Managing Communications Knowledge

Assignment 1

LO 1.1 discuss the range of decisions to be taken

A decision is the point at which plans are translated into concrete actions. All decisions depend on information for this the key is, to get the right information and the knowledge to the right people at the right time. There are some initial decisions which are to be kept in mind. One of the most important decision is location because is a person wants to start a brick and mortar retail operation then he has give proper attention to this. Location should be in the remote areas and should be easily accessible. Next is type of business that a person wants to start. A person can start a business from scratch or can purchase an existing business. Another important decision which is to be considered is the source of financing, which can be arranged by the person himself or he can take it from the bank. Some other decisions that follow are like what will be the equipments required in the business and how much man power is needed, etc

LO 1.2 examine the information and knowledge needed to ensure effective decision taking

To take the above decisions a person who is starting business should have proper knowledge and adequate information. If we see the location, it is very important as it should be at the reachable location and should be at a major spot like highly populated area so that business could grow instantly. Then a person should have a knowledge that if he is not financing the project himself then he has to take loan so he should check all the offers banks are giving and should choose the best one. In case of equipments then a person should have the information about the local suppliers and dealers from where he can get the items at a reasonable price. Man power decisions are very important because a person should know how large the business is and how many people are needed to manage it. These decisions will be considered while opting for a massage saloon (Bouyssou, 2013).

LO 1.3 assess internal and external sources of information and understanding

Decisions shall be taken on the basis of information collected. If the information is not recent or subjective then it will not be relevant or credible and the decisions will be wrong. For a business, all the information should be relevant and easily understandable. For the information one best source is internet which is easily available and a person can get a wide amount of knowledge. Then comes the suppliers, person should directly contact them so that there is no communication gap and contract can be made with mutual understanding. For the sources of funding banks are the best source, a person can see the facilities bank is providing and can contact them for further knowledge. Some of the information can also be collected from news and books which are daily publish to know the current market. The most important source of internal knowledge are friends and family, person should talk to their near once and should listen to their experience and advice (Brønn, 2014).

LO 1.4 justify recommendations for improvement

The owner should chose economical equipment in terms of low energy devices which have lower costs and high quality. If a person wants he can design a good website for his business where he can give some discounts, etc. Proper hygiene and safety measure should be maintained in the business which will attract customers to your business. For proper analysis SWOT analysis can be done.

STRENGTHS

• Exclusive products
• Special equipment
• Modern design
• Hygiene

WEAKNESS

• New business
• Limited services
• Financial limitations

OPPORTUNITIES

• Physical development
• Low price in comparison to competitors

THREATS

• Competition threat
• No barriers to entry

Assignment 2

LO 3.1 report on existing processes of communication in an organization

Communication is sharing of information from sender to the receiver for a mutual understanding. The communication process has a sender who wishes to share information with other person, and then there is a receiver who receives the information from the sender. There is message which contains the information that is to be transferred and there is medium which acts as a pathway to deliver message to receiver.

In the given case study the process that can be used is through formal and informal network channels. Formal networks are often very complicated as they include a chain of commands and lots of people. The problem with the organization was mainly the delegation of authorities. The manager was so busy in other projects, she had no time to delegate the work to the volunteers and as a result the work was not complete as per schedule. Both the manager and volunteer were not in harmony and they were not having a common goal. The morale and the enthusiasm of the volunteer were going down day by day by seeing the work and hence the organization suffered.

LO 3.2 design ways to improve appropriateness

To improve the communication process, Communication trilogy should be followed, which has three parts. First part is mutual respect which suggests that there should be mutual respect between managers and the volunteers. All the work given by manager should be taken as an important work and it should be completed on time. If there is some mistake or misunderstanding then it should be cleared then and there and both the parties should move forward with perfect harmony. The second part suggests gathering good information which says that before doing any work there should be plenty of information available with the person. He should discuss it with its peers or with manager so that some new information or ideas can come and project can be done peacefully without any barriers. The last part is called give good information and it suggests that, manager should give good and proper information of work to its subordinates and should explain the main motive of that work. If the manager is too busy, he should adopt the time saving communication systems like e-mails, memos, etc which can brief the employees that what they have to do and work could be completed. Manager should properly delegate the task to each employee and should work with each employee in perfect synchronization (Gregory, 2000).

Other then these three measures, organization can also follow seven C’s of good information which are- clear, concise, concrete, correct, consistent, completed, considered cross cultural factors. On the employees side they should request the clarification of the work given to them and should make sure that the statements are direct. If all these things are met perfectly then there will be no communication gaps among the manager and the employee which will result in effective work place (Moorhead, 2009).

LO 3.3 implement improvements to ensure greater integration of systems of communication in that organization

Some of the ways are:-

Foster Informal Communication- Use of foster communication will help the organization to build the mutual trust and understanding and it will also help to remove differences among the employees. Use of open communication can also help the organization to build a strong and effective relationship (Haddon, 2005).

Develop Balance Information Network- It is one of the most important things that organizations should do. They should balance all the information before passing on to the employees. They should not give too much load and information to the employees that they cannot handle. All the information should be allotted with proper balance and harmony so that employees can also work without taking stress and can give better result (Vos, 2006).

Staying Focused- when there is a situation in the organization or an argument or even at the time of communication, lots of discussion takes place and when this happens most of the time the discussion goes out of topic which acts as a barrier for proper work and proper communication so to avoid this employees should stay focus on their goal and avoid unnecessary talks (Henk, 2005).

Listening Carefully- This is one of the most important skill that a person should have. Many times employees don’t listen properly the instructions given by the top management and at the time of work they suffer. So it is necessary for employees to become a good listener and if there are doubts then it should be cleared on the spot to avoid future problems.

Ask for Help- Sometimes while doing work employees suffer with some difficulties and they hesitate to ask for help and as a result they take stress and ultimately the work suffers. Employees should make sure that whenever they are in a difficult position they should ask for the help of the colleagues, this will solve their problem also and will create a mutual respect also (Walter, 2010).

LO 3.4 create a personal plan to improve own communication skills

Communication is one of the most important skills that every person should possess. It helps us to convey our thoughts and feelings to others. Some people are very good with communication skills but most of the people are not but they can improve their communication skills with some practice. There are many techniques which can be used to improve communication skills (Leslie, 2005).

Listening- It is very important skill to develop effective communication. People find it very difficult to listen to others but people should understand, to become a good communicator listening is very important. Even listening to one’s own voice can help to develop this skill (Zerfass, 2011).

Humility- Sometimes when people communicate they often mispronounce certain words or paragraph even when they know what it means but people should understand that it is common to make mistake while communicating. To improve this skill people should not be afraid to ask to friends or peers if they are wrong somewhere while communicating, this will help them to become confident and it will also improve their skill (Holtzhausen, 2012).

Eye Contact- While speaking people should try to maintain eye contacts with the listener to get his attention but it doesn’t mean to stare at them. People should look very calmly and relaxed while communicating, this will help them to overcome their shyness and confidence (Husted, 2012).

Smile- People should always keep smile on their face while talking to their friends or in casual conversations. It gives the other people impression that the person is more close to them and it also helps a person to express himself better (Wilson, 2010).

Use Gestures- It is the most difficult and important skill that helps the person to become a good communicator. People should make their body talk. Gesture can be different as per the group of people. Use of gestures helps to explain person’s thoughts very easily and people also pay attention to your words.

Concentration- It has been observed that people have tendency to lose their concentration while talking or while listening which is considered as a sign of less interested and this gives negative impact on others. So people should develop this skill to make people listen to you.

LO 4.1 report on existing approaches to the collection, formatting, storage and dissemination

The company does not have any approach to collect, format, store and disseminate information and knowledge. The organization is a voluntary organization which is highly dependent on the work of the volunteers. Volunteers work for a limited time and then they leave which make the organization very labor intensive. As volunteers work for the limited time there is a big issue of knowledge and information with the organization. All the data of the organization is collected by the volunteer and he use his own perception and values. The data is not on the basis of hypocritic approach. There is also no option available with the company to store any data in the files so when the time comes company fails to provide data. There is also no culture of sharing information and knowledge among employees as a result the entire volunteers do what they feel like and there is no harmony among them. There is no proper training given to volunteers and the interaction from top management is also close to zero.

LO 4.2 carry out appropriate changes to improve the collection, formatting, storage and dissemination

To ensure proper collection, formatting, storage and dissemination of information and knowledge following process should be adopted-

Collecting of data- Company should collect the data by themselves and should eliminate the personal preference of people in data collection. For this they have to create a policy which prevents people to include their preferences. All the volunteers should be given proper training to collect the data. These all things will help the organization to collect high value data.
Formatting and storing Information- Before storing any information it is necessary to eliminate the waste data and convert the selected information into a standard format. So company should make a standard policy that all the information should be in the standard format. For storing the data company can use many options like cloud fascilities or they can even store data in company’s personal hard drives (Steyn, 2003).

Dissemination- Company can easily spread information using cloud fascilities. Even when the person leaves the company and new person continue the work, he can easily check the previous employee data by using the fascilities and can continue the work without any barrier. This gives the organization a leading edge over other organization and it also improves its effectiveness

LO 4.3 implement a strategy to improve access to systems of information and knowledge

In the 21st century there are many technological advances which can help the company to work effectively. To access the data there are many options available like Google drive, drop box, etc. where company can store and update the information very easily and quickly. However the data that company uses is very confidential and it should be protected, to overcome this problem company can introduce the password protection system to each file or folder so if anyone wants to open a file they have to use the password to access the data and which only company can give. Organizations can give some training to its employees so that they can use the cloud system effectively. Company can also arrange the files according to the index which will make the information availability very easy and people will be able to us right information on right time.

Company should also create a culture where the information and knowledge is shared regularly among employees. It will help to encourage sharing of information and knowledge and will make the organization more effective in terms of knowledge and data (Tofanelli, 2012).

Conclusion

In the corporate world communication serves as one of the biggest foundation for the success and the development of an organization and without the communication manager cannot perform the key functions in the organization like planning, organizing, staffing, controlling, motivating, etc. Communication helps the person to know what job he is doing and how he can improve himself. It also helps to express him to others in a better and an effective way. It helps to build an attitude, confidence in the person and makes him more productive. Whether you want to achieve your career growth or achieve target, communication will make your way easier and effective. The work that has been done her is original and it has not been copied from any other sources. All the techniques and processes that have been mentioned are suggested by the experts in the similar fields. Proper analysis of the situation has also been done by using all the correct designs and techniques.

Referencing

• Beckett, R., 2003. Communication ethics: Principle and practice. Journal of Communication Management.
• Bode, R., n.d. Knowledge management, learning and communication in value chains.
• Bouyssou, D., 2013. Decision Making Process: Concepts and Methods. John Wiley & Sons.
• Brønn,P., 2014. How others see us: leaders’ perceptions of communication and communication managers. Journal of Communication Management.
• Clutterbuck, D. And Hirst, S., 2002. Leadership communication: A status report. Journal of Communication Management.
• Fawkes, J And Gregory, A., 2000. Applying communication theories to the Internet. Journal of Communication Management,