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The Daily Progress, Charlottesville, Va., Nate Delesline III column [The Daily Progress, Charlottesville, Va.](Daily Progress, The (Charlottesville, VA) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Jan. 28--Even when we're speaking the same language, it's easy to stumble into a communication breakdown. The pitfalls of poor communication are even greater in a business context, especially with the lure of social media at our fingertips. Any message that pops into your head can be immediately shared with the whole world. But people who may not be accustomed to crafting effective communications may not understand how important it is to consider the context, tone, phrasing and timeliness of a message, regardless of the medium. Since there's never a bad time to strive for improvement, I asked some communications experts for their advice on achieving better business communication. "Relying on email causes folks to miss the nuances of vocabulary and the nonverbal cues people give while relating to one another," said June A. West, an assistant professor of business administration at the Darden Graduate School of Business Administration at the University of Virginia. "Senders of messages who rely solely on email also tend to think tactically rather than strategically," West continued. "They don't think about the broader context of their message -- how it might be perceived given the language used; where the receiver may be reading the message and what tone is perceived by the receiver. This results in a one-way communication style that stifles a healthy exchange of ideas." West also offered another friendly reminder: email really isn't as private as you might think. "We saw this during UVa's summer 'unpleasantness' where high-profile individuals were exchanging messages that more appropriately should have been held in private conversations," West said. "These messages now are in the public domain. Our email messages can be forwarded without our knowledge." Although employing a single channel of communication isn't ideal, for the sake of time and convenience, I communicated with everyone by email for this story, an irony I find somewhat amusing. "Consideration and advance content planning can also help disseminate clear and direct messages," said Marijean Jaggers, a social media expert and president of a local public relations company. "Plan, plan, plan! For a crisis, negative feedback, bad news, good news, topical and timely content -- all of it," Jaggers said. In addition to keeping your social media profiles up to date, Patti Carey, an adjunct instructor of management at the Robins School of Business at the University of Richmond, said applying common sense, staying positive and proofreading carefully when posting on social networking sites are good points to remember when it comes to business-related communications. And even if it's bad news, Steven Gaffney, a Fairfax-based communications expert and public speaker, said company leaders could alleviate a lot of headaches by making sure that everyone understands they won't get their heads bitten off if they speak up. "[When] fear keeps people from sharing vital issues, information and feedback, the whole organization suffers," Gaffney said. [email protected] -- 978-7243 ___ (c)2013 The Daily Progress (Charlottesville, Va.) Visit The Daily Progress (Charlottesville, Va.) at www2.dailyprogress.com Distributed by MCT Information Services |