Effective Business Communication
Assignment
Scenario
Your tutor has asked you to support him with the induction of new students to the
Business Studies programme. He is planning an Induction Day. He wants to ensure
the students know about the programme of study and the level of commitment this
requires. On the day students will be involved in business games, which will help
them to understand how businesses work.
In addition, the Induction Day will show the new students how they should behave and present themselves in the business world as work experience and/or visits to businesses are part of the programme of study. Your tutor has asked you to focus on effective business communication and you will need to produce materials for the Induction Day and demonstrate best practice.
Your tutor has given you 6 tasks.
Task 1
Produce an informative handbook to guide the business students. The title of the
document is “How to communicate well at work”. You should ensure the document
is professionally presented, with appropriate headings and subheadings so that the
information is clear. Your tutor has asked you to provide examples to support the
points you make in the handbook. Provide an explanation of:
1. the importance of clear communication and the impact of unclear communication
to business
2. the different communication styles used
3. the use of communication skills to build rapport with others
4. the purpose of different types of questioning
5. the importance of clear, concise and complete written communication
6. the importance of non–verbal communication including ‘personal space’
7. the kinds of non–verbal signals which can be sent through own personal appearance
Task 2 – Problem solving
Communication is just one of the skills business students need. Another is problem
solving. Sometimes detailed analysis of problems is needed. She has asked you to
produce a handout which includes examples and explains:
a) the nature of common business problems
For a Merit grade your handout must also explain:
b) the six–step process of analysing a problem and finding the right solution
LO6, AC 6.1, 6M1
Task 3
When working in business, some people will be required to make telephone calls,
run meetings, make presentations and produce documents. Your tutor was pleased
with your work to date so she now wants you to produce appropriate guidance for
each of these scenarios. Produce a series of ‘How to … ‘guides:
a) “How to make a telephone call effective”.
Make sure you:
describe the key elements of effective listening
describe the factors that make a telephone call effective
b) “How to run an effective Business meeting”.
Make sure you include information about the characteristics of a good meeting:
Describe the factors that differentiate a productive meeting from an
unproductive one. Explain how you can make a positive contribution to any meeting.
Differentiate between a formal and an informal agenda.
Describe the purpose and contents of the Minutes of a meeting.
Describe the responsibilities of a Chairperson.
c) “How to make an effective Business presentation”.
Make sure you:
Describe the different occasions which require information to be presented to others
Explain the characteristics of an effective presentation, including the difference between an effective and ineffective visual aid.
(AC 1.2, 1.6, 4.1, 4.2, 4.3, 4.4, 4.5, 5.1, 5.2, 5.3)
Additional extension activities for Merit and Distinction grades
Task 4 – Presentations
Your tutor is planning to run a series of workshops on the Induction Day and they will
relate to the work you did in task 1. She would like students to give presentations to
others in the group and has asked you to help prepare the materials.
You need to produce a variety of visual aids for two of the workshops which will be
headed ‘Understanding the key principles and methods of verbal communication in
business contexts’ and broken down into the 4 areas below. Use points 1 and 2 for
presentation 1 and points 3 and 4 for presentation 2.
1. Importance of clear communications and the impact of unclear communications
2. Different communication styles
3. Use of communication skills to build rapport
4. The purpose of different types of questioning
You could include handouts, PowerPoint slides, posters etc.
a) Once you have done this, you can deliver the two presentations to make sure they are interesting and appropriate for your audience
b) After your presentations make sure you ask for questions so that you can
demonstrate your own communication and listening skills. You must show you can:
communicate clearly and assertively
demonstrate effective listening and appropriate questioning skills
(AC 5M1, 5D1, 1D1 and1D2)
Task 5 – Effective written communication
You need to collate examples of effective business communications to show to the new students. Examples could include the handouts, reports from previous tasks
PowerPoint slides, Minutes from a meeting; emails to employers,
(AC 2M1)
Task 6 – Running a meeting
Your tutor has provided the following scenario for further Induction material:
Your boss is working with a global project team to develop a new product. There are
5 members in his team: 2 in the USA, another in Tokyo and one from Japan who is
new to the project. Your boss is UK based. The purpose of the meeting is for the
team to get to know each other, agree a language for communication and establish
whether interpreters are needed, decide how regularly they need to meet (either in
person or virtually). If they are going to meet virtually they will also need to decide
the type of technology to use. During part of the meeting they need to make
decisions on 2 proposals that will be put forward.
a) He has asked you to work with others to plan the first virtual meeting so he can ‘meet’ his business partners. Produce an agenda and detailed notes for him as he will be chairing it.
b) How did the planning go? Use the task to
i. assess your own listening skills and
ii. describe the key elements of assertive communication and its impact on the planning process.
c) Working individually, you should also include a further guide for your ‘boss’:
i. an analysis of the characteristics of an effective meeting
(AC 1M1, 1M2, 4M1 4D1
