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Communication skills are critical to job placement, performance, career advancement, and organizational success.

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Trends in the new world of work emphasize the importance of communication skills.
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Today’s employees must contribute to improving productivity and profitability.

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Flattened management hierarchies
More participatory management
Increased emphasis on self-directed work groups and virtual teams
Heightened global competition
Innovative communication technologies
New work environments
Focus on information and knowledge as corporate assets

Barriers to Effective Listening
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Physical barriers
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Psychological barriers
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Language problems
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Nonverbal distractions
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Thought speed
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Faking attention
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Grandstanding

Barriers to Effective Listening
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Physical barriers : hearing disabilities, poor acoustics, noisy surroundings, illness, tiredness, worry, uncomfortable feeling
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Psychological barriers
Language problems
Nonverbal distractions
Thought speed
Faking attention
Grandstanding

Barriers to Effective Listening
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Physical barriers
Psychological barriers : different set of cultural, ethical, and personal values
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Language problems
Nonverbal distractions
Thought speed
Faking attention
Grandstanding

Barriers to Effective Listening
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Physical barriers
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Psychological barriers
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: unfamiliar words
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Nonverbal distractions
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Thought speed
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Faking attention
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Grandstanding

Barriers to Effective Listening
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Physical barriers
Psychological barriers
Language problems
: unusual clothing, speech mannerisms, body twitches, radical hairstyle
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Thought speed
Faking attention
Grandstanding

Barriers to Effective Listening
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Physical barriers
Psychological barriers
Language problems
Nonverbal distractions
: listeners process thoughts faster than speakers can say them, they can become bored and allow their minds to wander
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Faking attention
Grandstanding

Barriers to Effective Listening
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Physical barriers
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Psychological barriers
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Language problems
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Nonverbal distractions
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Thought speed
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Grandstanding

Barriers to Effective Listening
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Physical barriers
Psychological barriers
Language problems
Nonverbal distractions
Thought speed
Faking attention
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Grandstanding : fail to listen carefully because we’re just waiting politely for the next pause, so that we can have our turn to speak

Active Listener Tips
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Stop talking
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Control your surroundings
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Establish a receptive mind-set
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Keep an open mind
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Listen for main points
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Capitalize on lag time: reviewing speaker’s points
(keep focusing) and anticipating what’s coming next.
Don’t allow yourself to daydream!

Active Listener Tips
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Listen between the lines: Focus both on what is spoken as well as what is unspoken.
Judge ideas, not appearances: concentrate on the content of the message, not on its delivery.
Hold your fire: force yourself to listen to the speaker’s entire argument or message before reacting.
Take selective notes
Provide feedback: let the speaker know that you are listening by using eye contact, nod your head, ask questions

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Eye contact
Facial expression
Posture and gestures
Time: length of time spending in communication
Space: furniture arrangement or design around us
Territory: zones of privacy in which we feel comfortable
Appearance of business document: how neat in paper works
Personal appearance

Tips for Improving Nonverbal Skills
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Establish and maintain eye contact to show your interest, attentiveness, strength, and credibility
Use posture to show interest
Improve your decoding skills
Probe for more information
Avoid assigning nonverbal meanings out of context: don’t interpret nonverbal behavior if you don’t understand situation or culture
Associate with people from diverse cultures
Appreciate the power of appearance
Observe yourself on videotape
Enlist friends and family: ask them to monitor you

How Culture Affects Communication
Comparing Key Cultural Values
1.
Individualism
2.
3.
4.
Formality
Communication Style
Time Orientation

Comparing Key Cultural Values:
Individualism
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Individual action
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Self-reliance
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Personal responsibility
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Independence
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Freedom from control
Group or Team
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Membership in org., group, and team
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Group values, duties, and decisions
While North Americans value individualism and personal responsibility, other cultures emphasize group-and team- oriented values.

Comparing Key Cultural Values:
Informality and Directness Tradition and Indirectness
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Less emphasis on tradition, ceremony,
and social rules such as casual dressing or a first name basis w/ others
Lack of formality:
directness i.e. in business, they will come to the point immediately
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Emphasis on tradition, ceremony, and social rules
Formality
Although North Americans value informality and directness, other cultures may value tradition and indirectness.

Comparing Key Cultural Values:
Straightforwardness
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Straightforward: they tend to suspicious of evasiveness and distrust people who might have hidden agenda.
They tend to be uncomfortable with silence and impatient with delays.
Indirectness
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Indirectness
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Silence and delays are common
North Americans tend to be direct and to understand words literally.

Comparing Key Cultural Values:
Time
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Consider time a precious commodity to be conserved. Keeping people waiting for business appointments wastes time and is also
rude!
Punctuality
Patience
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Consider time as unlimited and never ending resource to be enjoyed
Being late for an appointment is not a grievous sin
North Americans correlate time with productivity, efficiency, and money.

Communication Across Cultures
U.S. American
1. Freedom
2. Independence
3. Self-reliance
4. Equality
5. Individualism
6. Competition
7. Efficiency
8. Time
9. Directness
10. Openness
1. Belonging
2. Group harmony
3. Collectiveness
4. Age/Seniority
5. Group consensus
6. Cooperation
7. Quality
8. Patience
9. Indirectness
10. Go-between
Arabs
1. Family security
2. Family harmony
3. Parental guidance
4. Age
5. Authority
6. Compromise
7. Devotion
8. Patience
9. Indirectness
10. Hospitality

Ethnocentrism
The belief in the superiority of one’s own culture and group
Stereotypes
An oversimplified behavioral pattern or characteristic applied to entire group, which may not accurately describe cultural norms
Tolerance
Having sympathy for and appreciating beliefs and practices different from our own by practicing empathy, being nonjudgmental, and being patient

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Understand the value of differences
Don’t expect conformity (agreement): differences can be positive
Create zero tolerance for bias and stereotypes
Practice focused, thoughtful, and open-minded listening
Invite, use, and give feedback
Make fewer assumptions: don’t think for the others
Learn about your cultural self
Learn about other cultures and identity groups
Seek common ground: mutual goals or similar values

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Use simple English
Speak slowly and enunciate (announce) clearly
Encourage accurate feedback: ask probing questions and encourage the listener to paraphrase what you say
Check frequently for comprehension: avoid waiting until you finish a long explanation to request feedback. Instead, make one point at a time, pausing to check for comprehension.
Accept blame: if a misunderstanding results, graciously accept the blame for not making your meaning clear.
Observe eye messages: Be alert to a glazed expression or wandering eyes. These tell you the listener is lost.
Listen without interrupting
Remember to smile
Follow up in writing : After conversations or oral negotiations, confirm the results and agreements with follow up letters. For proposals and contracts, engage a translator to prepare copies in local language.

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Consider local styles: learn how documents are formatted and how letters are addressed in each country
Consider hiring translator: if your document is important, or will be distributed to many readers, or must be persuasive
Use short sentences and short paragraphs: for most readable (sentences: fewer than 20 words/ paragraphs: fewer than 8 lines)
Avoid ambiguous wording: avoid idioms, slang, acronyms, abbreviations, jargon. Instead, use action specific verbs
( purchase rather than get ).
Cite numbers carefully

Reference
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Essentials of Business Communication, Mary Allen
Guffey’s, 2007, Thomson South-Western.