Business Communication II – BUS 9553 S1AA Summer

Advice 1: Practice makes perfect. I would advise the employee to making drafts of written communications they need for their job, and then I would review and give them feedback to improve in the future. For oral communications I would assist them by role playing and allowing them to have a dry run.

Advice 2: Learn from others internally. I would cc or bcc them, or share other written communications that I have made so that they can learn from example. I would also let them sit in on certain meetings and conference calls to see how I handled such situations.

Advice 3: Learn from others externally. I would not claim to have all the answers for all people. I would encourage the new employee to seek outside information, whether it be in a book or online video, or by joining an organizations such as Toastmasters, which would allow them to practice their communications in a no pressure environment.

Our group has used google docs to track and monitor everyone’s progress and bounce ideas off each other. The roles were assigned in class based on the interest of each member. The PowerPoint was an actual google docs presentation, and after it was complete we saved it as a PowerPoint document to present to the class. The presentation differs from the written report in that is has much less information written within it. Our method was first to do all the research and write a complete paper, and then from that paper distill the most important pieces of information to include on the PowerPoint, with any additional commentary or information to be shared verbally during the presentation. The Maki and Akerson communication style was used was the Meaning Maker because we were addressing a large social issues and by emphasizing the instinct benefits of helping others, we would be able to make those involved feel more connected with the project.

The social entrepreneur project  I would like to base my Group Proposal on would be the use of cell phones in Africa to help rural farmers. I have read several articles over the past few years about this effort, and food shortages and poverty in Africa is one of the biggest issues that philanthropists are trying to address. The project would benefit small rural farmers who live without access to telecommunication. We would sell them at a low cost mobile phones which would come pre-installed with existing applications that give information about weather conditions, best farming practices, market prices for different crops, as well as supply micro insurance and mobile banking services for the farmers. The way to convince funders to invest in the project would be to show the low start-up cost and quick revenue stream that would make the project sustainable and even profitable within the first 1-2 years.

I think our presentation did not have very effective transitions because there were last minute changes to the presentation, and due to absences we were unable to properly meet before presenting to do a full dry run. Overall I think our group has very good body language and eye contact. The strengths of the presentation was the simply and clear format of our PowerPoint, as well the speaking abilities of our group members. If I was able to do one thing differently, I would have wanted to get to class earlier and done a dry run of the presentation with the entire group.

In business and business school, students are often asked to work in teams. What are some of the challenges that you have faced on team projects? What role does communication play with teams? How important is digital communication with teams?

My leadership style is to lead by example, and I do delegate when necessary. I also believe in explaining to others more than is needed for the assigned task, so that they have a deeper understanding of what the project and their role is. By doing this I find this I avoid getting asked unnecessary questions because by having the bigger picture they can more easily try to solve any issues that come up before bringing to me.

I try to rule by consensus when the outcome affects everyone, however within certain groups having too much many opinions is not productive, so in those cases I will take responsibility for the final decision.

Some challenges that I have faced on team projects primarily are lack of motivation and not meeting the expectations of the project. It is understandable that some will be better suited for certain tasks than others, but when it comes to group projects, just like in the real world, sometimes effort alone is not enough.

Communications plays a large role in team projects, and I’ve found the most effective groups I have been in had constant email communication, using google docs, as well as meeting in person to review and discuss on a periodic basis. The use of cell phones and computers to communicate, whether through conference calls, skype, google docs, or other services is extremely useful, however I also sometimes find people use it as a substitute for meeting in person, instead of a tool to be used with face to face meetings.

What 3 pieces of advice would you offer a new employee that you are supervising, who has problems with his/her written and oral communication on the job? (Think about what you have read, discussed, and experienced in both Business Communication I and Business Communication II when constructing your advice.)

The first piece of advise I would offer would be to read Munter’s Guide to Managerial Communication: Effective Writing and Speaking. This is a standard and fundamental guide that every person should read, especially those of the younger generation that grew up instant messaging, texting, and otherwise side stepping or avoiding conventional conversation.

The second piece of advice would be to find a business leader/manager/colleague whose communication style you admire and take parts of that style to hone your own.  I think this is effective especially as an entry level employee with limited experience. For instance, for a shy worker he/she may want to observe a colleague who is gregarious and outspoken and see how that person handles meetings and speaking with managers.  There is always something to learn from another person.

Finally, I would advise taking a communications course. My firm offers email writing and leadership/communications classes which we have referred a number of staff members to.  These courses can be very helpful in identifying weak areas and strengthening them. As with anything, practice and experience makes perfect.

What steps has your group taken to prepare for the Group Proposal Presentation? How have roles been assigned? How was the PowerPoint or deck created? How does the presentation differ from the written report? How will you maintain your audience’s attention? What strategies will you use to build credibility and persuade your audience? Which of Mai and Akerson’s leadership communication styles will you use in your presentation? Why?

Unfortunately, I was not present in class on the day the roles were assigned.  However, it appears that Jesse took the lead in dividing the work amongst the group members.  I believe he did a good job – the work assignment seemed fair and everyone was comfortable with their individual parts, no complaints.  Overall to prepare for the Group Proposal Presentation, we distributed a working draft of powerpoint slides with each person tasked to add 1-2 slides discussing their role in the project. Everyone was forthcoming with their different constraints on time and other priorities, so there was an understanding/trust amongst the group that everyone will do their parts well and with enough lead time prior to the presentation.

The presentation was much less detailed and granual than the wirtten report.  The written report went into further budgetary detail and the plan we created for opening a Dress for Success branch in the Bronx.

Personally, to build credibility I went back and reread the Echoing Green case so that I could demonstrate knowledge of the organization during our pitch for funding.  I figured this would show that we did our homeowork on the firm and were interested in a partnership, not just for the money, but because their vision was for the future was in alignment with our own.

I tried to utilize the leader as meaning maker strategy – connecting Echoing Green’s relatively small contribution to the bigger picture of increased employment and therefore enhanced quality of life for women both nationally and internationally and the opportunity to help turn a small nonprofit dependent on grants into a self sustaining organization.

What kind of social entrepreneur project would you like to base your Group Proposal on? Who would the social entrepreneur project benefit? Why is this project important to others? How will you convince funders that your project is worth investing in?

We based our group proposal on the nonprofit organization Dress for Success.  This organization focuses on bettering the socioeconomic positions of disadvantaged women by providing the tools to interview well and attain employment.  This project would benefit women in the South Bronx of New York who are currently unemployed and do not have the means to present themselves competitively for employment.

This project is important for others because it deals with an issue that is pervasive throughout the United States- unemployment. Everyone understands that unemployment is detrimental to society as a whole and has a pervasive effect eventually – whether through an increase in the strain on public resources, civil unrest, higher incidences of crime, etc. Therefore, it’s a probelm that sparks alot of interest and is important to many.

Convincing others that this project is worth investing in should not be that difficult for a number of reasons.

1. We are only asking for a small amount: 45K over 2 years.  This is exactly what Echoing Green is already offereing in grant funding to fellows and social entrepreneur projects.

2. Dress for Success has a unique way to tackle unemployment that requires little financial investment but could yield great returns. The organization provides interview attire and teaches interviewing skills.  Often, it is this bit of polish that impedes an underprivelieged woman from gaining employment, even if they are qualified for the job.  The skills would also be useful while on the job and moving forward in life.

If i was supervising a new employee I would tell them that it is most important to pay very careful attention to the structure of their communication. The first thing that I would advise this new employee would be to keep his message as consice as possible. Secondly, I would suggest a focus on is readability and maximizing white space, with no more than 7 lines per paragraph. The last piece of advice would be to ensure sufficient knowledge of the audience and tailoring the presentation to ensure that it captures the attention and interest of as many audience menbers as possible.

In order to effectively prepare for our group presentation, we have convened several times to discuss the progress of our report and presentation. From the beginning, we assigned work based on the sections of the proposal that were to be written and presented. Each group member was assigned a section and asked to create bullet points of their section (limited to 2 or 3 slides) that they would discuss during the presentation. The contect of the presentation is a more consice version of the report but mostly contains the same information. We will build credibility and persuade the audience by discussing the gravity of the situation that we are looking to address and the research that led us to considering our project. The leadership communication style we will likely employ is that of direction setter.