Communicating Effectively

In this week’s assignment, we were asked to consider the same piece of communication in three different forms: email, voicemail, and face-to-face. While the content was the same, the tone and my own interpretation of the message varied due to the different modalities.  According to our Dr. Stolovitch in this week’s course resources, effective communication is influenced by the communicator’s attitude, tone, and body language; the timing of the communication; and the recipient’s personality (Laureate Education, Inc., 2010).

First, I viewed the email message. It starts out with Jane communicating empathy for Mark’s situation – he’s been busy, maybe he was stuck in a meeting all day. Then the email explains exactly why Jane needs the information right away, and it outlines specific steps Mark can take to fix the problem.  My first impression is that this is a great way for Jane to communicate with Mark about the missing report.

Next, I listened to Jane’s voicemail. It’s worded exactly the same as the email – she sounds very polite and makes connection with the listener. Her tone of voice is very understanding. I felt like in this case she should have asked for a return call or email with a specific deadline: “Please get back to me today – you can reach me in my office until 5, or send me an email anytime.”  

Finally, I watched the video of the face-to-face message. I was unimpressed with this one. First of all, there wasn’t a conversation at all – it was completely one-sided. One of the benefits of face-to-face conversation is that it allows back-and-forth communication, and this clip totally left out that part. Jane’s tone in this clip sounds too apologetic. The tone of this message was not as direct as the voicemail message, and her body language seems like she’s almost hiding from the confrontation (behind the cube wall). Another problem with this one was that Jane seemed to be too formal in her language – usually face-to-face interaction is somewhat less formal than written communication.

I think this activity suggests the importance of taking into account several factors when deciding what type of communication modality to use.  Budrovich and Achong explain that It’s important to tailor communication strategies to the needs of each stakeholder, and I think this is very true – without knowing Mark’s communication style or personality, it’s hard to decide which communication method would be most effective (Laureate Education, Inc.).

References:

Laureate Education, Inc. (2010). Communicating with Stakeholders. [DVD], Dr. Harold Stolovich

Laureate Education, Inc. (n.d.). Strategies for Working with Stakeholders. [DVD], Budrovich and
      Achong

Portny, S. E., Mantel, S. J., Meredith, J. R., Shafer, S. M., Sutton, M. M., & Kramer, B. E. (2008).    

      Project management: Planning, scheduling, and controlling projects. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley &       Sons, Inc.