Prepare realistic agenda
a. Don’t squeeze too many plans in one session
5. Arrange suitable venue
a. Accessible for all attendees
6. Follow proper procedures
7. Provide prompt feedback to all
a. Results of meeting should be communicated to all in form of minutes
meeting
8. Prepare action list
a. Who is responsible for what task during meeting?
9. Keep accurate record
a. Secretary should take notes for the minutes for all decision-making
process and info done during meeting
10. Follow up
a. Make sure every participant does their job before meeting
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Terminology and Procedures
Constitution – Defines what the meeting is
Agenda – a plan for the meeting. Provides a timeline
for the meeting
Minutes – Record of what actually went on at the
meeting, details what decisions were made
Standing orders – A document setting out the
procedures and rules during a business meeting.
defines how the meeting should be held.
Point of order – a call made by a member to the chairperson during a meeting when
someone suspects the standing order was not followed.
Quorum – the minimum number of people required to participate in a meeting before
the meeting can be seen as legitimate.
Motion – a formal proposal for action or change put to a meeting that calls for everyone
present to vote for or against it. The way to get definite decisions out of the meeting.
Process during a motion
1. Notice
2. Proposal
3. Motion
4. Moved Seconded Amended Vote
5. Casting Vote (the chairperson usually does not vote unless the vote is tied)
6. Resolution
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Job Interviews
Preparation
o Know yourself
o Anticipate questions
o Research company
STAR approach – deal with questions by:
1. Situation – briefly describe the situation or scene
2. Task – Say what needed to be done to address the situation
3. Action – Say what you did and how you did it
4. Result – say what happened as a result
Presenting yourself
1. Dress well
a. Conservative
b. Appropriate
c. Neat and tidy hair
d. Personal hygiene
2. Etiquette
a. Arrive punctual
b. Good greetings
c. Turn phone off
3. Manner
a. Enthusiastic, interested, positive
b. Avoid yes, no questions
c. Maintain eye contact
d. Don’t fidget
e. Appear relaxed
f. Speak moderately
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Types of interviews
o Stress Interviews – interviews to deliberately stress you
o One-on-one interviews – convince interviewer how you will benefit company
o Screening interview – providing facts about skills
o Telephone interview – interview to eliminate poorly qualified candidates
What Interviewers are looking for
1. Behavior
2. Interaction and interpersonal ability
3. Impression made
4. Persuasiveness
5. Leadership and delegation
6. Organization and planning skills
7. Ability to handle stress
8. Ability to deal with feedback
9. Ability to give constructive feedback
10. Problem solving and analytical skills
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Lecture 6 Notes – Teamwork
Outline
1. Teams in organisations
2. IT team structures and attributes
3. Rules of team members
4. Development stages of teams
5. Characteristics of effective and failed teams
Team – A small number of people with complementary skills who are committed to a
common purpose.
Benefits
o Synergy
o Increased productivity
o Higher quality decisions given different perspectives brought
o Improved processes
o Increased quality of work
o Reduced turnover and absenteeism
o Increased employer morale
Limitations – Groupthink – a pattern of defective decision-making seen in groups
o Illusion of invulnerability
o Rationalism
o Stereotyping opponents
o Pressure to conform within groups
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Prevent Groupthink
o Examine alternative ideas
o Reward confronters
o Increase size of group, bring new ideas
Social loafing
o Tendency of some group members to put in less effort if they believe their
underperformance will not be noted
Value of Teams
o Teams are a potential win/win for employees and organisations
o Allow organisations to ‘get more’ from employees
o For team to succeed, organizational culture has to change
Team models
o Structure – Self managed, joint decision making → Structured leadership
o Purpose – Function-oriented → Project-oriented
o Duration – Limited time → Ongoing
IT team Models
o Chief programmer model – every decision goes through chief
o Democratic team – decentralized – no leader – everyone equal
▪
High communication overhead (everyone must talk with everyone)
▪
Hard to make decisions
o Virtual teams
Effective team contains characteristics:
o Shared goal and supportive environment
o Emphasis on learning (space for mistakes)
o Participation in decision-making
o Open communication
o Differences are ‘recognised and handled’
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Challenge of Teams
1. Form of control – uses employees desire for less control from above to make them
work harder
2. Secure employee knowledge and compliance cheaply – uses employees desire to
express creativity for organisation benefit
3. Distraction from organisation’s real problems – teams used to direct focus away from
broader question like direction and purpose
4. Management by stress – teams are intensified too fast
5. Peer surveillance – getting team members to monitor one another’s performance –
through team-performance bonuses
Types of teams
1. Project – identify what system needs to do and define project
2. Project management – overseeing management, communicate progress,
Trainers integrate new workers into project
3. Support team – support users in their daily work
4. Technology development & delivery – programming teams, UI experts
Team Member Roles & Development Stages
Positive Roles
o Facilitating direction
o Sharing info
o Giving feedback
o Monitoring & analyzing
Negative Roles
o Defensive
o Hinder progress
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Tuckman stages of group development
1. Forming – ice-breaking session
a. Tasks and maintenance roles unclear
2. Storming
a. Conflicts over leadership, control and influence
b. Misunderstandings about role and style of behaviors and norms
c. Poor feedback and listening
d. Ineffective group decisions
3. Norming
a. Formal and informal norms begin to emerge
b. Cohesion between members begin to develop
c. Opinion more open and receive feedback is less defensive
4. Performing
a. Synergy develops
b. Solutions produced
c. Optimal mix of task and socio-emotional roles
5. Adjourning
a. Group reaches closure of tasks
Team Rules
Formal – Define how the group will behave. Usually documented within organisation
Informal – unofficial rules that develop within group over time, not written down, through
general consensus
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Effective Team
Elements of Effective Team
o A clear plan to achieve shared goals
o Clear roles
o Effective communication process
o Optimal size
o Excellent interpersonal & technical skills
o Accountability to organisation
o Team-based reward structure
Team members should be:
o Team focused rather than individually focused
o Content and process oriented
o Can handle conflict
o Great communicators
Team members require effective leader who should:
o Challenge the process
o Inspire shared vision
o Enable others to act
Traits of an ineffective team
o Not enough time
o Not enough resources
o Resources are ineffective
o No management supports
o Possess technological challenges
o Team issues like personality conflict
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Causes of Team Issues
Internal traits:
o Pointless meetings
o Personal attacks
o No direction
o Skill gap in team
o Poor leadership
o Poor time management
Common personality types within workplace
1. The Monitor-Evaluator – provides good overview on decisions but may not excite
others into action
2. The Team Worker – helps keep group together, but can be indecisive
3. The Plant – creative, but may not communicate well
4. The Company Worker/Implementer – Practical thinkers with no enthusiasm,
discourage team members
Solutions to team issues
o Have shared goals
o Motivation
o Clear decision-making structure – 7 approaches to decision making
▪
Consensus – everyone agrees or feels same way
▪
Majority rule – majority wins
▪
Minority rule – small subset has power to decide
▪
Averaging – compromise made on middle ground
▪
Expert – expert brought in to decide
▪
Authority rule without discussion – dictator makes all decisions
o Planning – define and establish plan for solution
o Realistic expectations
▪
Set realistic goals
▪
Unrealistic will lead to decreased morale
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Lecture 7 Notes – Ethics
Outline
1. What is ethics
1.1.
How to distinguish between morality and ethics
2. Theories related to ethics
3. Professional ethics
4. ACS code of ethics
5. Examples of ethical dilemmas
Selfish point of view – consider ourselves only and our core values
Ethical point of view – respect other people and their core values
Morality vs Ethics
o Morality – a society’s rules of conduct describing what an individual ought to do
and ought not to do
o Ethics – a rational examination into people’s moral beliefs and behavior
Systematic consideration of right & wrong
Society – Association of people organized under a system rule
Ethical Theories
Rule oriented approaches – decisions made based on rules. Trumps consequence.
No matter how much good the decision is, cannot break rules.
Examples:
1. Golden rule – treat other people as you would like to be treated
2. Human Rights
3. Kantian ethics
4. Ten Commandments
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Consequence oriented approaches – decisions made based on likely consequence
Examples:
1. Relativism – morality is relative to someone’s culture – There is no right answer
2. Ethical Egoism – decisions made on what is best for YOU
3. Utility principle – decisions made to satisfy as most people as possible
Professional Ethics
Professions must include:
o Initial profession education
o Accreditation – certificate presented
o Skills development
o Certification
o Licensing
o Professional development
o Code of ethics
o Professional society
Professional Societies – professional bodies which support those working in IT and
provide accreditation
Their benefits to organisations and businesses
1. Professional development
2. Advancing research
3. Develop policies and ethical standards of IT
4. Maintain technical standards
5. Build communities
6. Develop community understanding and appreciation of IT
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Benefits to individuals
1. Helps members realize their professional ambition
2. Provide networking opportunities with others in industry
3. Professional development opportunities
4. Help provide resources for career development
Ethical Code
The first ethical code rule is the ACS Code of Ethics
ACS Code of Ethics
1. The Primacy of the Public Interest
a. Place the interests of the public above those of personal, business, or
sectional interests.
2. The Enhancement of Quality of Life
a. You will strive to enhance the quality of life of those affected by your work.
3. Honesty
a. You will be honest in your representation of skills, knowledge, services
and products.
b. Means should not claim to have knowledge, training, experience or skills
you do not have.
4. Competence
a. You will work competently and diligently for your stakeholders.
5. Professional Development
a. You will enhance your own professional development, and that of your
staff.
b. Get professional training for tasks you are not educated in yet
6. Professionalism
a. You will enhance the integrity of the ACS and the respect of its members
for each other.
b. Don’t deliver unfinished products
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Ethical Issues
IT Professionals are sometimes caught in a web of conflicting needs, torn between
demands of:
o Users
o Society
o Employers
o Their own needs
Common Ethical Issues for IT
o Inappropriate sharing of information
▪
Organisations store vast amount of info that can be classified as private or
confidential
▪
Private data describing individual employees
▪
Confidential data describing a company
▪
Sharing this information will violate someone’s privacy
o Must develop written guidelines for usage
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Lecture 8 Notes – IT & the Law
Outline
1. What a non-disclosure agreement is and what it means
2. What is intellectual property:
2.1.
Copyrights
2.2.
Trademarks
2.3.
Patents
3. Explanation of copyright and current issues
4. Provide an overview of Open Source Software in the context of the law and
Creative Commons as alternatives to IP
Employment Contracts
Non-disclosure agreements – an agreement between two or more people or
organisations and is legally binding.
o Restrict the sharing of confidential information with third parties
o A confidential relationship between the parties
o Specify what is confidential, how long the agreement runs for and how long the
parties must keep the information confidential
o May be one-way or multilateral
Non-compete clauses – an agreement which restricts an employee’s ability to work for
direct competitors or in the immediate geographic location
o May be time-based, i.e. cannot work for competitor for 12 months
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Intellectual Property
o The creations of the mind for which owners are granted various exclusive legal
rights
o Exists to protect the owners of the work
Five main classes of IP
1. Copyrights – a legal construct granting the creator of an original work a set of
exclusive rights on that work for a limited time.
a. Copyright protects the expression of an idea, not the idea itself
b. Copyright intended to give individuals and companies an incentive to
create, as can commercially leverage these rights by licensing their
creation for exchange of payment.
c. Owner has rights which include:
i. Copying
ii. Distribution
iii. Adaptation
iv. Public performance and display
v. Production of derivative works
d. Copyright creep seeing rise – constant expansion of copyright time
length
i. This means society is never able to access the created works of the
owners as part of public domain
2. Patents – provides the owner with a set of exclusive rights to prevent others
from making, using, or selling the invention for a period of 20 years, in
exchange for public disclosure of the invention.
a. Granted only by application
b. Applications are expensive
c. Should be an invention that is useful to society
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3. Trademarks – distinctive identifiers of goods or services restricted for use by the
owner.
a. Can take form of words, phrases, logos, symbols
b. Protection lasts as long as the trademark is in use, non-use will cancel it
4. Trade Secrets – a piece of confidential information – facts and knowledge.
a. Not publicly available
b. May be used by owner to gain economic benefit by virtue of confidentiality
c. Efforts to keep it confidential solely done by owner
5. Design – Protects look or visual appearance of object
a. Requires registration. Protected for 10 years
Alternative Responses to Copyright
Open-Source Software – software released for everyone
Benefits
o Gives everyone the opportunity to improve program and new versions
o Eliminates tension between obeying laws and helping others
o Program belongs to entire user community
Disadvantages
o Without critical mass of developers, quality can be poor
o No “owner”, can have incompatible versions
o No one formally responsible for updates and bug fixes
o No company will invest billions in it
Creative Commons – License that lets the owner decide how others may use his work
(such as sharing or changing it)
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Lecture 9 Notes – Organizational Communication & Modes of
Traditional Written Communication
Outline
1. Understand Organisations characteristics, goals and objectives
2. Organizational communication, both internal and external
3. Different organizational structures
4. Types of documents
4.1.
E-mail
4.2.
Letter
4.3.
Fax
4.4.
Memoranda
4.5.
Proposals
4.6.
Reports
5. Traditional modes of written communication
5.1.
Characteristics of using written communication
5.2.
Approach to professional written communication
5.3.
Types of writing for communication
Organisations and Organizational Communication
Classical organizational theory
1. Organisation behaves as a single unit, regardless of size or diversity
2. Organisation has a clearly identifiable purpose or goal
3. People who work in or belong to the organization share that goal
4. Organization’s interests placed ahead of own interest
Organizational characteristics
1. Function or purpose
2. Size
3. Structure
4. Interface with customers/clients and suppliers
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Organisational goals and objectives
Goals – broad description of what an organisation plans to achieve
Objective – operational statements describing what an organization will do to achieve
the goals. Should be measurable
Organisational Functions – essential features needed achieve objectives
Primary functions – directly related to goals/objectives
o Sales, ordering and supply, inventory and stock
o Scheduling, membership
Support functions – maintain the functioning of the firm itself
o Human resource
o Building maintenance
o Transport
o Office supplies
Organizational Communication
Definition – the process by which individuals stimulate meaning in the minds of other
individuals, by means of verbal and nonverbal messages in the context of a formal
organisation
Organizational communication will be influenced by organizational structure.
Organizational Structure
Determines organizations…
1. Culture
2. Flow of info
3. Decision making
4. Communication styles
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Types of Organizational Structure
o Functional – Organized in a hierarchy around management
a. Groupings based on functions performed by people
b. Managers responsible for departments
➢ Suitable when:
▪
Low reliance on
coordination between
departments
▪
A few well-defined
products
➢ Drawbacks
▪
Response to change
or opportunity can be low
▪
Decisions pushed up management hierarchy heavy loads
➢ Communication Channels
▪
Defined and rigid, clear and precise
▪
Upward channel – via manager.
▪
Downward channel – direct information to staff you manage
▪
Horizontal channel – some communication with staff reporting to same
supervisor
o Divisional – hierarchy organized around the function of organization
a. Groupings based on
organizational functions
➢ Suitable when:
▪
Organization wants to be
flexible to change
▪
Smaller groups and
divisions have broader
goals and objectives
➢ Drawbacks
▪
Poor communication, conflicts and incompatibility of products may arise
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o Matrix – Groupings report horizontally and vertically
a. Groupings based on organizational functions
➢ Suitable when:
▪
Rapidly changing
business environment
▪
Multiple products need
complex servicing
➢ Drawbacks
▪
Can cause
communication issues
when teams or staff
member have to report to more than one manager/conflict of orders
Formal and Informal Communication
Formal communication – process of exchanging information between two or more
people by following the official rules, procedures, systems, formalities and chain of
command in the organisational structure
Formal communication happens inside the established channels of an organisation,
either downward, upwards, or horizontally.
Downward Formal Communication
Information can be in the form of:
o Handbooks
o Manuals
o Newsletters
o Policies & procedures
Important that there is feedback to confirm the message has been received and
understood.
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Upward Formal Communication
o Communication moves up to a person at a higher level
Information usually in form of:
o Meetings
o Suggestion boxes
o Reports
o Questionnaires
o Interviews
o Email
Horizontal Formal Communication
o Communication flows between people at the same level of organisation
Difficulties – people speak “different languages”
o E.g. different departments communicating different sectors
Advantages
o Can foster co-operative environment
Informal communication – Communication that occurs outside the established channels
of an organisation. Frequently occurs across different areas of the firm separate from
work.
Not under the control of management, communication may revolve:
o Personal information
o Organisational information
➢ Management may tolerate this or try to control/suppress it.
➢ Regardless, may be important in maintaining relationships between employees, and
can facilitate work
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Writing as a Means of Communication
o One-way communication with limited feedback
o Static. Once sent, will not change
o A record and evidence of communication
Positive - A record of evidence can always refer to
Negative – People tend to assume that you accepted the document if you didn’t give
feedback
Key Aspects
o Who is writing what and for whom?
▪
Presentation, language and formatting (Aesthetics)
▪
Structure, coherency and argumentation (Logic)
Messages vs Documents
Messages
o Open-ended, usually have initiatives
o Communicated through letters and email is more immediate
Documents
o Formalized because of their purpose as proposals, progress reports, project
reports
o Sent off with an accompanying message or cover letter
Five step Approach to Professional Communications
1. Identify objectives – identify long & short-term objectives
2. Conduct research – know context well
3. Create background – frame all participants, understand roles of each participant
4. Compose a message – choose appropriate means of communication – written,
verbal, Expect their negative intentions when you communicate and assume their
positive intention when they communicate
5. Follow-up – Make sure that communication achieved what you wanted
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How to compose a good message?
1. Clearly state who’s writing for whom
2. Clarify what the document is about
3. Detail the information in clear, concise and conclusive manner
4. Make initiatives for the readers
5. End the message “nicely”
Internal and External Communication
Internal correspondence – more informal and concise as:
o Manager has to read in their tight schedule
o No definite style to follow, ‘what works well is best’
External correspondence – more formal depending on client or supplier:
o Your message will become the ‘face’ of your organisation
o Should be formal/stylized format and presentation
o Aimed to establishing relationship between party
Types of Documents
1. Fax – telephonic transmission of scanned printed material
o Becoming obsolete
2. Memorandum – Memo
o Half-way between a message and a document
o Contains information worth being kept as evidence, but not formal enough to
be considered as reports or proposals
3. Letters
o Can be as an email attachment
4. Reports
5. Proposals – Document for some implementation of change
General Point – Know the nature of communication you are about to initiate before
start writing. What is the most effective type of communication to achieve your
objective?
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Lecture 10 Notes – Electronic forms of communication
Outline
1. Develop strategies for managing email
2. Be able to write emails to a business standard
3. Different style of writing for the web
4. Different social media platforms for communicating in businesses
5. Style of writing for social media
6. Use of instant messaging
7. How to write social media posts and manage a social media presence
Email Communication
Getting attention and feedback in emails
o Think about what you want before you start
o Make subject line informative
o Be polite and respectful
o Proofread
The ‘One touch’ inbox
1. Do it
2. Defer it
3. Delegate it
4. Delete it
Components of an email message
o Subject – introduces to receiver the purpose of your email
o Content and structure
▪
Split into sections
▪
Avoid conversational language
o Recipients
▪
FW (Forwarding)
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▪
CC (Carbon Copy)
▪
▪
For people who may need to know
BCC
▪
Sharing an email to somebody without revealing their identity to
other recipients
o Sender
▪
Include an email signature at the bottom of any emails you send
▪
Provides all your personal information for business needs
The Narrative of Writing
Linear narrative – start at beginning and proceed to end
Writing for the Web – different from paper as purpose is usually to sell a product or
service
Benefits
o Able to hyperlink areas of content
o Able to convey sound
o Able to show movement or animation
o Gives reader interact ability
Disadvantages
o Less information can be contained in a single screen
o Not as formal as printed pages
o Time lags with outdated devices
Attributes of online communication – along the lines of:
o Linear -- Non-linear
o Public -- private
o Short -- long
o Formal -- informal
o Professional –
personal
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Social Media, Wikis, Blogs & Forums
Wikis
Website allowing the creation and editing of any number of interlinked web pages. Used
collaboratively by multiple users for:
o Community websites
o Corporate intranets
o Knowledge management systems
May have different levels or access rights for different users. Reliability depends on
active community and how large it is. Wikipedia getting more and more reliable.
Advantages
1. Easily accessible
2. If active community, information up to date
Disadvantages
1. Requires active community, otherwise outdated
2. Vulnerable to misinformation if not properly regulated
Blogs
Type of website usually maintained by one single individual or organization. May be
useful for recording personal events, or things happening in an organization.
o Be skeptical – may not be accurate information
o Be careful what you blog – Dangers of liability, politics, employment, personal
Discussion Boards/ Forums
A place for netizens of similar purpose or interest to communicate. Usually contain a set
of rules to follow before posting content.
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Social Media sites
Becoming so big that many organizations are using it to establish two-way
communication with clients and contacts.
Networking Sites
1. Facebook – most widely used channel – be careful what you post
a. 50% of employers will check your Facebook
b. Should restrict who is able to see your online presence
2. LinkedIn – used for professional networking
3. Twitter – social networking and micro-blogging services called tweets – be
careful what you tweet
Communicating through social media
o Social media for organizations require careful consideration.
o Unlike paper documents, email, newspaper or magazine, social media is instant,
and we cannot control who accesses it and when.
o Need to carefully manage their social media
10 Guidelines for communicating with social media
1. Monitoring and updating should be done daily
2. Respond quick to negative posts; don’t just delete it
3. Ensure language is appropriate and not inflammatory
4. Develop contingency plan if social media campaign goes south
5. Social media is their public image
6. Be honest
7. Don’t be afraid to apologize if something goes wrong
8. Ensure posts/tweets are not wrong or misleading
9. Understand your audience before starting campaign
10. Carefully consider what to post
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Instant Messaging
Widely used nowadays with extra features like voice call, video calls, SMS
Most famous are WhatsApp, Skype, Google Hangouts
SMS
Not widely used in workplace.
Common workplace usage will be reminders, or as security Tokens
Online Miscommunication
In workplace, email has benefits, but also many pitfalls
o It is not a great medium for a conversation or discussion
o It is poor way to resolve interpersonal difficulties
o Keep professionalism. Minimize emotion and any judgement of colleagues
o If in disagreement, maybe “escalate the Cc list” but not always.
o Too many emails, may get overwhelmed
The Medium is the Message
1. What do you want to communicate?
2. Who do you want to communicate to?
3. How would you like to get the message?
4. Are you happy if the communication channel is public?
Consider how you want to communicate your message through different online
communication modes
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Lecture 11 Notes – Professional issues
Outline
1. Sustainability (Green IT) in context of IT workplace
1.1.
How IT can contribute to sustainability
2. Workplace discrimination
2.1.
Identify discrimination in workplace
2.2.
Identify legal side of discrimination
3. Harassment & victimization in the workplace
4. Bullying (including cyberbullying) in the workplace
Sustainability – Improving the quality of human life while living within the carrying
capacity of supporting eco-systems
Green IT – Bringing about awareness, knowledge and adoption of environmentally
sustainable practices, policies and technologies in and through the IT industry.
Importance of Sustainability
1. Socially
a. Health and wellbeing
b. Equity for all
c. Prevent unrest from poor
conditions
2. Environmental
a. Look after environment
b. High quality environment
for future
3. Economic
a. Resources available in the future
Implementation of Sustainability
Ride share, Work from home, Paperless office, Energy and waster conserve, Waste
disposal
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Discrimination – Unequal treatment of people through qualities such as race, color,
sex, sexual orientation, age, physical or mental disability, marital status, family or carer
responsibilities, pregnancy, religion, political opinion, and social origin.
Companies usually have policies regarding equal opportunity and non-discriminatory
acts.
Government regions and institutions such as Monash has the Equal Opportunity act,
other acts such as Age Discrimination acts, disability discrimination acts, racial and
religious tolerance acts.
Types of Discrimination
Direct Discrimination – treating or proposing to treat a person less favorably on the
basis of one of a protected attribute.
Indirect Discrimination – occurs when there is a requirement or rule appears to be
neutral and the same for everyone in fact has the effect of disadvantaging someone
because they have an attribute covered by the Act.
Protected attributes usually consist of:
o Race, color, nationality, ethnic origins
o Sex or gender, sexual orientation
o Age, physical features
o Disability, medical record
Discrimination in IT
Age discrimination – only 11% of workforce over age of 55
Sex discrimination – only 28% of workforce made of women, get 20% less pay
Some employers have ‘unconscious bias’s where they favor certain traits
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Harassment – Any form of behavior that is unwelcome, unsolicited, unreciprocated and
usually (not always) repeated. It is behavior that is likely to offend, humiliate or
intimidate.
Sexual harassment – any unwelcome, unwanted, or uninvited behavior of a sexual
nature that is likely to offend, humiliate or intimidate.
Examples of Sexual harassment
o Personally offensive comments
o Sexual or smutty jokes
o Being followed home from work
o Offensive hand or body gestures
o Sexual assault and rape
o Display of sexually-suggestive material
o Unwanted physical contact
Victimization – treating someone unfairly because they have made, or intend to make,
a discrimination or harassment complaint (protected act) for someone.
Employer has responsibility to ensure that a person is not victimized after he or she has
made a complaint or supported another person to make a complaint.
Examples
o Bullying and intimidation by co-workers
o Being denied a promotion or being moved to a lower position
o Manager giving their employees low performance review after employee file
harassment complaint against them
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Bullying and Cyberbullying
Workplace bullying – the repeated, less favorable treatment of a person by another or
others I the workplace. Includes behavior that intimidates, offends, degrades or
humiliate a worker.
Results when bullies utilize their power from status, position or skills.
Examples
o Physical or verbal abuse
o Psychological harassment
o Intimidation
o Assigning meaningless tasks unrelated to the job
o Giving employees impossible tasks
o Undermining work performance by deliberately withholding information
Cyber bullying – bullying done through the use of technology, means very dangerous as
can spread more quickly e.g. in internet, mobile phone.
Examples
o Threatening or hurtful messages on social networking sites
o Spreading rumors via email or social media
o Stealing passwords
o Setting up fake profiles pretending to be someone else to destroy their reputation
Every region or state has laws regarding bullying, refer to those laws.
In Victoria, cyber bullying is illegal when it becomes harassment.
o If evidence of stalking, prison time of up to 10 years.
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Lecture 12 Notes – IT Security & Risks
Outline
1. Types of security threats, both human and physical
2. Costs involved when IT security is not adequate
3. Threats relating Malware and the different forms these can take
4. What actions we can take to mitigate threats
5. Privacy, its importance and implications for IT professionals
IT Security & Risks
1. They are unavoidable
2. Requires good security planning
3. Poor security will result in
a. Inconvenience to workers
b. Loss of revenue
c. Loss of market capital
d. Loss of reputation
Human & Physical Threats – may be due to carelessness, or failure to compliance
Cause around 50% of damage to systems and data
1. Human accidents
a. inaccurate data entry
b. Employee ability
c. Procedure compliance
d. Carelessly leave sensitive data in public area
2. Natural disasters – cannot be controlled, must be planned and accounted for
a. Earthquakes
b. Floods
c. Storms
3. Sabotage – deliberate action to disrupt or destroy a computer network
a. May be Individual, Industrial, unintentional, or vandalism case
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4. Theft – the unauthorized access to, and/or use, viewing, duplication, distribution
or theft of confidential information
a. Can be data theft, usually by Hackers
5. Unauthorised use
a. Gain benefit of some kind
b. Mostly by employees, sometimes by Hackers
Malware – software designed specifically to damage or disrupt a system.
Types of Malware
1. Viruses
a. Self-replicating code inside host PC that attaches to something
2. Worms
a. Self-contained programs do not depend on anything
b. Spreads by exploiting security holes in networks
3. Trojans
a. Programs which masks itself for something sinister
b. Presents itself as legitimate program in order to gain access
4. Adware – users online are monitored so advertising can be targeted
5. Spyware – Software intended to collect and transmit confidential info
Spoofing – a technique that involves impersonating an IP address as an authorized IP
address.
DDOS Attacks – denial of service attacks aimed at specific servers by flooding the
server with repeated messages, depleting the system resources and denying access to
legitimate users
Bots – software program that responds to commands. Can be used for illegal activities
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Defensive Measures
System administrators play important rule for security, they implement:
o Policies
o Authorization
o Authentication
o Firewall
o Encryption
Defenses must protect from Intentional/Accidental, Internal/external attacks
System failures is very bad for business and can lead to
o Loss of failure or shares
o Business failure
Computer & Data Reliability
Computer Reliability – the ability of a computer program to perform its intended
functions and operations in a system’s environment, without experiencing failure
Data Reliability – When data is sufficiently complete and error free to be convincing for
its purpose and context
Reliability issues can arise by:
o Software errors
o Hardware faults
o Data entered wrongly
o Misinterpretation of info
Effects of errors:
o Inconvenience
o Loss of face
o Loss of money
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Privacy – the right of individuals to control the use of information about themselves
Information collection, exchange, and distribution has become easier than over
More information access means less privacy for all
Public record – information for public access
Public info – information revealed to a firm that has right to share it
Personal info – undisclosed info
Implications for IT
o Software should be secure so that user’s information is not used without consent
and not spread widely.
Benefits are individual growth, responsibility, freedom to be yourself, and development
of loving, caring relationships
Harms are open doors for illegal or immoral activities, lack of attention paid on people
Whistle-blowing
The disclosure by an organisation’s members of illegal, immoral or illegitimate practices
under the control of their employers to persons that may be able to effect action.
Different from leaking. A leak confidential information whereas whistleblowing is
concerned with disclosures in the public interest
➢ Bad things usually happen to whistleblowers
o Get punished
o Economic hardship and distress
➢ But whistleblowing is usually a good thing, it serves public interest
➢ Governments have implemented whistleblowing acts to try to encourage
whistleblowing
➢ Technology has also facilitated whistleblowing, It is easier to remain anonymous
o WikiLeaks good wiki site for leaking confidential information
➢
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Morality of Whistle-blowing
o Morality depends on motives.
o It is the exposed conduct that is worthy of scrutiny rather than the credibility of
the discloser
o Whistle-blowing provokes three attitudes
1. Causes harm
2. Is a sign of organisational failure
3. Is a moral duty
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