Communication skills refer to a manager’s ability to effectively convey ideas and information to others and to effectively receive ideas and information from others. This exercise focuses on communication skills as they involve deciding how to best convey information to others.Exercise BackgroundAssume that you are a middle manager for a large electronics firm. People in your organization generally use one of three methods to communicate with one another. One common method is verbal communication, either face-to-face or by telephone. Surprisingly, people also still use a lot of written communication in the form of memos, reports, letters, and other documentation. And, of course, there is also a lot of digital communication such as email and direct messaging.During a typical day you receive and send a variety of messages and other communication, sometimes using only a single method of communication but often using some combination of methods. The questions that follow ask you to select one or more methods that would be most effective for communicating specific kinds of information.Use your communication skills to answer the following questions.1. You need to reprimand a staff assistant who has been coming in to work late for the last several days. Which of these options would most likely be both efficient and effective? Check all that apply.Send an emailRegardless of what you do first, follow-up with a written reprimand to the individual’s personnel fileUse social mediaReprimand the individual in public so as to deter others from being lateSchedule a meeting to discuss the problem2. You need to schedule a meeting with your boss. Which of these options would most likely be both efficient and effective? Check all that apply.Call the boss’s assistant and request a meetingEmail the boss’s assistant and request a meetingWrite a formal letter to your boss asking for a meeting3. You need to inform a supplier that your company will soon be cutting back on its purchases because you plan to shift more of your business to a supplier offering lower prices. Which of these options would most likely be both efficient and effective? Check all that apply.A telephone call to the supplier to explain the situationAn email to the supplier to explain the situationA letter to the supplier to explain the situationA personal meeting with the supplier to explain the situation

3. Informing a supplier that your company will soon be cutting back on its purchases because you plan to shift more of your business to suppliers offering lower prices:

A telephone call to the supplier to explain the situation

An email to the supplier to explain the situation

Explanation:

Communication is a two-way traffic. The central purpose is to enhance understanding. In reprimanding a staff assistant, I shall first understand the problem he or she is facing. Full understanding of a problem generates workable solutions. Responding to problems without some created solution mechanisms will not ensure lasting relationships. The main purpose in any communication situation is to achieve understanding of the challenges being faced by the other party, whether with my assistant, my boss's assistant, or my company's supplier.