The Art of Effective Communication

E-mail

Electronic mail or e-mail is both an informal and formal method of communication. The message began with professional courtesy, which is important in business communication. Even though the message conveyed importance and urgency, the tone was respectful of the recipient’s schedule. This again, is a requirement of effective written communication. Jane’s e-mail stated a clear purpose and situation. It also included a possible solution or suggestion, which involves Mark sending the data in a separate email.

Phone

Voicemail is a very common means of communicating by telephone within the company and other businesses or clients. I believe that the phone conversation seemed a bit urgent in Jane’s tone. Furthermore, I believe that making phone calls can emphasize the importance of the issue in a different manner to other forms of communication, such as e-mails, text message, IMs, etc. The caller is able to use inflection in their voice and overall tone to convey additional meaning to the message. It is also used as a follow-up if there is no response to an e-mail. For instance, in my classes, I usually would email the instructor, and if I don’t get an immediate response, I’ll send another email. But if it is a particularly urgent issue, and I don’t receive an e-mail response, I would make a call.

Face-to-Face

Face-to-face communication involves addressing the message directly to another person. Jane’s face-to-face communication with Mark included the informal tone that Dr. Stolovitch suggested. Jane spoke to Mark in a friendly and polite manner. Her face did not suggest anxiety, even those she expressed urgency. Jane also demonstrated that effective communication is not exclusively in words, but in the spirit, attitude, tonality, body language and timing. One of the main advantages of face-to-face communication over telephone and e-mail communication is that the individuals have the ability to speak to each other in real time, whereas with the other methods, there may be delayed delivery of the message. Jane has kept the tone of all of her communications business-friendly and respectful. This is again important in effective business communication.

Conclusion

Dr. Stolovitch’s video combined with this exercise was very informative and useful, and I intend to apply this information to my communication in general. It helped to emphasize the importance of effective communication, whether it is e-mail, telephone, or face-to-face. Additionally, the exercise reinforced that it is vital to avoid ambiguity but to be specific, straightforward, and respectful.

References:

Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (n.d.). Communicating with Stakeholders [Video webcast]. Retrieved January 24, 2013 from https://class.waldenu.edu/webapps/portal/frameset.jsp?tab_tab_group_id=_2_1&url=%2Fwebapps%2Fblackboard%2Fexecute%2Flauncher%3Ftype%3DCourse%26id%3D_2099917_1%26url%3D

Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (n.d.). The Art of Effective Communication [Multimedia program]. Retrieved January 24, 2013 from http://mym.cdn.laureate-media.com/2dett4d/Walden/EDUC/6145/03/mm/aoc/index.html

Learning from a Project “Post-Mortem”

In my undergraduate degree I took an IT course for object-oriented design, which pertains to the C++ language and the coding used in computer programs. Although I was aware that this was one of the progressively difficult courses in my major, I felt confident in my ability to obtain a good grade. But it turned out to be the exact opposite. This was not a successful course for me. Even though I tried to stick with the course throughout the semester, I received a D grade. It was probably the hardest course that I have had in my academic career which included other programming and advanced math courses. It seemed that I had a mental block in understanding C++ language and how to transfer the coding on paper. I also had difficulty getting the programs to work. I tried to get help from the instructor and from Internet resources. But my understanding and performance on tests did not show much improvement. Therefore, by the final exam, I attempted questions to the best of my ability, but I really didn’t know many of the answers.

Especially in the light of my graduates studies about learning processes and instructional design, I can think of some reasons why I did not have a successful outcome in the course. As a learner I could have applied myself in a more structured and consistent way to the course content and instruction. Had I implemented some of these processes and activities I believe that I could have obtained a better grade. For instance, early in the course I could have devoted more time to reviewing the course outline, the available resources and the objectives. This would have given me a more realistic understanding about what the course entailed. I also could have invested more time reading the text, practicing coding and reviewing completed projects. Now from an instructional design perspective, in my estimation, the analysis, design, and development phases were not fully developed for this course. It was designed and presented at an advanced level aimed at learners who were experienced with coding and working in IT. The course should have been created to accommodate learners of different levels of experience. The beginning of the content should have covered the basics before moving on to more difficult concepts. Also, the equipment, materials, and support provided were insufficient (Greer, 2010). The textbook was not structured with learning aids such as worked examples and guided tutorials. It would have also been logical to provide extra resources such as video and audio especially with such a complex subject. With regards to the instructor, he was a good lecturer but he did not provide in class demonstrations of work, and was not receptive to communication outside of class.

References:

Greer, M. (2010). The project management minimalist: Just enough PM to rock your projects! (Laureate custom ed.). Baltimore: Laureate Education, Inc.