Business Communication:
1. Short Essay:(Due date: On Tuesday at 11:00p.m.)
how visuals can enhance the communication process. Can they inhibit the
message being conveyed? If so, how? (100-150 words)
2. Assignment: (Due date: On Wednesday at 11:00a.m.)
(1)The Writing Process & Effective Writing Strategies
Read the overview below and complete the activities that follow.
In some ways, written communication is more difficult than oral
communication because the writer cannot rely on nonverbal cues such as
facial expressions, tone of voice, or body language to support the intent of a
message. Consequently, writers need to pay careful attention to wording,
style, and communication channel to communicate a professionally written
message.
In this exercise, you will learn the steps of the writing process so that you can
carefully and thoughtfully craft your messages.
CONCEPT REVIEW:
The writing process involves three steps: planning, drafting, and revising.
During the planning stage, the writer determines the goals for writing,
analyzes the audience, gathers information, analyzes and organizes the
information, and chooses a format for delivering the information.
In the drafting stage, the writer's only job is to get the information from his
or her brain into written text. This can be difficult for some writers. The
important thing is to be flexible and keep writing—the writing does not need
to be perfect at this point; it can be revised later. Many writers have favorite
strategies such as writing at a particular time of day, writing the easiest part
first, or even speaking the message out loud before writing it. Whatever
works for you is what you should do.
The final stage of the writing process—revision—is reserved for revising,
editing, and proofreading to ensure that the content, style, and format are
complete, accurate, and professional.
Though new or inexperienced writers should devote approximately one third
of their writing time to each stage of the process, the process itself is
RECURSIVE. That is, as writers proceed through the process, they may return
to earlier stages or begin the work of a later stage. For example, a writer may
begin drafting and discover that he or she needs to gather more information.
Conversely, the writer may be gathering information and decide to do some
drafting because he or she already has a sense of how to communicate the
information. As you become an experienced writer, you will learn to adapt the
process to your needs.
Roll over each description of an activity a writer would perform within a stage of
the writing process. Drag the name of the activity to the stage of the writing
process the activity falls under. More than one activity may apply to the stage of
the writing process.
Activity 1: During which stage of the writing process do you analyze your audience?
Activity 2: During which stage of the writing process do you generate a version of the
document?
Activity 3: During which stage of the writing process do you correct types and
grammatical errors?
Activity 4: During which stage of the writing process do you ensure your content is
complete and accurate?
Activity 5: During which stage of the writing process do you choose a format for your
document?
Activity 6: During which stage of the writing process do you check that information
flows and is organized?
Activity 7: During which stage of the writing process should you NOT be concerned
about perfecting the writing?
Activity 8: During which stage of the writing process should you analyze and
organize your information?
Activity 9: During which stage of the writing process should you ensure that your
sentences emphasize the right information and combine ideas coherently?
Activity 10: During which stage of the writing process would you gather and collect
information?
Planning
(2)Oakdale
Drafting
Hospital's
Quest
Revising
to
Improve
Communications
Read the overview below and complete the activities that follow.
Your new CEO has formed a work committee to assess Oakdale Regional
Hospital's reputation and culture from a variety of perspectives—employees,
patients, vendors, and the community. The committee has just finished
surveying all of these constituencies and is now ready to prepare its report.
The committee members have asked you to recommend a process they can
use to determine which data is best suited to visuals.
CONCEPT REVIEW:
Analyzing this case requires an understanding of the various steps in the
visual communication process:
-Planning
-Gathering and collecting
-Analyzing and organizing
-Choosing a form
-Placing and interpreting
-Evaluating
Read the following business scenario. Then use what Chapter 3 says
about the visual communication process to answer the analytical
questions that follow.
You work for Oakdale Regional Hospital. Oakdale serves a metropolitan area of
around 100,000 people and has 15 satellite clinics in rural communities throughout
the region.
Recently, Oakdale hired a new CEO, Ramona Jackson, who wants to gain a better
understanding of Oakdale's culture, its reputation among the people and
community it serves, and how Oakdale accomplishes its mission.
She charged a committee with surveying employees, patients, vendors, and
community members to assess their perceptions of Oakdale. You are a member of
the committee. She wants the survey results presented in a written report. To get
the best data possible, the committee actually sent four different surveys (one to
employees, one to patients, etc.) to accommodate each group's relationship
with Oakdale. Ms. Jackson plans to make the report public once she has read it.
The survey results are in. Each member of the committee is assigned a particular
section of the report, but even with the division of labor, the amount of data each
person is working with is staggering. Because of your excellent analytical and
communication skills, your committee members have asked you to guide them in
their use of visuals for their sections of the report.
The questions included yes/no questions and questions where respondents rated
items on a scale of 1–5. The purpose of these questions was to get quick,
quantifiable, statistical data that would lend itself well to data-generated visuals.
There were also several open-ended questions where respondents could share
their thoughts and opinions. Even though this information does not lend itself well
to data-generated visuals, you know that this kind of information can be helpful as
well and may lend itself to visuals other than data-generated ones.
As your committee members work on their individual sections of the report,
they have several questions that you need to answer.
1. Kelsey wants to know what the MAIN purpose of the visuals in the
committee's report will be. What will you tell him?
2.
Several committee members are stumped on how to best organize the data in
their visuals. You should tell them to do all of the following EXCEPT
3.
Sondra wants to know which type of visual would best help her compare
responses from patients and responses from employees on a question
regarding safety at Oakdale. To answer the question, respondents rated their
answers on a scale of 1–5. What would you tell her?
4.
Mike plans to include several visuals of varying sizes, as will all committee
members. Mike has asked whether all of his visuals as well as others'
can be put in an appendix at the end of the report so that committee members
don't have to worry about coordinating everyone's visuals (e.g.,
labeling, numbering) throughout the report. You could tell him all of the
following EXCEPT
5.
Maria has a small table that she wants to put in the body of the report to show
the number of individuals surveyed in each group (e.g., patients, employees,
community, vendors) as well as the total number of respondents in each group.
She wants to know how to integrate the visual with the text, which carries the
primary message. What will you tell her?
6.
Some committee members have begun creating visuals. Joe has noticed that
the scales for his charts begin at 0, while the scale on Sue's charts begin
at 5, 10, or 15—wherever the first data point is. He and Sue want to know
where their scales should begin. What will you tell them?
7.
You decide to make a checklist to ensure that everyone's visuals are as
clear as possible. Your checklist should include all of the following EXCEPT
(3)Selecting Visuals
Read the overview below and complete the activities that follow.
One is often tempted to jump right in and create a visual for a document.
Sometimes it is the technological tools that lure us, and sometimes it is an
innate desire to be creative. But you would be wise to resist this temptation.
The most effective visuals are those that are right for the circumstances. To
choose the right type, you will need to think carefully about the kind of
information you have and the purpose you want to achieve.
Your ability to select visuals appropriate to your task will be assessed in this
exercise.
CONCEPT REVIEW:
Visuals for communicating information fall into three general categories: (1)
those that communicate primarily through their textual content (words and
numerals), (2) those that communicate primarily through some form of
data-generated chart, and (3) those that communicate primarily by some
form of picture.
Included in the text-based group are tables, pull quotes, bullet lists, and a
variety of flow and process charts (Gantt, flow, organization).
Visuals that convey information through data-generated charts include bar
and column charts, pictographs, pie charts, line charts, x-y (scatter charts),
and mashups.
Picture visuals include maps, three-dimensional visuals, photographs, and
diagrams.
The visual you choose depends on your communication purpose and your
audience's needs.
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