Introduction
Business communication is also popularly referred to as company communication, and it refers to the passing of information within a firm and within a supply chain (“Business Communication” 1). Employee engagement and transaction of officially permitted matters falls under business communication.
Other topics that fall under this include; advertising, branding, client dealings, community involvement, and event organization, among others. There are various means through which internal business communication can take place and they include; cyberspace (email), print, face-to-face meeting and video conferencing, among others. Communication involving external parties or entities may entail other channels like radio, television, billboards, among others.
Communicating a bad-news message to an employee
Every organization has laid down rules and code(s) of conduct which the members of staff are expected to abide by. There are as well spelled out procedures or actions to take if an individual goes against the set regulations (McLean 1). It has to be brought to the attention of any person going against set rules that they have done so. This has to be done in the right and most sober manner so that the offender realizes the gravity of the matter.
To begin with, one has to pick the most appropriate channel to relay the message to the employee in question, as regards to the bad-news meeting.
Word of mouth or a face-to-face engagement is the most fitting since the information is received in first hand. In firsthand acquisition of the message, the right mood is usually captured from the tone in one’s voice (in the case of telephone communication) and both the tone and facial expressions are captured if it is a face-to-face engagement.
The content of the communication to the employee in question should be direct. This serves to tone down anxiety in him or her as a lot is likely to go through their minds when they hear of a meeting with their superior. This will enable them to relax and be open during the meeting and even offer constructive insight.
During the meeting, the offender needs to be informed of their mistake and the evidence of committing such an offence made clear. With clear and open evidence, the offender will find it rather difficult to be dishonest. It also offers a perfect ground to level accusation(s) against the offender with no fear of appeals being raised.
Making the right evidence clear therefore reduces the time to be spent on dealing with law-breaking cases. The offender then needs to be given room to react to the accusation(s) after being made aware that honesty should always be their guiding principle. The meeting convener has to be a good listener (“Forms of business communication” 1).
No multitasking that needs to take place as this is impolite and one may miss vital points in the conversation. Following this, the convener of the meeting needs to communicate what the rules say as far as committing the offence in question is concerned.
Conclusion of the meeting needs to be done by communicating the importance of rules in any institution or place of work. The offender then needs to be made to willingly accept their offence(s) and offer their apologies. This is especially important because it will largely bar the offender from committing such offences in the future. Whenever tempted to go against set rules, one will remember how they promised to abide and will therefore conform.
Works Cited
Business Communication. “What is Business Communication?” Management Study Guide. 2008. Web.
Forms of business communication. “Business, Communication Technology”. Information Science Today. 2011. Web.
McLean, Scott. “Business Communication for Success.” 2010. Web.