Post your interpretation of the message as it was delivered in each of the different modalities, pointing out what, if anything, changed about your interpretation from one modality to the next.
Email
Jane’s email was in a friendly, clear and concise tone. She was very specific on what (ETA data), why (to complete her report) and when (immediately to meet her deadline) information was needed. Jane’s written tone was not aggressive or demanding with bold lettering or punctuation marks; it was soft, simple and informal to read like having a conversation with a friend but expressed the urgency.
Voicemail
Jane’s voice mail expressed voice tone, tempo and volume. Her voice tone was pleasant, she fluctuated her voice up and down on the words that needed to be expressed to Mark of her understanding that he was busy and explained very briefly what information she needed, why she needed and in a non-specific timeframe. Although Jane did not disclose the importance of her meeting her deadline to submit her report, she did express indirectly that he had that information and it was needed immediately without being specific. The tempo of her voice was calm and slow and gave all detailed information. The volume was at an even tone not too loud that she was being aggressive and not soft and could not be heard. It was communicated clear, happy and friendly.
Face-to-Face (F2F)
Jane’s face-to-face conversation showed body language, facial expressions and eye contact. Her body language showed her friendliness and engaging, facial expressions expresses calmness, understanding and happy. She was standing behind the wall partition; her hands were on the wall as if the conversation was informal and relaxing. Jane had eye contact the indicated that her environment could have been informal, and sociable but as we know, it was in an office environment and was not a social visit. Her eyes changed from opening wide to express her calmness and passive behavior as she spoke and her words reflected in tone of a happy, patient person.
A synthesis of your thoughts regarding what this activity implies about communicating with members of a project team.
This activity implied that communicating with project team members is critical and not just words but communication between team members must be intentional because the tonality, words, and body language all can determine how well or not the dialog amongst the team is being perceived. In the video “Communication with Stakeholders”, Dr. Stolovich, talked about how important it is when communicating it should be clear, concise and focused. In addition to how effective communication can be swayed by a person’s spirit, attitude, tonality and body language. I was able to see how important it is to ensure that when communicating with people to be careful on choosing my words because it could be perceived as being negative, aggressive when that is not the intent.
What did you learn that will help you communicate more effectively with others in the future?
To ensure that I deliver the intended message using the appropriate communication style (informal, written, and/or formal). In addition, that the tone of the message be respectful, brief, clearly communicated what, why and urgency of the message.
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.
Stolovitch (n.d.). Communicating with Stakeholders [video]. Retrieved from: http://sylvan.live.ecollege.com/ec/crs/default.learn?CourseID=6290461&Survey=1&47=8115912&ClientNodeID=984650&coursenav=1&bhcp=1
I think you brought up some interesting points here in your blog post that I didn't consider regarding the effectiveness and worth of communicating in these three different modalities. One thing that I like about emailing participants is that it provides a permanent record and also allowing the sender to confirm that the correspondence was received. "If it is not written, it did not happen" and this is a simple statement to remember about documenting every pertinent meeting, message or information sharing. I generally think of email as to informal and also leaves the recipient too much room to choose the tonality of the message which could cause problems.
ReplyDeleteShirelle
Hi Kimberly,
ReplyDeleteI liked how you discussed the three modality of communication and decided on the best way for the message to be sent or received. Like you said "how important it is to ensure that when communicating with people to be careful on choosing my words because it could be perceived as being negative, aggressive when that is not the intent".
That is why most at time I long for those "good old days” when people were more concerned with the personal relationship whether business or personal. Going by what is happening now, people talk to others in the manner that misinterprets the information. It is good to minimize the use of technical jargon and acronyms even communicating in an informal style (Portny et al, 2008). Can this be obtainable now?
Thanks for sharing your line of thoughts and some different ways at looking at the three modes of communication we discussed in this module.
Joyce
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.
This post made me think of technology and how we interact with each other. A hundred years ago we would have never had this question asked of us. Back then the accepted way to interact was by face to face interaction. People couldn't simply pick up a phone, or turn on a computer. They were forced to find the person they needed and discuss the matter at home.
ReplyDeleteSometimes if something isn't broken, you shouldn't fix it. I believe that is the same with communication. Face to face communication tends to be the most effective and direct way to communicate a thought or idea with a colleague.