Recently, there has been a poorly written communication in the workplace, which has led to some hurt feelings, lower morale and possible loss of business. As a corporation, we have worked very hard to maintain the synergy thoughout our work environment. These latest events are starting to compromise multiple aspects of our company. First, we are loosing control and perspective of our colleagues. Camaraderie and atmosphere are suffering, placing us in jeopardy of destroying our active policies and their integrity. We must also be careful not to take these events lightly, jeopardizing our nucleus and strong core structure of talented workers. Workplace literacy and effective communication have long been increasingly important skills demanding continuous attention, monitoring, and education. Therefore, the objectives are to present a solution for company-sponsored workshops to improve workers’ writing skills.
Workplace literacy involves instruction in basic skills of reading, writing, or mathematics, and the application of these skills to areas such as communication, teamwork, and problem solving (Smith, 2000, p. 378). The workplace is a very competitive environment and the key to competitiveness will be gaining, transforming, and generating knowledge, which can be useful for the employee and employer alike.
There are many reasons and justifications for effective communication, but these can best be described by singling out a few common points that will enlighten us to the need for this higher communicative education. According to Office Team 2000, a leading staffing service, while intellectual challenges and opportunities will motivate workers, such skills as writing and speaking well, the display of proper etiquette, and listening attentively will probably determine their career success. HR Focus Magazine (1999) performed a survey which revealed that workers will have to learn to communicate more effectively and articulately. Through technological advancements, their people skills will be showcased and tested, and those workers lacking in these areas will have their shortcomings exposed. Likewise, it is mentioned that pervasiveness of both audio and video teleconferencing will also reveal the caliber of one’s verbal strengths.
This leads us next to professional craftsmanship and the justification for which every good employee is obligated for it. W. Bri...
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...racy...” (cited in Smith, Mikulecky, Kibby, Dreher, Dole, 2000, p. 378). High literacy will involve the mastering of lower level processing skills. This will include self-monitoring one’s thinking, understanding of ideas and beliefs, diversity on multiple issues, working in teams, and synthesizing new ideas. Fred Talbott makes mention in The Salt Lake Tribune (2000); “...writing does not have to be staid”.
References
Anonymous. HR Focus. The challenges facing workers in the future. New York, Aug
1999. Vol. 76. Lss.8: pg. 6, 1pgs.
Brinkman, G., & M van der Geest, T. (2003). Assessment of communication in
engineering design. Technical Communication Quarterly, Vol. 12(1), 67.
Smith, M., Mikulecky L., Kibby M., Dreher, M., and Dole, J. (2000). What will be the
demands on literacy in the workplace in the next millennium? Reading Research
Quarterly, Vol. 35(3), 378-383.
Tyler, K. (2003, Mar.). Toning up communications. HR Magazine, 48(3), 87-89.
Writing well can help in the workplace. (2000, Apr.9). The Salt Lake City Tribune, p. E3
Sam Dillion wrote “What Corporate America Can’t Build: A Sentence” for an audience of college students, employees and corporate people. In his article, Sam points out that companies are spending a lot of money annually on remedial training. According to Sam, the writing problem appears in e-mails, reports and texts. He is informing his audience to brush up on writing skills before entering the corporate world, in order to avoid remedial training. Companies like to hire employees with excellent writing skills but many of employees and applicants fall short of that standard.
Literacy, or the capability to comprehend, translate, utilize, make, process, assess, and speak information connected with fluctuating settings and displayed in differing organizations, assumes an essential part in molding a young's persons trajectory in life. The ability to read speaks to a key factor of scholarly, social, and financial success (Snow, Burns, & Griffin, 1998). These abilities likewise speak to a fundamental segment to having a satisfying life and turning into an effective worker and overall person (Snow, Burns, & Griffin, 1999). Interestingly, recent studies have demonstrated that low reading skills lead to critical hindrances in monetary and social achievement. As stated by the National Center for Education Statistics, adults with lower levels of reading skills and literacy have a lower average salary. Another study evaluated that 17 to 18 percent of adults with "below average" literacy aptitudes earned less than $300 a week, though just 3 to 6 percent of adults with "proficient" reading abilities earned less than $300 a week (Snow, Burns, & Griffin, 1998).
Knoblauch argues that there are many definitions of literacy that impact people’s lives. Although he argues there are many definitions, he focused on four types of literacy that are most common in society. Knoblauch labels them as functional, cultural, personal-growth/liberal, and critical literacy. He defines functional literacy as a level of literacy that is “readying people for the necessities of daily life—writing checks, reading sets of instructions”(1990, p. 3) and other basic reading and writing skills. However, he also warns that there are hidden agendas in these types of defined literacies. Ill prepared teachers who do not connect to and challenge their students result in no critical literacy and very little
As this course in writing, for public administrators, comes to its conclusion, I have read provided materials, researched additional references and written various journal entries and analysis papers on topics that included writing skills and real world communications. The writing skill assignments provided the most interesting points but surprisingly, it was simple proof reading that proved the skill I need to spend more time mastering. This self-assessment will focus on the improvements I have made, points I have found interesting and the goals I have set to continue to improve my writing and communication skills.
The lack of basic skills is financially a problem, too. The government and employers are also spending too much money on basic writing skills. A 2003 survey of managers shows that employers are spending $1.3 billion a year on basic writing. (Begley, Sh...
writing” by R. Ramsey, the ability to write competently is a requirement for success in any field.
The average worker spends two-thousand and eighty hours a year at their place of employment. Communication within the workplace is often overlooked or not given as much importance as most people should allow, given the amount of time that is spent there. Beyond the more basic verbal speech, one must be aware of the nonverbal symbols and noise that can have an effect on communication. There are also cultural, environmental and internal factors that can effect communication and how successful it can be. The various perceptions that an individual has developed over their life can also effect communication. One’s ability to communicate effectively will determine the success and enjoyment that is to come from their job.
Effective business communication is central to the success of an individual’s career and consequently to that of the overall business entity. It would be imaginable therefore that there is some form of correlation between effective communication skills and such success. To put this into context, University of Kent (2011) has placed Verbal Communication at the top of the ten skills that employers most commonly look for. On the same note, anything that hinders effective communication is bound to have a negative effect not only on the specific message delivery, but also on the overall success of a career. In this paper, some of the barriers to effective business communication are discussed, with a few examples of how they affect the process.
It is not easy to understand significance of some things and their impact until you actually undergo them. Ability to effectively communicate and work is one such thing. Before I started business communication class, I was very pessimistic about my communication abilities and my competence in rapidly evolving field of business communication. I was unconfident and nervous on my first day of class. I quickly realized that business communication is course that you will never learn until you energetically engage in various situations of listening and speaking. However, with all wonderful experiences of participation in the class, I personally felt that I gained a real experience without even working in an organization. Interactive nature of the class combined with wonderful teaching of Diana has really helped me to gain immortal knowledge. Through this course, I have refined my communication skills and strengthened my confidence to deliver professional standards and competencies emphasized by potential employers. I would like to share how each module of the course helped me to hone my interpersonal skills:
Consequently, with communicative goal as the main focus, writing activity in the class is set to a minimum. Students will use writing as a means to assist their speaking activities (e.g. writing interview questions, writing partners’ responses, and writing their preferences, etc.). This, however, does not mean that writing is a less important form of communication. The students probably also need writing in their working environment, so it becomes important to teach them how to use the targeted features in written communication. Therefore, to keep it balance, writing is given as homework and to make it relevant to the objective, the students will be asked to write a short email, which is one example of the way people write to communicate in the real life.
Clearly, communication plays a significant role in every aspect of our life. Communication is the simply act of conveying information from one person to another by using voice (verbally), gesture or body language (nonverbally), books or magazines (written), pictures (visually). The better communication skills that one has is the better the information could be transferred and received. The ability to convey information successfully and clearly is a fundamental life skill and should not be underestimated. Additional, effectively communication is the key to solve problems in any situation. With good communication skills, you can absolutely improve your professional life as well as strengthen your social and family relation ship. Indeed, communication allows us to relate and understand each other. “It also provides us with a significant frame of reference and relational context that sustain our identities.” (Imberti, 2007)
As in all aspects of personal and professional life, having effective communication is a key element of success. Effective communication can benefit your relationships with people. By conveying your message and integrating them as a member of the team and not just a subordinate leads to better production. By effectively communicating you can clearly define job responsibilities and expectations. The better you are able to communicate the less likely organizational turnover of personnel will occur. Supervisors and leaders in the professional workplace find that the most important factor in advancement and retain ability is effective communication. Senior level executives and human resources managers are stressing the importance of communication and providing more training for mid-level management. Emphasis is placed on communication being clear by being transmitted strongly.
Communication is the top quality that employers look for. Effective business communication starts by asking the right questions to understand the customer’s needs and wants to be able to recommend a product or service customized to the customer. One good tip would be to speak, pause, and listen. Communicate what you need and then pause to let the recipient process and respond to the information. With an average of 1800 messages being sent by workers through memos, telephone, email, faxes, and face to face, it is important to listen and pay attention to the recipient and send your information clearly. All in all, to be effective in business communication you need to be clear, brief, focused, and comm...
Literacy, what is it? When this question was asked, my immediate thought was being able to read and write, duh. But as I sat back in my chair and tried to come up with something to say to the class, I realized literacy is not truly defined by that short definition provided when looked up in the dictionary. Literacy has been an important part every civilization, enabling the recording and sharing of history, thoughts, and ideas. It has a place in every aspect of society. From cooking, to science, to religion, literacy knows no bounds. Although literacy is often thought of as the ability to read and write in an academic setting, to me literacy is more beneficial when used outside of an educational context. Literacy in its most significant form is being able to decipher emotions and feelings, finding productive solutions to the problems, and sharing with others.
Being able to communicate effectively in a professional manner is vital in most, if not all, career paths. This statement brings up some important questions. Do potential employers really care about an applicant’s communication skills? How will I use communication skills in my own career? How has college improved my own professional communication skills? Understanding how to communicate in a professional manner can help people in their careers and I feel improving my own communication skills will benefit me now and in the future.