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1. Module Homepage: www.comp.dit.ie/dgordon/courses/communications/index.html Lectures Excercises Assignment

2. The journey so far...

3. Journey so far... • Epistemology • Science and philosophy of knowledge • Visualisation • Mind Maps

4. I E N P S J F T Journey so far... • Bloom’s Taxonomy • Learning Theories • Behavourism, Cognitivism, Social Constructivism • Learning Styles • Communications Theory Bloom’s Taxonomy

5. Last lecture... recap Communications Theory

6. How Projects Really Work http://www.projectcartoon.com/

7. History of Communications • Aristotle • Rhetoric – art of oration and persuasion • 1940’s & post-World War II • Laswell • Shannon-Weaver • Schramm

8. Communication Models • Lasswell • “Who says what to whom in what channel with what effect” • Shannon-Weaver Model • “noise” (entropy) • Schramm • “feedback loop”

9. Process of Communication

10. Business and Technical Communications Based on: Franklin Covey “Style Guide” for Business and Technical Communications Tools for Highly Effective Communication

11. Agenda • Introduction to Business and Technical Communications • Ethics • Persuasion • Writing • Prototyping documents

12. Introduction - Communications Skills • Effective communication is both personal and inter-personal. • Personal skills begin with clear thinking, which helps produce well conceived speech and welldesigned documents. • But.... neither speech nor documents are successful unless they effectively and ethically convey information to listeners and readers.

13. Communicate information people can use • Effective communcation is simply good customer service. • We serve our customers well by sharing relevant information quickly and efficiently. • We fail to serve them when we give them information that is unclear, inaccurate, or irrelevant. • These principles are valid for business, indudstires, and governmental agencies. • The aim of this information is to help you serve your customers and your colleagues in these ways: • You will communicate information that people can understand and use. • Comply with the best current styles and practices in business and technical communication. • Save time and money for your customers because they won’t have to contend with misleading and unprofessional documents. • In the workplace, information has value only if it accessible, easy to understand, and relevant.

14. Save time and money • Effective communication saves time and money. • Cogent and persuasive business plans allow swift, logical management decisions. • Analytical and well-crafted scientific reports support scientific dialogues and sound policy decisions. • Well-desiged and clearly written software manuals decrease customer service calls and prevent costly downtime. • Even short technical memos and routine letters are easier to read and clearer if they are well written. • Time & money are irrepalceable resources and wise stewardship of them often means the difference between an organisation’s success and failure. • Effective buisiness communcation is one of the most imporant ways for you to improve your stewardship of scare organisational resources.

15. Ethics

16. Communicate full accurate information • Ethical dilemmas will confront every professional in their career • Professionals must make hard choices about what to say and how best to say it. • Line between right and wrong may be clear but what if jobs (espcially your job) depends on what you choose to do...?

17. 4 rules for communications & ethics • Use full, accurate, and honest information in everything you communicate. • Analyse who (including yourself) will be affected, how and when by ethical or professional choices you make. • Assess your options, given your analysis of the situation (and then pick a course of action. • Prepare documents to support your decisions on ethical issues.

18. Ethics - example # 1 • Your supervisor tells you that your business plan is too negative in its financial projections. • You feel that the new product will not break even for at least 18 months. • Your supervisor argues that the break even-point could be as early as 6 months after product introduction.

19. Ethics - example # 2 • Your current project parallels previously published information. • You wonder how closely you can follow the ideas and phrasing of this source. • Do you need to write for permission?

20. Ethics - example # 3 • A technical colleague suggests that you soften you write-up of negative conclusions about some tests.

21. Ethics - example # 4 • Your boss tells you to write a proposal using the resume of an employee who retired long ago, and you know he’ll never work on the project.

22. Ethics - example # 5 • Consider the case where you violate your professional code of practice by not revealing a design flaw you have discovered. • From a legal perspecitve, you personally, as well as your company could be liable for tens of thousands of euro • Liability exists even if you fail to test for obvious flaws. • The law assumes that sound product engineering – that is good professional ethics – would provide for tests to discover reasonably forseeable problems. • Failure to record tests is, therefor, no protection from legal sanctions.

23. 1 Full and accurate information • Use full accurate, and honest information in everything you communicate • Every reader and listener has the right to trust what you tell them. • Anything less would violate your own expectations about communication • This rule becomes the golden rule: • “Communicate with others as you would like them to communicate with your.” • This rule (or some version of it) appears in every code of sound professional practice or ethics. • Hippocratic Oath • The Code of Ethics for the Society of Journalists states: • “Truth is our ultimate goal”

24. 1.1 Personal ethics • A person’s word must be true and firm. • You must be able to depend on what someone tells you • If not, relationships, agreements and decisions are impossible and worthless • Someone’s whose word is untrue and unreliable risks disclosure and sanctions, either personal or legal.

25. 2. Who will be affected? • Analyze who (including yourself) will be affected and how and when they will be affected by ethical or professional choices you make. • Ethical questions about past events, decisions of right or wrong are easy. • Ethical questions become more ambiguous about future events, e.g. • Will a proposed computer system pay for itself? • How safe and effective is a new antibiotic? • Is the new anti-lock braking system foolproof in ordinary driving?

26. Your supervisor tells you that your business product plan is too negative in its financial projections. You feel that the new product will not break even for at least 18 months. Your supervisor argues that the break-even point could be as early as 6 months after product introduction. You go ahead with your financial projections of 18 months and management decides to delay or cancel the introduction of the new product Judgement call

27. Who will be affected? How and when? • You • Risk for chances of advancement, future assignments, and, perhaps, even your job, if the new product group is disbanded. • Colleagues • Your supervisor and other employees may also receive new assignments, or perhaps be laid off. • Company risks missing a business opportunity, and this decision may affect the company's dividends for several quarters or even several years. • Shareholders will complain about the lost dividends, driving company stock prices down. • Customers • May not have the option of buying the product • If management rushes the product to market to meet financial goals, quality problems may occur.

28. 3. Assess your options • Assess your options, given your analysis of the situation (in rule 2), and then pick a course of action. • In the simplest terms, you can either choose to revise your projections (the 18-month break-even point) or you can refuse to back down. Neither of these answers is clearly right or wrong because you are dealing with a forecast. • If you revise your projections, how much can you change them before they are dishonest? • If your projections are open to negotiation, how hard do you want to fight for them? This question is usually the crucial one when an employee considers options dealing with ethical or professional questions. • Every person/organization answers such questions in different ways.

29. 4. Prepare documents... • Written documentation is essential when you have to confront ethical dilemmas that might have legal implications for you and for your organization. • What should you record? No quick or easy answer exists. With the high frequency, even likelihood, of litigation today, some might be tempted to record very little or even nothing that might reveal internal debates. This view is wrong. As noted above under rule 1, professional standards mandate good documentation. • Carefully document your professional views. Remember, also, that from a legal perspective, documentation extends beyond formal documents to include, for example, your computer files, log books, day planners, and any team notes. Careful documentation means that you have analyzed and catalogued all the pertinent records. • If your honesty is called into question, nothing you say or do will be credible.

30. Persusian

31. Persusian • Persusian relies on any technique used by a writer or speaker to gain agreement or to support an idea. • Most obvious persuasive technique is an appeal based on a logical rationale and on solid reasons • However, the most effective technique is really one that also enlists the reader’s or listener’s emotional support. • Successful persuasion is 50% emotion and only 50% logic and facts. Without emotion and subjectivity, logic and facts just don’t convince. • Some documents are all persuasion, e.g. sales documentataion, proposal to hire more employees, etc. • Other documents may not be obviously persuasive, yet usually have persuasive intent. • e.g. a scientific study or financial audit may be primarily factual but their writers still intend that readers understand and act upon the value and realiability of the information presented.

32. 1. Assess your customers' needs and objectives. • The customers' needs and objectives are important starting points because persuasion must be a two-way process. • The old model of the salesperson with a pitch is gone. Today's persuasive writing is based on problem solving and consultation, not pitching a canned presentation to skeptical customers. • Initially, list your customers, both internal and external. • Next, profile each of them by asking the following questions: • What are their jobs and professional responsibilities? • What level and type of decisions can they make? • Whom do they work for and whom do they supervise? • What problems or questions are they working on now? • What do they already know about your services or your ideas? • How likely are they to use the information you can provide? • Your primary goal in asking these questions is to determine what your customers' needs are.

33. 2. Define your own role and objectives • Define your own role and objectives in relation to those of your customers. • Asses your customers’ needs and objectives. • Collaborate with customers to generate persuasive solution and benefits • Design a message that speaks clearly, effectively, and persuasively to your customers. • Maintain a credible position so customers have reasons for agreeing with you and your ideas.

34. 2. Define your own role and objectives • As two-way communication, effective persuasive writing requires you to know your own role and objectives. • The following examples expand on the two examples introduced under rule 1 above. • Example 1 - Recommendation Document • You decide that you would propose that the customer hire a new network computer specialist rather than obtain a new vendor. You might have a choice of roles, however. If your role is as an advisor, then your approach is more factual and neutral than it would be if you would profit from the decisions being made. Your second role might be as an advocate for a friend or family member. With this role, you move from neutrality to a more aggressive presentation of your points. Your changing roles control the slant of your persuasive documents. • Example 2 - Research Report • If you discover that readers of your report are likely to be very skeptical about your new surgical procedure, you can adjust your research report to make it more convincing. Perhaps you add more detailed explanations of the prior literature related to your procedure. • Unless you establish your own role, your objectives, and, if appropriate, your ethical stance, you cannot prepare persuasive documentation.

35. Example 1 – Customer AssessmentRecommendation Document Computer Network Service • Your customer needs to obtain a more reliable source of computer network service. Your questions reveal just how important this need is to the customer, and you discover that the customer values a solution enough to spend money hiring a new employee or a new vendor. You have to decide what to recommend to the customer. You must identify your customers’ needs before you can begin to design persuasive documents.

36. Example 2 – Customer AssessmentResearch Report Surgical Procedure • Your customers are readers of your report on a new surgical procedure. As you profile these customers, you determine how they intend to use your report and how likely they are to agree with your views. Based on what you determine about their needs, you can either adjust your existing report or, perhaps, add to it. You must identify your customers’ needs before you can begin to design persuasive documents.

37. 3. Collaborate with customers • This rule means that you continue to work with your customers, validating your initial perceptions and checking up on your progress. You never want your customers to feel neglected. • The following two examples build on details already introduced in the prior rules. • Example 1 - Recommendation Document • As you work to list the pros and cons of the hiring of a new computer network specialist, you discover that you still have some unresolved questions about the problem. How frequent and severe are the network problems? Who is currently handling them and what does this service now cost? You need the data before you can complete your recommendations. • Your goal with these or similar questions is to refine your ideas so you can specify the benefits related to your proposal. • Example 2 - Research Report • You transmit a working copy of your research report to a colleague who will be a sharp critical reviewer. Your intent is to find out if your approach and the details in your draft are on target. This review—essentially a usability test—is a crucial step if you want to guarantee that your report has the most persuasive impact possible. This review would parallel the peer review often required prior to publication in the scientific arena.

38. 4. Design a message that speaks clearly, effectively, and persuasively • Design a message that speaks clearly, effectively, and persuasively to your customers. • An effective and persuasive message will have the customer in the foreground. • You and your interests remain in the background

39. “Before” vs “After” Letters • The following two letters illustrate what we mean by customer-centered writing. • The “before” letter is typcial of many sales letters. Its persuasive power is lost because power is lost because the writer can’t stop talking about her own product and her own interests. • The “after” letter moves the customer to center stage. It also illustrates the following three writing principles: • Be as clear as possbile • Organise your information with your customers’ needs in mind • Choose effective and forceful examples

40. Ann DeviManager, Information SystemsTuffMax, Inc. Subject: WebWare Dear Ann: This letter is a follow-up to a conversation we had some time ago about switching your networks to WebWare. As you may not be aware, WW has been selling network products since 1985 through out direct dealers. Out WebWare product is a second-generation product tested in direct dealerships for the last two years. WebWare is actually a family of products which allow computers to be connected to most kinds of phone lines, even to dedicated phone lines already being used for phone. It offers many of the features on cardcage products, including built in suppor of multiple modem types and network mangement with secure mutli-user and remote control. I think we have a great product and I could go on and on, but I really wanted to remind you that WW has just opened a direct channel office in your area. I would really like you to consider visiting our office and talking with some of our representatives about our full-featuered networking product. I have enclosed a customer survey I would like you to fill out. I hope all is going well with you. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to call. Best regards, The “Before” version is writer centered and not well organized.

41. Ann DeviManager, Information SystemsTuffMax, Inc. Subject: Invitation to Discuss Improved TuffMax Network Links Ann, in our discussion we determined three challenges we can help you meet. Please consider a visit from our new local representative to explore these challenges further: TuffMax’s need to link networks in different locations Field employees’ need to access network information by modem TuffMax’s need to ensure data security while offering remote access Linking TuffMax NetworksYou mentioned your desire for all TuffMax networks to operate as one big network. The advantage is rapid exchange of information in the office and in the field. The WebWare family of products permits this kind of bridging. Accessing TuffMax Networks from the FieldYour field engineers and sales representatives need to enter, retrieve, and manipulate data remotely. With WebWare, all they will need is a modem and a piece of access software. Ensuring SecurityWith remote access you always worry about security. With WebWare, you can design several levels of security, restricing access to certain databases. Our representative will call you next week to arrange a meeting. Sincerely, The “After” version focuses on the reader (customer) and uses a variety of emphasis techniques.

42. Be as clear as possible. • An undefined term or an unclear explanation allows customers to dismiss your ideas on the trivial grounds of their not being able to understand you. • Do everything you can (or need to) to make sure that you have been clear. • Be especially careful to define all technical terms and technical assumptions. • Use page layout, boldface, headings, lists, and other format options to make your message as unambiguous and as effective as possible.

43. Organize your information with your customers’ needs in mind. • Organization means that you have considered both • the logic of your points • the arrangement ...of these points for maximum effectiveness on your customers.

44. Example 1 – Recommendation Document 2 options: • Open with your recommendation and state it both in the subject line and in your opening lines of the document. • This option is the strongest and clearest way to begin your document. • Lead up to your recommendation by giving some background -perhaps the scope of your investigation or some details about similar problems you’ve analyzed. • This option delays your recommendation for a few lines or a paragraph or two. • You would use this option only if you felt that your customers needed to be prepared for your recommendation. • This opening is not as forceful as the opening in option one, and it will likely not be as clear.

45. Example 2 - Research Report • Often you have no discretion as to how to organize the body of your report. • Major headings are standard, as in many scientific reports: Introduction Methods Materials Results Conclusions Recommendations • Still, you have some choices to make. • e.g., you may precede the report with a summary, an abstract, or a transmittal letter. • If so, you need to decide how direct and specific you want or need to be. • This decision will rely on your view of the customers’ point of view.

46. Choose effective and forceful examples. • Persuasive writing requires an interplay between general principles and good examples. • Choose examples that match the backgroundsof your customers. • If your customers have a limited technical background, choose non-technical examples.

47. 5. Maintain a credible position • Maintain a credible position so customers have reasons for agreeing with you and your ideas. • You will be establishing and maintaining your credentials from your first discussion with your customers to the writing of your final document. • Your persuasive case stands or falls depending upon your customers’ perception of your credibility. • Do the customers see you as... • honest? • knowledgeable? • professional? • a good listener? • sympathetic? • in other words, should the customers trust what you have to say or to recommend? • From a personal standpoint, honesty and trust are the basis of any persuasive relationship. Without these virtues, you will have no success mustering reasons or developing a logical case. • No questions about your ethics should ever arise. If they do, you will have damaged your own persuasive case.

48. Seeing is believing • You cannot rely on purely personal facts about yourself or your organization to help maintain your credibility.You can occasionally refer to your background or your prior business experiences. • References will not buy youcredibility if you cannot, for instance, produce a professionally appearing document or sound analyses of the problems at hand. • In documentation: • Careful, well-designed format - one that is professional and excellent • Clear, persuasive organization and examples (see rule 4 above) • Technically sound, valid analyses of data and examples • No slips in spelling or punctuation

49. Communication purpose or goals

50. Identify a purpose, strategy, or goal • In any given situation, not all knowledge and information is relevant to your goal. Establish priorities. Decide what's most important. • is a strategic business goal your primary interest? • do you want to expand your grasp of a technical or scientific process? • perhaps an environmental issue has become an important concern. • As you answer these and other questions, you will be setting goals and establishing priorities. • Without established priorities, you will be overwhelmed by the flood of knowledge and information available.