Communicating Effectively
- How did your interpretation of the message change from one modality to the next?
Email Interpretation: Jane needs Mark’s missing
report in order to finish her report. She knows he is busy and may be out of
the office, but she is worried about her deadline. She requests a response of
any kind.
Phone Interpretation: Jane is still asking for the
same information. This time Jane seems more concerned and worried about her
deadline (by the tone of her voice).
Face to Face Interpretation: Jane’s body language
shows that she is not being aggressive in her request for the missing report.
She is casual and non-demanding in her body language and tone.
- What factors influenced how you perceived the message?
In the initial email, tone cannot be heard. Jane is
requesting the same information in all formats, however depending on the
relationship between Mark and Jane, some portions of the email might be taken
differently. As I heard Jane’s tone and saw her body language, I was able to
perceive her demeanor.
- Which form of communication best conveyed the true meaning and intent of the message?
Both the voicemail and the face to face
conversation best conveyed the true meaning and intent of the message. Not only
was the message clear, but the tone was set by the voice and or body language
of the speaker.
- What are the implications of what you learned from this exercise for communicating effectively with members of a project team?
From this exercise I learned that it is
important to take message modalities into consideration. If the message is concise
email may be a good modality, “Email is effective in providing quick answers to
yes and no, type questions” (Passion Computing, Pty Ltd, 2010, pg 1). Most times email is probably not the best modality,
“Email can become time consuming for answering complicated questions and
misunderstandings can arise because cultural differences in the interpretation
of certain words” (Passion Computing, Pty Ltd, 2010, pg 1). At these times it would be most effective to
communicate to team members via telephone or face to face conversations.
Jessica,
ReplyDeleteYour post is very well thought out and does point out some very important factors of the three types of communication that Jane used to get her message across.
You are right on the money when you stated that depending on the relationship between Mark and Jane portions of the e-mail may be interpreted differently than Jane intended. I myself use e-mail almost exclusively. I have not considered how much until lately. I use e-mail because it gives me a “paper trail” to follow should anyone claim they did not get the information I communicated. However, you point out that e-mail is mostly good for “yes” and “no” type answers. While I do not agree with that totally, I do think that face to face or even a phone call can be better at emoting one’s feelings and keeping confusion down. E-mail still plays an important role and I feel that e-mail should be used as a follow up to any voice or face to face interactions.