Who? What? A model for communication.

Have you ever felt like you were talking but you weren't being heard? We know what we are trying to communicate but how do we know that we are being heard?

Think of the Profit video we watched earlier this week. What did Marcus spend most of his time doing? It turns out that most managers spend the majority of their time communicating. But how do we know we are communicating effectively? Take a look at the following communication model.

How does the Source (sender) know they are being heard? What could interfere with the message? How would you define "noise"?

Think about the following channels (mediums):

phone
e-mail
letter
text
fax
face-to-face meeting
tweet
blog post
news article
advertising

Discuss: What are the advantages and disadvantages of each medium?

Look at the following list. Which medium would you choose for each situation and why?

1. You buy a new pair of basketball shoes and they fall apart. The store refuses to take them back saying you were too hard on them. How would you complain to the company to get the issue resolved?

2. You have an employee who is chronically late to work. You need to correct this situation or have this person fired.

3. While you were out of the office, a loyal customer came in to your business to pick up some merchandise that was not ready. Now they're are upset. How do you reach out to them?

4. You have a customer that has not paid the outstanding balance on a bill. They will not answer a phone call. How else could you reach out to them?

5. A customer needs to receive a quick response to a request for a quote. How do you let them know a price?

6. You need an out of state customer to sign a contract for an order you're about to produce. How do you need to get the contract signed?

7. You have a new product you need to release to the public for the first time. How will you get the message out?

8. You need to thank a friend for a business gift.

9. You have a disagreement with a customer over the terms of a contract. You need to have some points of the agreement clarified.

Assignment: Answer these questions on a sheet of paper and turn it in for your daily grade.  5 points