Master of Business Administration-MBA Semester 1

MB0039 – Business Communication - 4 Credits

Q.1 Describe any situation in your experience where the communication went
wrong. Analyze the situation by pointing out the type of barrier to communication
and suggest how to overcome this barrier.
Ans.
It was for one of the projects that I was leading. The client asked for an update
and my team was not prepared for it. While I reverted on the team’s behalf, the
client understood it differently and came back very heavily. That led to a very
unpleasant situation. I took some action at my end there after and got the
situation in control.

I think it was individual barrier. This is where the client approached with a
preconceived notion that my team is not going to deliver the stuff at all. Also I
used a wrong channel of email to reply to such a disgruntled client. However the
moment I realized the situation was going out of control, immediately setup
sometime and got everyone required on that call. We could close the situation
with a positive note.
While I involved my team also in the discussions, they also got to understand the
exact problem. They worked to resolve it and managed to change their image
that client had for them.
We continued to keep in touch over emails and regular touch point meetings. By
close watching the progress we could achieve the results on time and client was
happy to see the progress being made.

Q.2 Describe any two aspects of non verbal communication and give examples
of how each of them could be used to convey positive messages at the
workplace.
Ans.
Non-verbal communication means communication without using words. This is
where the facial expressions, tone of the voice, body language communicate
most of times more than the words.
Let us take tone of the voice. E.g. if you are communicating about a promotion
opportunity to an employee doing it with a positive sounding will be an
encouragement to the employee to do it even better. Also, it is important to have
positive tone while interacting on phone calls with individuals at distance.
Another one important aspect is body language. A positive body language
during interviews always enhances the chances of getting through the job. As a
leader it is important to have a positive disposition all the time to have a
motivated workforce.
Q.3 Which types of listening would be required the most at the workplace?
Explain with suitable examples.
Ans.
Comprehension, evaluative, active and to certain extent appreciative listening is
needed.
Comprehension listening: This is more in context of non-verbal communication
and a very critical aspect of a people leader. That is where it is important to
understand what a team member means when he or she communicates
something. Especially while dealing with a disgruntled employee.
It is also important to understand project requirements and its scope and
accordingly estimating the resource requirement for the same.
Evaluative listening: This is important while interacting with the supervisor and
mentors. It is very important for receiving feedbacks. To evaluate what they are
trying to mention.
This type of listening is also important while interacting with vendors to
understand contractual fine prints.
Empathetic listening: Empathetic listening is most often needed at the workplace,
when dealing with customer complaints, employee feedback and problems. A
manager doing a performance appraisal with an employee for example, should
listen to the employee’s point of view and understand the real reasons for lack of
performance.
Dialogic listening: This is one of the most critical form of listening – also known
as active listening. It involves interchange of ideas and information between the
speaker and the listener. The listener continuously seeks clarifications, gives
feedback and engages in conversation with the speaker. Another name for this is
“relational” listening, since a relationship is established through the exchange
of ideas. This is very important to establish effective plans and approach for any
problem solving or projects.
Q.4 Imagine that you have to make a presentation on your MBA project to a group of
your professors and industry experts. Prepare the following – a) A general statement of
purpose b) A specific statement of purpose c) The key idea d) A brief audience analysis
e) Delivery style.
Ans.
(a) The general statement of purpose could be (assuming my project title):
I am here to present the study carried out for the project “Diversity and inclusion in
workforce”.
(b) Specific statement of purpose:
We should have 50 – 50 policy implemented i.e. 50% of male and 50% of female
employees in any given department. Deviation by 10% is acceptable.
(c) The key idea: The presentation is part of project submission.
(d) Audience analysis: Audience will be a panel of highly learned and well informed
professors. Professors need to understand that the research was already completed.
(e) Delivery style: This will be a combination of memorizing the presentation and
speaking from notes.
Q.5 In your opinion, does the success of a meeting depend more on the
chairperson or the participants? Justify your answer.
Ans:
In my opinion success of a meeting depends on both. But if we have to consider
which one holds more weight in making it a chairperson.
The chairperson needs to be prepared for the meeting, without which it will be a
clear failure. But despite chairperson being well prepared, if participants decide
to walk away or do not respond the way they should then the meeting cannot be
successful. However, the very important point to consider here is what would
cause that type of a behaviour to come from participants? I think that is where
the chairperson needs to introspect, and in 9 out 10 cases will find it was the
him/her responsible to the meeting not being successful. It can be either of the
following common mistakes:

1. Lack of Structure – Meetings should be structured in terms of an agenda being sent

to participants in advance, the discussion being initiated by a specific person and the
chairperson ensuring that different points of view emerge. A loosely structured meeting
will not be successful.
2. No Goals or Agenda – It was pointed out earlier that a meeting without an agenda
lacks direction.
3. No Pre-meeting Orientation – This is the job of the chairperson. Members must be
briefed on how to prepare for the meeting.
4. Inadequate Preparation – This is a mistake made by members who attend the
meeting without preparation.
5. Not Focusing on the Subject – This is a common mistake made by participants who
discuss matters that are not relevant to the meeting.
6. Meetings that are too long – The chairperson must try to avoid this, by ensuring
adherence to the time limit.
7. Disorganized Meetings – Again, this is the chairperson’s responsibility to see that
the meeting is well organized.
8. Inconclusive Meetings – The chairperson must hear out all the points of view and
then arrive at a decision.
9. Ineffective Leadership – This is the fault of the chairperson, if or she he fails to give
direction to the meeting..
10. Time Wasted – Participants may engage in unrelated discussions and the
Chairperson may be inefficient at managing time.
11. Dominating the Discussion – A few members may speak all the time, while others
remain silent. This is where sometimes the Chairperson needs to intervene.
12. No Follow-up Action – The meeting may proceed satisfactorily, but nothing is done
after the meeting either by the chairperson or the participants, to ensure that the meeting
goals are accomplished.
It is the chairperson’s responsibility to ensure the goal of the meetings is
achieved.
Q.6 How do memos differ from other written communication channels? Give examples of
two business situations that would require either an informational or a persuasive memo.
Ans:
The word “memo” is a short form for “memorandum”, which is derived from the
Latin word which means “a thing which must be remembered.” It is also referred
to as an “inter office memorandum”, since it is used primarily as a tool for
communicating within the organization. The memo is essentially a condensed
or a brief report that can be used to convey information and decisions, or to make
short requests to co-workers, superiors and subordinates. The difference
between and memo and other written communications is:
It is relatively informal in style, compared to letters and long reports, and is
unpretentious and concise.
memo should be a maximum of two pages in length and include the following standard
components; whereas letters and reports need not be:
• Header with “To, From, Date and Subject” lines
• Body with main points
• A call for action, in the case of a persuasive memo.
On the other hand the difference between memo, circular and notice is:
Circulars are sent to small or selective groups within the organization, while notice to
larger audience. Occasionally, notices may be sent to individual employees in the form
of “Show Cause Notices”, asking for an explanation for misconduct and mentioning the
action that could be taken.
There is no such restriction on memo – it can be sent to any size of audience.

A memo whose main purpose is to inform, is written following the direct organizational
plan. Sometimes, a persuasive memo is also written in this format, when the writer is
confident that his request will be granted. On the other hand, a persuasive memo where
the writer feels that his request may not be accepted easily, should be written following
the indirect organizational plan. In this case, the reasons or justification for the request
are stated first, followed by the actual request.
They are written in the same way as memos and must be brief and to the point. Notices
are displayed on official notice boards and are meant for larger groups, usually all
employees of the organization.

The business situations that would require either informational or persuasive memo
could be:
(a) Expansion of budget request in mid year, providing the background why such a
request. This would be a persuasive memo.
(b) Change in organization that involves structural changes. When sent after
discussions with those affected with the change, could be an informational
memo.