Ángel Pérez Andrade
ID UD2784BMN6978
BUSINESS COMMUNICATION MANAGEMENT
ATLANTIC INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY
HONOLULU, HAWAI
March 2006
Ángel Pérez Andrade
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Contents
1. Communication Fundamentals
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1.1. Communication Fundamentals
1.2. Communication and Organizations in Context
1.3. Written Communication in Organizations
1.4. Interpersonal Communication in Organizations
1.5. Communication and Change
2. Communicator Strategy
2.1.What are your objectives?
2.2.What communication style do you choose?
2.3.What is your credibility?
7
3. Audience strategy
3.1.Who are they?
3.2.What do they know?
3.3.What do they feel?
3.4.How can you motivate them?
10
4. Message strategy
4.1.How can you emphasize?
4.2.How can you organize?
15
5. Channel choice strategy?
5.1.Writing
5.2.Speaking to a group (face-to-face)
5.3.Speaking to a group (electronically)
5.4.Speaking to an individual
16
6. The communication case for high-velocity value
6.1.Building Blocks for High-Velocity Value
6.2.Static and Dynamic Business Situations
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6.3.The Intersection: Launch Point for High-Velocity Value
6.4.The Architecture of Conversation
7. The Cycle of Value
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7.1.Align
7.2.Act
7.3.Adjust
8. The Cycle of Waste
8.1.Disagree
8.2.Defend
8.3.Destroy
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9. Value Perception
9.1.The Value
9.2.Awareness of How The Craft of Perception Works
9.3.High-Value Perception: Value on Purpose
9.4.Methods for Practicing High-Value Perception
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10. Raising and Resolving Valuable issues
10.1.
Accountability
10.2.
Competence
10.3.
Occasions
28
11. Bibliography
30
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1. Communication Fundamentals
1.1. Communication Fundamentals
It is self evident that written and spoken communication skills are of crucial importance in
business (and personal) life. Managers and leaders in particular must be effective
communicators, good at getting their message across to, and at drawing the best out of,
people. Communication skills in all forms, including non-verbal communication, need to be
worked at and improved to ensure you understand people and they understand you.1
The same remark can also be applied to communication. But we suggest that everyone in
the organization needs to develop the skills of understanding and interpreting the messages
and meanings they encounter. This ‘reading’ is not necessarily a straightforward process.
Morgan talks of the need to ‘develop deep appreciations of the situations’ . We also suggest
that you need to develop a ‘deep appreciation’ of the communication which characterizes
your organization – and this involves understanding what communication means and how it
works.2
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Our approach is based on what we call the communication triangle. We suggest that you
need to think about communication by putting together two different perspectives:
Define the process: in other words, you need to examine major components of the
communication process and the sequence of events which are taking place; interpret the
meanings: in other words, you need to investigate the social and cultural context, and the
historical background to see how the participants interpret what is going on.
Once you have compared these approaches, you can identify any differences in perceptions
and develop an appropriate action plan. 3
The definition of communication in many management texts is based on a model first
popularized in the 1950s, the so-called mathematical theory of communication. This was
developed from work on telecommunications systems. It aimed to show how information is
transmitted from source to destination and to analyse what can affect the quality of the
information during this process. The model then became very influential with researchers in
human communication (see Littlejohn, 1983, or Mattelart and Mattelart, 1998, for amore
extended account).4
1.2. Communication and Organizations in Context
Communication is used to cover listening and talking and is a loose concept. It has its roots
in Latin where its use embraced to impart, to participate and to share. It evolved as a word
to mean the transmission of intangible rather than material things. But meaning comes into
it too and communication might be usefully defined as: the process by which meanings are
exchanged between people through the use of a common set of symbols (i. e. usually
language).5
Definitions of organizational culture usually echo definitions of national culture. They talk
about typical or traditional ways of thinking, believing and acting. They talk about the way
these ideas are shared by members of the group, and the way they must be learnt by new
members of the groups. Two leading American exponents of the cultural approach describe
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how they ‘are interested in the workways, folk tales, and ritual practices of an organization’
(Pacanowsky and O’Donnell-Trujillo, 1990).
You can think how these ideas make sense if you consider how you feel when you join a
new organization. You are very keen to find out ‘the way they do things round here’ and
you probably behave rather cautiously to make sure that you do not offend anyone by
breaking one of the ‘unwritten rules’.6
Harrison´s model of cultures and structures
Culture
Structure
Major implications for communication
Role
Bureaucratic
hierarchy
This structure suggest that there are very definite ´rules´,
procedures, and channels for communication
Achievement
Family “Group”
Provided the group is working to the same goals, then
communication should be direct and effective
Power
Web with power
source at the
middle
The important communication comes from the centre
Equal
Communication and expression of organizational
culture.
Corporate
cultures
can be
The organization
will survive
as long as
the members
partnership
Support
maintain their commitment to the ideals and values
expressed in various different ways. The official corporate culture is often symbolized in
the organization’s mission statement, which can sometimes be expressed as a set of values.7
1.3. Written Communication in Organizations
New technologies such as the Internet and email have given organizations new methods of
written communication. But one fundamental question remains the same, whatever the
method: is the written communication achieving what it should do? Written communication
should achieve some business objective.
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So we can use one overriding criterion to judge the quality of business documents, whether
paper or electronic – are they effective? For example: is the instruction understood and
carried out correctly? Is the user well informed about the product? And so on. We argue
that written communication will be effective only if writers plan and organize their
documents. A good plan enables writers to choose the appropriate language, use effective
layout and visual aids, and use a document format which makes sense to their readers. This
may mean that they have to depart from some established conventions and adopt a flexible
approach. But one advantage of modern word processing is that it gives us all the potential
to be ‘document designers’ rather than just writers. Every good design comes from sensible
objectives and planning, and this is where we start.8
1.4. Interpersonal Communication in Organization
The rules for work are changing. We’re being judged by a new yardstick: not just by how
smart we are, or by our training and expertise, but also by how well we handle ourselves
and each other. (Goleman, 1998).The notion that we need more than just intelligence to be
successful at work and in life is not especially new. For example, we can probably all think
of someone who is very good at intellectual or academic tasks but who is not very effective
at getting more practical jobs done. This may be because they do not feel motivated to do a
good job, or because they find it difficult to co-operate with other people. The importance
of these more personal abilities has been emphasized by organizational theorists in recent
years, especially given the increasing pace of social change.9
1.5.Communication and Change
Various factors can push an organization into some form of change, including political,
social, economic, environmental and technological pressures. Management need to be
proactive in order to anticipate and adapt to the increasing rate of change. Modern
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organizations experience different influences on and different types of change. This shows
the importance of recognizing the stage or process which an organization is experiencing
and monitoring the environment. Examples of specific strategies for implementing change
show how effective communication is essential – in both the acceptance and the
implementation of organizational change. Management therefore need to adopt a strategic
and planned approach to communication, otherwise even the most imaginative and creative
change strategy is likely to misfire.10
2. Communicator Strategy
Managerial communication is different from other kinds of communication. Why? Because
in a business or management setting, a brilliant message alone is not sufficient: you are
successful only if your message leads to the response you desire from your audience.
Therefore, instead of visualizing communication as a straight line from a sender to a
receiver, think of communication as a circle, as show below, with the audience´s response
as one of its critical elements.11
To get that desired audience response, you need to think strategically about your
communication – before you start to write or speak. Strategic communication is based on
five interactive variables: (1) communicator (the writer or speaker) strategy, (2) audience
strategy, (3) the message strategy, (4) channel choise strategy, and (5) cultural context
strategy. Be sure to consider how the variables affect each other. For example, you
audience analysis affects your communicator style, your channel choise may affect your
message, and the cultural context may affect your channel choice.
Channel choice
Mesage
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Audience
Communicator
Response
Cultural Context
2.1.What are your objectives?
Defining your objectives provides two important benefits: (1) efficiency, because you will
no longer waste time communicating unless you have a clear reason for doing so, and (2)
effectiveness, because formulating your objective precisely will help you communicate
more clearly. To clarify your purpose, hone your objectives from the general to the specific.
General objectives. These are your broad goals. They are comprehensive statements about
what you hope to accomplish.
Action Objectives. To define your objectives more specifically, determine your action
objectives – specific, measurable, time-bound steps that will lead toward your general
objectives. State your action objectives in this form: “To accomplish a specific result by a
specific time.”
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Communication objective. Your communication objective is even more specific. It is
focused on the result you hope to achieve from a single communication effort – such as a
report, email, or presentation. To create a communication objective, start with the phrase:
“As the statement by identifying precisely what you want your audience to do, know, or
think as result of your communication effort.
2.2.What communication style do you choose?
As you define your communication objective, choose the appropriate style to accomplish
that objective. The following framework, adapted from Tannenbaum and Schmidt, displays
the range of communication styles used in virtually everyone´s job at various times. Instead
appropriate time and avoid using the same style all of the time.
Low
Join
Consult
Context
Sell
Control
High
Tell
Low
High
Audience Involvement
When to use the tell/sell style. Use the tell/sell style when you want your audience to learn
from you. In the tell style, you are informing or explaning; you want your audience to
understand something you already know. In the sell style, you are persuading or
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advocating: you want your audience to change their thinking or behavior: In tell/sell
situations:
You have sufficient information
You do not need to hear other´s opinions, ideas, or inputs
You want to control the message content
When to use the consult/join style. Use the consult/join style, sometimes called the “inquiry
style,” when you want to learn from the audience. The consult style is somewhat
collaborative (like a questionnaire); the join style is even more collaborative (like a brain
storming session). In consult/join situations:
You do not have sufficient information
You need to or want to understand others `opinions, ideas, or inputs
You need to or want to involve your audience, coming up with message content together
2.3. What is your credibility?
Another aspect of communicator strategy involves analyzing your audience´s perception of
you. In other words, consider your own credibility: your audience´s belief, confidence, and
faith in you. Their perception of you has tremendous impact on how you should
communicate with them.
Five factors (based on social power theorists French, Raven, and Kotter) affect your
credibility: (1) rank, (2) goodwill, (3) expertise, (4)image, and (5) common ground. Once
you understand these factors, you can enhance your credibility by stressing your initial
credibility and by increasing your acquired credibility.
3. Audience strategy
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Audience strategy – that is, techniques for gearing your communication toward your
audience´s needs and interests – is possibly the most important aspect of your
communication strategy, because it has the most effect on increasing your chances of being
undertood and of achieving your objective. Some communication experts recommend
performing your audience analysis first; others recommend performing two strategies
interact with and affect one another. So, perhaps the best idea is to perform these analyses
concurrently.
Audience strategy includes answering four sets of questions: (1) Who are they? (2) What do
they know? (3) What do they feel? (4) How can you motivate them?.
3.1.Who are they?
“Who are they?” sounds like a fairly straightforward question, yet choosing the people to
include and focus on is often subtle and complex. To decide whom to include and how to
analyze them, answer these two sets of questions.
Who should be included in your audience? In many business situations, you have, or might
consider having, multiple audiences. If you are writing or speaking to more than one
person, gear your message toward the person or people with the most influence over
accomplishing your communication objective.
Primary: First of all, decide who will be included in your primary audience – those who
will receive your written or spoken message directly.
Secondary: Consider any secondary or “hidden” audiences – such as those who will receive
a copy of, need to approve, hear about, or be affected by your message. Sometimes your
secondary audience may be more important than your primary audience.
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Gatekeeper: Is there a “gatekeeper” in your audience – someone through whom you will
need to route the message? If so, is there any reason he or she might block your message?.
Opinion leader: Is there anyone in the audience who has significant informal influence?.
Key decision maker: Finally, and perhaps most importantly, is there a key decision maker,
with power or influence over the outcome of the communication? If so, gear your message
toward her o him.
3.2.What do they know?
Next, think about what the audience knows and what they need to know. More specifically,
ask yourself these three sets of questions.
How much background information do they need? What do they already know about the
topic? How much jargon will they understand?
How much new information do they need? What do they need to learn about the topic?
How much detail and evidence do they need?
What are their expectations and preferences? What do they expect or prefer in terms of
style, channel, or format?
3.3.What do they feel?
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Remember, your audience´s emotional level is just as important as their knowledge level.
Therefore, in addition to thinking about what they know, think about what they feel.
Answering the following sets be bringing to the communication.
What emotions do they feel? What feelings may arise from their current situation or their
emotional attitude?
What is their situation? Is there anything about the economic situation, the timing, or their
morale that you should keep in mind?
What emotions might they feel about your message? Many communicators mistakenly
think that all business audiences are driven by facts and rationality alone. In truth, they may
also be driven by their feelings about your message: they may feel positive emotions such
as pride, excitement, and hope, or negative ones, such as anxiety, fear, or jealousy.
How interested are they in your message? Is your message a high priority for your
audience? How likely are they to choose to read what you write or to listen carefully to
what you say? How curious are they and how much do they care about the issue or its
outcomes.
High interest level: If their interest level is high, you can get right to the point without
taking much time to arouse their interest.
Low interest level: If, on the other hand, their interest level is low, think about using a
consult/join style and ask them to participate: one of the strongest ways to build support is
to share control.
What is their probable bias: positive or negative? What is their probable attitude your ideas
or recommendations? Are they likely to favor them, be indifferent, or be opposed? What do
they have to gain or lose from your ideas? Why might they say “no”?
Positive or neutral: If they are positive or neutral, reinforce their existing attitude by stating
the benefits that will accrue from your message.
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Negative: If they are negative, try one or more of these techniques: (1) Get them to agree
that there is a problem, then solve the problem. (2) State points with which you think they
will agree first; if audience members are sold on two or three key features of your proposal,
they will tend to sell themselves on the other features as well. (3) Limit your request to the
smallest one possible, such as a pilot program rather than a full program right away. (4)
Respond to anticipated objections; you will be more persuasive by stating and rejecting
alternatives than having them devise their own, which they will be less likely to reject.
3.4. How can you motivate them?
Of the following three sets of motivational techniques, choose those that will work best for
your particular audience.
Can you motivate through audience benefits? Stress “what´s” in it for them.”
Tangible benefits: Sometimes you will be able to highlight tangible benefits that you can
offer your audience.
Career or task benefits: (1) Sometimes you can motivate by showing how your message
will enhance your audience´s job – by solving a current problem, saving them time, or
making their job easier or more convenient. (2) Or you can appeal to the task itself. Some
audiences may appreciate the chance to be challenged, or to participate in tough problem
solving or decision making. (3) Other people respond to appeals to their career
advancement or prestige. Let them know how they will win organizational recognition,
enhance their reputation, or develop networking contacts.
Ego benefits: Some people respond to motivational devices that enhance their sense of selfworth, accomplishment, and achievement.
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Group benefits: For audiences who value group relationships and group identity, emphasize
benefits to the group as whole: appeal to any tangible group benefits, group task
enhancements, group advancements, or sense of group worth.
Can you motivate through message structure? Finally, in some situations, you might
motivate your audience by the way you structure your message.
Opening: Arouse their interest in the opening, especially if it is low, by (1) emphasizing “
what´s in it for them,” (2) convincing them there´s a problem that needs solving, or (3)
explaining how the message relates to them, especially if that relationship is not
immediately apparent.
Body of the message: In some situations, what you say in the body of the message can
enhance your persuasiveness.
Ending: The message ending is another place you might use motivational techniques. (1)
Make it easy for you audience to act: for example, use a questionnaire they can fill in easily
or a checklist they can follow easily; or list specific next steps or specific actions. (2) Once
again, emphasize “what´s in it for them” at the end of your message.
4. Message strategy
Good communication is no longer just about broadcasting a message creatively.12
Structuring your message is a third variable in your communication strategy. Ineffective
communicators simply state their ideas in the order they happen to occur to them; effective
communicators use structure strategically.
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Instead of structuring your message as ideas happen to occur to you, ask the following
questions: (1) How can you emphasize? (2) How can you organize?
4.1.How can you emphasize?
Your opening or introduction is extremely important. Stating your main ideas first is called
the direct approach; stating them last is called the indirect approach.
Using the direct approach. The direct approach, stating your main ideas at the beginning of
your message, is sometimes called “bottom-lining” your message, because you state the
bottom line first.
Advantages of the direct approach. Using the direct approach has many advantages:
Improves comprehension, Is audience-centered (The direct approach emphasizes the results
of your analysis), Saves time.
Using the indirect approach. An indirect approach, saving your main idea until the end of
your message, involves spelling out your support first, then finishing with your
generalization or conclusion.
When to use the indirect approach. Because this approach is hard to follow, takes longer for
your audience to understand, and does not take advantage of the audience´s attentiveness at
the beginning of the message, use it only when the following conditions apply: Cultural
norms so dictate, Your message is sensitive (with emotional overtones), Your audiences´s
bias is negative, Your audience is analysis-oriented, Your credibility is low.
Advantages of the indirect approach. When these conditions apply, the indirect strategy
may soften your audience´s resistance, arouse their interest, and increase their tendency to
see you as fair-minded.
4.2.How can you organize?
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Once you have emphasized your main idea by placing it first (direct approach) or last
(indirect approach), organize your supporting points accordingly.
1- Communication objective
2- If it is a … (Routine procedure, New procedure, hostile audience, Busy audience, or
your credibility high, Audience is results-oriented, or bias is indifferent, …).
3- Then, use this approach… (Direct, Indirect)
4- And organize by… (Listing the steps in the procedure, Discussing the benefits of
procedure, followed by steps in procedure, Explaining the plan, then the reasons
why, …)
5. Channel choice strategy?
Managers need to connect with a variety of stakeholders including employees, customers,
and alliance partners.13
Channel choice refers to the choice of medium through which you send your message. In
the past, this strategic choice was basically between two channels: writing and speaking.
Today, many more channels exist – including fax, email, voicemail, electronic meetings,
and videoteleconferencing. These new channels have changed how we think about channel
choice. For example, traditional writing is usually fairly reserved and controlled; email,
however, may be informal and spontaneous. Before you choose a channel from among this
expanded set of alternatives, think about these general questions. Do you need to: Be
formal or informal?, Receive an immediate response, Elicit high audience participation or
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not? Face-to-face or not?, Have a rich communication or not?, Have a permanent record or
not?, Use a channel preferred by your audience or their culture?
5.1.Writing
Writing channels include traditional writing, fax, email, and web page.
5.2.Speaking to a group (face-to-face)
You can speak to a group in a tell/sell or a consult/join style.
5.3.Speaking to a group (electronically)
Unlike the face-to-face speaking channels discussed previously, the following three
channels use different kids of groupware – a broad term for a group of related
technologies that mediate group collaboration through technology – that may include
any combination of collaborative software or intraware, electronic – and voicemail
systems, electronic meeting systems, phone systems, video systems, electronic bulletin
boards, and group document handling and annotation systems.
Example: Videoconferences, Audioconferences, Broadcasting or webcasting, Electronic
meetings, Emails meetings.
5.4.Speaking to an individual
Speak to an individual – not to a group – when you want (1) a private, confidential
communication, (2) individual feedback or response, (3) less preparation time, or (4) a fast,
simple answer.
6. The communication case for high-velocity value
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Communication is a risky topic. Offering insight into communication includes at least two
major pitfalls.14
Communication is an all-too-familiar topic. “I already knows lots of things about
communication. I am successful and I know how to get may point across. I do not use
verbal crutches such as ´like´ and ´you know´when I am making a presentation. I practice
listening and speaking every day of my life. Really, what else is there to learn?”
Unless you have successfully handled every isuue of coordination, cooperation, and
misunderstanding in your life, communication is probably still worth pursuing. People tend
to stop studying subjects that are familiar and common. Whoever continues to improve at a
familiar, common practice has an enormous advantage over those who take it for granted.15
6.1. Building Blocks for High-Velocity Value
Managers wanted conformity and compliance. In short, for many years managers basically
told people what to do, how to do it, and when to do it. 16
Value. We define value as what customers and investors are willing to pay for, that
employees are willing and able to provide. In a public, for-profit enterprise, sustainable
value requires all three groups. Value must be worthy to those paying and those providing,
or it will not endure. When this mutual value is identified, delivered, and paid for faster
than usual, we term it high-velocity value. This conspiracy of value, like all things mutual,
involves communication.
Waste. Waste is any use of resources that not create value for customers, investors, and
employees.
Communication. A popular, and narrow, definition of communication is “the exchange of
ideas, messages, or information” (Webster´s Dictionary). In architecture, communication is
the term for linking different spaces. A hall-way for instance, is a method of
communication for the offices that open into it. In the communication catalyst, we say
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communication is any action that links separate elements into a larger system. Without
communication, there is nothing in common: no teamwork, no mutual benefit, and no
business value.
Conversation. Conversation is the uniquely human kind of communication. In the forms of
impression (e.g., listening) and expression (e.g., speaking), conversation is how we learn
about and influence the world and ourselves. Conversation is a language cycle that causes
perception, meaning, action, and learning. Most business writing about conversation is
trivial compared to its real nature and power. The education of any leader is incomplete
without an accurate working knowledge of how conversation causes perception, meaning,
action, and learning.
Catalyst. A catalyst causes or accelerates activity between two or more persons or forces.
Communication is the primary catalyst for anything that requires the coordinated effort of
people.
6.2. Static and Dynamic Business Situations
Valuable interactions are the key to the victory of high-velocity value over more speed. The
simple reason is that conversation is the field of play for coordinated action. Whether the
venue is telephone, e-mail, staff meetings, project reviews, or casual duscussion, it is still a
conversational field of play. The interactions in static business conditions, however, are
different from the interactions in dynamic conditions. It is very possible that you already
possess the leadership and communication skills that meet the challenge of static
conditions. They have been honed since the dawn of the Industrial Revolution. The
dynamic skills are unusual, and developing them fully requires considerable personal
interest.
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Static and Dynamic Value Imperatives.
Static Imperatives: Prediction, Economies of scale, Following instructions, Rigid roles,
Separate organizations, Experience and credentials.
Dynamic Imperatives: Learning and Adjustment, Rate of adjustment, Valuable
conversations, Adaptive roles, Connected organizations, Ability to learn and adjust.
6.3. The Intersection: Launch Point for High-Velocity Value
Here are some dangerous, wasteful myths:
The customer is always right.
The sole purpose of a business is to make a profit.
Nothing happens without employees, so take care of them first, last and always.
There is some truth in each statement. Greather truth, however, is at the place where the
three statement intersect. This notion of an intersection is a fruitful source of high-velocity
value. The intersection is about integration, not domination. You will find that integration
produces more value with less time, money, and stress. The reason is simple: Customers,
employees, and investors need each other. Their purposes are reciprocal and
interdependent. Like a pyramid of purpose, each requires the other two to stand at all.
Anything produced at the intersection will be gratifying for all. A benefit for one at the
expense of the other two is an investment in the demise of a business.
Many people have told us that it is liberating to be able to produce superior business results
by researching and interesting with other people´s purposes. After considerable work on
getting to the intersection quickly, a senior manager in a fortune 100 company told us:
“This is the first time in my 36-year work life that I see high performance and being
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completely honorable coexist without compromise. We´re producing a lot better results
than we thought we could, and I´m sleeping better than I ever have.”
Employees, investors, and customers are groups with distinct purposes, concerns, and
circumstances. High-velocity values is launched from where they intersect. The value of the
intersection, however, extends way beyond these three groups. Anytime you benefit from
the coordination, support, or collaboration of others, the intersection is a gold mine of
value. If you care about value (i.e., the rate at which employees provide what customers
and investors are happy to pay for), then get interested in intersections.
Intersection conversations are the essential foundation for high-velocity value They call for:
Researching the point of view of anyone whose support you desire or require
Discovering where your view overlaps or intersects with theirs
We define view as:
Purposes – essential commitments I cannot abandon
Concerns – things that might interfere with my purposes
Circumstances – essential facts that I must account for
6.4. The Architecture of Conversation
The Purpose of Communication: Connect, Inform, Engage17
Ordinarily, an architect is the designer and sometimes builder of a physical edifice. An
architect of conversation is the designer and builder of achievement of all sorts. Most
people hope conversations are valuable. However, hope is insufficient for high-velocity
value. Hope is impotent without awareness and purpose. We need to deepen our awareness
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of how conversation generates perception, meaning, action, and learning. Add to awareness
the genuine purpose to create value (instead of just hoping for value), and we can design a
model for turning hope into reality. Our exploration has two paths:
1. The architecture of conversation as a cycle of value
2. The architecture of conversation as a cycle of waste
There is a reliable design for conversations that produce a cycle of value and for those that
produce a cycle of waste. When conversation builds recurrent value, the cycle of align 
act  adjust is at work (see figure). Look at the three elements like thirds of a wheel. When
all three are present, we are rolling. When any one of the three is missing, we experience a
very bumpy trip.
ALIGN
ADJUST
ACT
Figure 1.3 / Cycle of value
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7. The Cycle of Value
Stop for a minute and think about how many new types of software or equipment you’ve
learned to operate in the past five years.18
7.1. Align
The Heart of the Matter
Align – Intersect . To launch the cycle of value, focus on the intersection of relevant point
of view and relevant facts. The intersection forms the foundation of valuable relationships
necessary for high-value achievement. Use the conversations meter to manage interactions,
and you will get to the intersection quickly.
The intersection. High-velocity value is at the intersection of relevant facts and relevant
points of view. Achievement slows when we focus on differences and accelerates when we
focus on intersections.
Align - Invent. Invent conversations are stage two of alignment. The focus of conversations
shifts from discovering intersections to generating possibilities. The mood of the
relationship shifts, too, from thoughtful investigation of common ground to free,
imaginative speculation.
To invent is the essential act of human freedom. Through invention, we make ourselves
senior to circumstance and wage creative war on the limits of the past. An inventor is the
opposite of a victim, transforming constraints into building blocks and barriers into launch
points. When my purposes, circumstances, and explanations intersect with other purposes,
circumstances, and explanations, the inventing begins.
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Align – Invest. Invest conversations are the bridge between potential and performance.
They turn optimistic agreement into realistic alignment by allocating time, money, and
talent to achieve a purpose. Invest conversations are the third crucial element of genuine
aligment:
1. Intersection of purpose
2. Invention of ideas for achieving the purpose
3. Investment of time, money, and key people
7.2.Act
Act – Engage. Once resources are committed, action remains. The actions of real people in
real time convert plausible plans into visible achievement. Many a fine plan has fallen in
the gap between committed resources and effective action.
Engage. Connect the doer with the deed. A clear senior purpose ensures that our common
future is the basis for resolving differences and accelerating action.
Act – Clarify. Preempt mischief with precision. Without precision, we have assumption,
presumption, and invalid expectations. As you clarify, answer the following questions:
What precisely is at stake for customers, investors, and employees? What senior purpose is
being served? What makes it important now?
Is this the person to do this task? What skills, position, and leadership does he or she have
that serves your purposes?
How will you assess success? What needs to be delivered by when? What measures will
you track?
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Act – Close. Ask for authentic acceptance of accountability. To close an act conversation,
use the precise information from the clarify step and ask for a promise. Refer back to the
promise meter to ensure that requests and promises launch you on the road to high-value
achievement.
7.3.Adjust
Agile. Resourceful. Resilient. Tenacious. These are the adjectives of adjustment. It is
inspiring to see agile adjustment in the face of change. Many of our most enduring myths
celebrate such resilience, from Robinson Crusoe to Star Wars.
Adjust conversations translate experience into improvement. Authentic accountability lives
in reviewing performance and renewing efforts via the actionable lessons learned. The
opportunity to accelerate value is senior to the threat of personal embarrassment.
When to Adjust
Value track: Adjust whenever you wish to accelerate the creation of value. Timely
occasions for adjustment:
In standard forums for debriefing performace (e.g., quarterly reviews) and at other obvious
milestones (e.g., new leadership, major deadline).
When results are far better than expected and you don´t know why.
When results are worse than expected and not improving.
What to Adjust
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Adjusting conversation is effective for two reasons:
1. People can alter conversations without launching the cycle of waste.
2. If we adjust the right conversations, the right conduct will follow.
How to Adjust: The Conversational Debrief
State One: Review
1. State the original purpose any specific results that were promised.
2. State the accurate outcome to date. Separate facts and explanations.
3. What worked well in achieving the purpose and promised results?
What were valuable insights, methods, and mindsets? Sort the input
Into the cycle of value conversations: align, act, and adjust.
4. What worked poorly since the last review) Acknowledge goals unmet,
Disappointments, and mistakes of commission and omission. Sort the
Input into the cycle of value conversations: align, act, and adjust.
5. Who specifically is there to appreciate? What specifically did they
provide? How and when will you recognize them?
State Two: Renew
6. What actionable lessons will produce value going forward? Share the
Lessons with whoever would benefit. How will what we learned change
the way we act? What new action will we take immediately?
7. What area of improvement is our highest priority? Identify a single,
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Important focus. What cycle of value conversation is it in? Is it an
Issue of insight, method, and/or self? What structures and measures
Are needed to support adjustment?
8. The Cycle of Waste
Listening well and talking clearly are two of your most critical skills for keeping your
employees.19
When value deteriorates the cycle of conversation is disagree defend destroy. These
three have a connected relationship, as do align, act, and adjust. In this cycle, though, waste
increases instead of value.
8.1. Disagree
Conversational waste starts most often in the presence of differences. The disagreement
may or may not be obvious. The waste cycle does not care. If the disagreements is
significant to what we are trying to accomplish together, waste escalates. Disagreements
abound.
8.2. Defend
After disagreement comes defense. If I got what I wanted in the face of our differences, I
now expect everyone involve to act exactly as I would. This is irrational. The winners and
losers wittingly and unwittingly defend their original position. Contrast this scenario with
people standing together for a worthy purpose and coinventing multiple ways of
succeeding. It is not a pretty comparison.
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8.3. Destroy
Separated people with disconnected expectations of one another are usually not happy with
the results. So, we have to explain the failure. Those explanations often destroy any
possibility of recovering alignment.
9. Value Perception
9.1.The Value
The value of action is dictated by the value of perception, and yet few people cultivate their
perceptive talent. Perception makes all the difference, however. Shift your perception habits
from ordinary to high value, and you will produce more benefit in less time than you ever
have before. You will be a communication catalyst.
9.2.Awareness of How The Craft of Perception Works
The craft of perception is challenging mainly because of the popular belief that we have no
control over what we perceive. The normal view is that sight, hearing, touch, taste, and
smell operate independent of creativity.
Think of a time you said something valuable. Perhaps you were in a meeting and voiced a
comment that solved a problem or revealed an opportunity. Maybe it was in one-on-one
conversation, and you said something especially insightful. In either case, value did not
begin in the moment of speaking; that insightful comment began in how you listened.
Valuable perception is the source of valuable speaking. Value begins with the quality of
impression (e.g., listening), not the quality of perception. It is an improvable craft, however.
At Conversation, we sort perception into two categories: ordinary and high value.
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9.3.High-Value Perception: Value on Purpose
A valuable different can be made by using the perception apparatus to achieve our most
important purposes. Such value demands a tidal change from conventional thought.
Perception is not a camera: it is a filter that can serve or destroy our purposes. For the
extraordinary person functioning as a communication catalyst, purpose governs perception.
For the ordinary person, purpose is the unwitting victim of automatic perception.
9.4.Methods for Practicing High-Value Perception
Conversant´s perception methods are focused on listening. We have found that listening
affords lots of chances to practice, and improvements in listening improve perception
overall. As you will see, we care most about how we listen when people differ, because the
fate of any work community lives in its capacity to deal with difference.
Valuable listening is a muscle that needs exercise to develop. The exercise involves:
Climbing the ladder of listening
Flipping the brain switch
10. Raising and Resolving Valuable issues
You arrive for work bright and early, ready for a productive day.20
For raising and resolving issues to be a source of business value, accountability,
competence, and occasions are minimum ingredients.
10.1. Accountability
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Accountability is a hot topic. In education circles, the word is freighted with controversy as
our teachers are “called to account” for education of our children. We want accountability
from politicians, accountability from corporate leaders, and accountability from anyone
who has ever promised us anything.
10.2. Competence
Raise the issue at the intersection. You have been hearing about this intersection business
for many chapters. Raising and resolving issues is a great practice field for everything we
have said about it. You can raise issues to respond to a problem or an opportunity.
10.3 Occasions
If you are to build a culture adept at raising and resolving issues, you need occasions for
doing just that. Those occasions do not happen automatically.
The typical occasions for conversation
in any enterprise tend to be a function of
organizational structure. If you are organized by product lines, there will be typical
meetings and forums to support that structure. If you are organized by geography, by
function (e.g., engineering, marketing, or finance), or by process, there will be typical,
unforced occasions for conversation. Each of those occasions is an appropriate venue for
raising certain kinds of issues.
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11. Bibliography:
Hartley, Peter. Business Communication : An Introduction.
Florence, KY, USA: Routledge, 2000.
http://site.ebrary.com
Adair, John. Concise Adair on Communication and Presentation Skills.
London, , GBR: Thorogood, 2003.
http://site.ebrary.com
Snair , Scott. Stop the Meeting I Want to Get Off!: How to Eliminate Endless Meetings
While Improving Your Team's Communication, Productivity, and Effectiveness.
Blacklick, OH, USA: McGraw-Hill Professional, 2003.
http://site.ebrary.com
Arredondo, Lani. Communicating Effectively.
Blacklick, OH, USA: McGraw-Hill Companies, The, 2000.
http://site.ebrary.com
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Cornelissen, Joep. Corporate Communications: Theory and Practive.
London, , GBR: Sage Publications Ltd, 2004.
http://site.ebrary.com
Connolly, Mickey & Rianoshek, Richard. (2002). The Communication CATALYST, The
fast (but not stupid) track to value for customers, investors, and employees, Dearborn Trade
Publishing. USA.
Munter, Mary. (2003). Guide to managerial Communication, Effective Business Writing
and Speaking, Sixth Edition, Prentice Hall Series in Advanced Business Communication,
USA.
Wood, Andrew F. Online Communication : Linking Technology, Identity, and Culture.
Mahwah, NJ, USA: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Incorporated, 2004.
http://site.ebrary.com
Bates, Suzanne. Speak Like a CEO.
Blacklick, OH, USA: McGraw-Hill Companies, The, 2005.
http://site.ebrary.com
Zhu, Yunxia. Written Communication across Cultures. A sociocognitive perspective on
business genres.
Philadelphia, PA, USA: John Benjamins Publishing Company, 2005.
http://site.ebrary.com
Notes:
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1
Adair, John. Concise Adair on Communication and Presentation Skills.
London, , GBR: Thorogood, 2003. p 1.
http://site.ebrary.com/lib/uisantafe/Doc?id=10073915&ppg=9
2
Hartley, Peter. Business Communication : An Introduction.
Florence, KY, USA: Routledge, 2000. p 9.
http://site.ebrary.com/lib/uisantafe/Doc?id=10016928&ppg=25
3
Hartley, Peter. Business Communication : An Introduction.
Florence, KY, USA: Routledge, 2000. p 15.
http://site.ebrary.com/lib/uisantafe/Doc?id=10016928&ppg=31
4
Hartley, Peter. Business Communication : An Introduction.
Florence, KY, USA: Routledge, 2000. p 17.
http://site.ebrary.com/lib/uisantafe/Doc?id=10016928&ppg=33
5
Adair, John. Concise Adair on Communication and Presentation Skills.
London, , GBR: Thorogood, 2003. p 3.
http://site.ebrary.com/lib/uisantafe/Doc?id=10073915&ppg=11
6
Hartley, Peter. Business Communication : An Introduction.
Florence, KY, USA: Routledge, 2000. p 70.
http://site.ebrary.com/lib/uisantafe/Doc?id=10016928&ppg=86
7
Hartley, Peter. Business Communication : An Introduction.
Florence, KY, USA: Routledge, 2000. p 82.
http://site.ebrary.com/lib/uisantafe/Doc?id=10016928&ppg=98
8
Hartley, Peter. Business Communication : An Introduction.
Florence, KY, USA: Routledge, 2000. p 137.
http://site.ebrary.com/lib/uisantafe/Doc?id=10016928&ppg=153
9
Hartley, Peter. Business Communication : An Introduction.
Florence, KY, USA: Routledge, 2000. p 239.
http://site.ebrary.com/lib/uisantafe/Doc?id=10016928&ppg=255
10
Hartley, Peter. Business Communication : An Introduction.
Florence, KY, USA: Routledge, 2000. p 335.
http://site.ebrary.com/lib/uisantafe/Doc?id=10016928&ppg=351
11
Munter, Mary. (2003). Guide to Managerial Communication, Effective Business Writing and Speaking,
Prentice Hall Series in Advanced Business Communication, USA.
12
Boone, Mary E. Managing Interactively : Executing Business Strategy, Improving Communication &
Creating a Knowledge-Sharing Culture.
Blacklick, OH, USA: McGraw-Hill Professional Book Group, 2000. p ix.
http://site.ebrary.com/lib/uisantafe/Doc?id=5004733&ppg=9
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13
Boone, Mary E. Managing Interactively : Executing Business Strategy, Improving Communication &
Creating a Knowledge-Sharing Culture.
Blacklick, OH, USA: McGraw-Hill Professional Book Group, 2000. p 1.
http://site.ebrary.com/lib/uisantafe/Doc?id=5004733&ppg=13
Connolly, Mickey. (2002). The Communication catalyst, Chapter one, “The communication case for highvelocity value”, Page 3, Dearborn Trade Publishing, USA.
15
Connolly, Mickey. (2002). The Communication catalyst, Chapter one, “The communication case for highvelocity value”, Page 3, Dearborn Trade Publishing, USA.
14
16
Boone, Mary E. Managing Interactively : Executing Business Strategy, Improving Communication &
Creating a Knowledge-Sharing Culture.
Blacklick, OH, USA: McGraw-Hill Professional Book Group, 2000. p 5.
http://site.ebrary.com/lib/uisantafe/Doc?id=5004733&ppg=17
17
Boone, Mary E. Managing Interactively : Executing Business Strategy, Improving Communication &
Creating a Knowledge-Sharing Culture.
Blacklick, OH, USA: McGraw-Hill Professional Book Group, 2000. p 7.
http://site.ebrary.com/lib/uisantafe/Doc?id=5004733&ppg=19
18
Boone, Mary E. Managing Interactively : Executing Business Strategy, Improving Communication &
Creating a Knowledge-Sharing Culture.
Blacklick, OH, USA: McGraw-Hill Professional Book Group, 2000. p 10.
http://site.ebrary.com/lib/uisantafe/Doc?id=5004733&ppg=22
19
Rosner, Bob. Boss's Survival Guide: Communication.
Blacklick, OH, USA: McGraw-Hill Professional, 2002. p 4.
http://site.ebrary.com/lib/uisantafe/Doc?id=5008172&ppg=4
20
Arredondo, Lani. Communicating Effectively.
Blacklick, OH, USA: McGraw-Hill Companies, The, 2000. p 1.
http://site.ebrary.com/lib/uisantafe/Doc?id=5004711&ppg=13
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