The last business meeting I attended was devoted to quarterly sales and possible ways of sales improvements. The purpose of the meeting was to discuss and analyze possible problems, quality requirements and product characteristics. It had to be integrated into a firm’s pricing, promotion, and distribution strategies as well. In order to appeal to the target audience, it is important to take into account characteristics of the audience and use appropriate channels of communication.
The main characteristics of the audience are determined by its professional knowledge and skills. Managers and sales people have professional knowledge in sales and management tools, so they do not need detailed explanation of terms and notions used in the report. In contrast, many customers have limited knowledge in sales terminology and cannot read financial information and graphics. For this target audience, the quarterly report should be simplified and involve less financial details and industry information. In order to meet requirements of all stakeholders, the sales manager should give a brief overview of the main problems and challenges faced by the company (Lesikar et al 2006).
He/she should underline that following examples of other corporations, the company has done it effectively and has used the results to increase its share of world markets. In order to be more successful, the company needs an approach that helped replace or combine short-term orientation with a long-term one; discourages in-house competition for resources. Their vivid arguments helped the audience to grasp the idea at once (Knapp and Vangelisti 2004).
For managers, the best channels of communication are verbal communication, visual information including financial graphics, tables and schemes. This audience can read and understand graphical representation of the financial data. Written communication will help the reporter to avoid duplication and repetition of facts and figures. In contrast, salespeople and customers need visual information presented in the form of images and pictures.
In general, effective presentation is one of the most important elements of projects and human interaction at the organizational level. It determines overall success of the project or topic under discussion, and creates a certain image of the speaker (Lesikar et al 2006). The meeting was effective because it included effective information exchange based on clear goals and purpose of presentation. Both speakers selected information carefully in order to inform the audience about the main points of discussion.
Correct timing was also essential and the use of the right technical language was vital. Non-verbal interaction with the audience (used by the speakers) was important because it guided the meeting. The main challenge of reports was to persuade and inform the audience sending clear messages and informing about the issue. The discussion sections were also effective because all attainders took an active part in discussion and problem analysis.
The chief engineer identified the key tasks and points in discussions and gave them the greatest amount of time. He guided the discussions and presented the most important facts and figures. The speaker’s perception was based on credibility and clear evidence of knowledge. The problem, therefore, was not that strategic planning did not work but that the paradigms that the company had been using before were not right for new situation and environment. A technologist and quality manager presented reports ‘On Quality’ and identified further areas of improvements (Wood, 2003).
In order to meet diversity problems, the reporter/speaker should keep in mind prier knowledge and professional orientation of the audience. The only change I would make is to add graphical and visual representation of figures and facts discussed during the meeting. In discussions, sufficient detail must be given and this may be presented in pictures or graphs; what must be avoided is obscuring the main facts by too much detail.
In some cases, it was difficult to remember all facts and figures reported by the technologist and sales manager (Lesikar et al 2006). A technologist and quality manager presented reports ‘On Quality’ and identified further areas of improvements. They stated that in order to be more successful, the company needed an approach that helped replace or combine short-term orientation with a long-term one; discourages in-house competition for resources. Their vivid arguments helped the audience to grasp the idea at once (Wood, 2003).
The narrative structure of the report helps readers to understand background and problems faced by the company. As the most important, the report does not impose the author’s opinion on readers but teaches them how the company and why. In Preface, the report should address the audience stating that he uses “common, plain, everyday talk”. The narrative structure sets in a frame that elaborate a certain doctrine, then illustrates a series of propositions and show their practical application. Part of the satisfaction of the report comes from the combination of the formal symmetry of its structure with the apparent freedom and randomness of its episodes. Also, it is possible to say that the report follows the outline structure which helps readers to grasp the idea at once (Lesikar et al 2006).
This structure should help readers to follow plot development and main themes expressed in the Quarterly report. To give dramatic descriptions with intensity, to make the imagined picture of reality glow with more than a dim light, requires the author’s finest compositional powers. Control of powerful feeling intensifies emotional appeal and adds dramatic effects (Lesikar et al 2006).
In order to ensure that message is effective, it is important to ask control questions. Business communication is one of the main tools which help managers to create a positive culture and morale, motivate and encourage employees, increase productivity and ensure effective performance. Even though the cultural diversity of the population has increased in the last few decades, communication between people from different cultures and/or ethnic groups is still relatively rare.
Most people have little contact with members of other cultures/ethnicities in their daily lives that is not role-related. Some people avoid interacting with members of other cultures/ethnicities and/or view them as “undesirable” people. To accomplish these goals sales managers must be mindful of the process of their communication with customers. Even though buyers and managers may be mindful and motivated to communicate effectively, institutional support is crucial to improve relations in society. The greatest effort must be made to meet communication targets. Only a long-term commitment to the communication strategy and a realistic organization of milestones by reporter can ensure communication success. Sales managers are shuffled around, out of one department and into another, taking on new or additional tasks. Management roles might change.
Work locations might change. However, out of this apparent chaos might emerge a stronger, more viable corporate structure. But one factor that undermines this type of activity is that people are basically resistant to change. People become comfortable with the status quo and organize their lives around perceived constants. When these constants that stabilize one’s life are disrupted, one tends to resist them, even if the future benefits will outweigh the current inconvenience.
References
Knapp, M.L. Vangelisti, A. (2004), Interpersonal Communication and Human Relationships. Allyn & Bacon; 5 edn.
Lesikar, R.V., Flatley, M.E., Rentz, K. (2006). Basic Business Communications. McGraw Hill Higher Education.
Wood, J.T. (2003), Interpersonal Communications. Wadsworth Publishing.