Using the process model of communications as a focal point, discuss how a manager might prepare for his first meeting

Provide two instances when written communication should be utilized and two when the choice should be oral communication.

Written communication is used when: conveying facts, the message needs to be part of a permanent file, there is little time urgency, you do not need immediate feedback, and ideas are complicated.

Oral communication is used when: conveying feelings and emotions, the message does not need to be permanent, there is time urgency, you need feedback, and the ideas are simple or can be simple with explanations.

155. Briefly discuss the different directions information can flow in an organization.

Information flows downward to subordinates, upward to supervisors, laterally to coworkers, and diagonally to different departments.

156. Provide two examples of external communications.

External communications include:  press/public relations releases, ads, web pages, and customer communications.

Press releases are external communication about a client’s products, services or practices for specific receivers. Ads are external business messages for target receivers reached through media buys. Web pages combine elements of public relations, advertising, and editorial content and include banner ads, blogs or advertiser-driven click-throughs. Customer communications include letters, catalogs, direct mail, e-mails, text messages, or telemarketing messages.

ESSAY

157. Using the process model of communications as a focal point, discuss how a manager might prepare for his first meeting as the new head of a marketing department.

The manager will initiate the meeting, so he will serve as the original sender. The new manager must recognize that first impressions are lasting impressions, so the first message he sends is a critical communication to his future success in his position. Announcing the meeting would be the first communication and he wants to ensure he encodes the message carefully to convey the importance of that meeting. It is at the initial meeting that the strategy for subsequent meetings will be set, so that importance must be obvious in the words chosen. The medium through which the meeting announcement will be sent must also be carefully considered. Multiple channels are always best since individuals’ schedules differ and the medium choice is most dependent on which channel works best for which individual at any given moment in those busy schedules. For all intents and purposes, e-mail is effective but bulletin board notices would also be workable as might face-to-face reminders of this meeting.

Clearly words will be used in the various channels of communication but some attention-getting symbols or signs might also be used. The receivers are all those in the marketing department. The words chosen for the communication might contain some jargon from the marketing area so that some credibility is initially established as well as some camaraderie, since those in other departments who may view, for example, the bulletin board reminder, may not understand that jargon. The marketing department members will decode the message and, hopefully, provide some feedback. The feedback could itself be a written response email or simply showing up at the meeting at the designated time and place.

This entire communication scenario will take place within the context of noise in the environment. Some examples of the distortions or interferences that may occur include the email for some recipients “bouncing back,” the recipient being distracted when he/she reads the e-mail and focuses on the wrong date or time for the meeting, and/or some offense taken at words contained in the message because of their gender-basis or other aspects.