The Case Study Is Based On Alliance And Leicester

Published Date: 02 Nov 2017

New Zealand Diploma in Management Level 5: Business Communication 560

Assessment 3: Individual Assignment

Name: Vinod Saini

This paper deals with Effective Interpersonal Communication Skills in Business Situations and Interactions between Communication Practice and Organisational performance. The case-study is based on ‘Alliance & Leicester’ a public limited company on the London Stock Exchange.

Question 1

Active listening:

Listening is a communication procedure and, to be a successful communication process it needs to be an active process. One needs to be an active participant in the communication process.  In active listening, one needs to understand the meaning of a message and be able to correctly evaluate this message. Then only can one correctly respond or give feedback to the sender.  This means, the active listener should be actively working while the speaker is talking.

The following active listening skills can affect the receiver and/or sender in communication process and content in the given situation:

Attending: To be an active communicator you need to be able to give the speaker your undivided attention, and show that you have received the message. You also need to be able to be aware that non-verbal communication is also feedback and speaks ‘louder than words’ at times.

As the manager of the marketing team at Alliance & Leicester organising the one-hour weekly staff training session for the 8 marketing staff at my branch this month I would:

Look at the trainees directly.

Motivate them to put aside distracting thoughts by making my presentation interesting.

Discourage things like side conversations and discussions during the formal part of the presentation.

"Listen" to the body language of the trainees in order to identify if and when any of them are distracted.

Encourage note-taking by the trainees.

Encouraging: You need to be able to use your own body language and gestures to express that you are interested in what is being said and that the speaker has your attention.

In order to encourage the trainees to provide me with feedback and the message being delivered to them, I’d:

Nod occasionally when they are speaking to show I am interested.

Smile and use other facial expressions that welcome participation.

Make sure that my posture is open and inviting.

Encourage the trainees to continue whenever they speak with small verbal comments like "yes", "uh huh" and "I see" etc.

Reflecting: Because everyone has their own biasness and backgrounds, we can occasionally mis-communicate and/or mistake the message that is sent. As an active listener, we should be able to comprehend what is being said and this requires us to reflect on what is being said and ask questions to understand the message better.

I would encourage the trainees to do the following things in order to be able to reflect on the message that is being delivered to them:

Understand the importance of paraphrasing in the reflection process. Being able to repeat what you’ve listened in your own words helps one to be an active listener. Some examples of such are phrase like: "What I'm hearing is," and "Sounds like you are saying."

Ask questions to clarify certain points. The trainees need to be able to question me, the manager, in order to be able to reflect on the message properly. Some kinds of questions can be: "What do you mean when you say…?" "Is this what you mean?" As the manager I would be responsible for encouraging such behaviour by doing it myself.

Summarize my comments periodically and invite questions from my audience so any doubts can be clarified, for them and me.

Interpreting: This can involve asking the sender questions to ensure that the correct interpretation of the message has been received.  Interpretation can also involve the use of open questions which enables the speaker to expand on certain points as necessary. We need an open and un-judgmental mind to interpret what is being said.

In order to invite the correct interpretation of the message being delivered, I would need to be able to enhance a friendly atmosphere where misconceptions and biasness are not accepted.

Questioning: As active listeners we can demonstrate that we have paid attention by asking relevant questions and/or making statements that build or help to clarify what the speaker has said.  By asking relevant questions we can also help to emphasize that we are paying attention to what the speaker has been saying.

As the person who is the main speaker at the training session, I should be able to:

Invite questions from the participants

Encourage them to ask questions on anything that needs to be clarified without feeling that there is something amiss.

Teamwork: means that people try to work together, to cooperate and collaborate, using their individual skills and providing constructive feedback even if they may have a personal problem with each other in order to achieve a shared goal.

FOUR interpersonal communication skills in improving "teamwork" within the marketing team when planning for launching a new product at Alliance & Leicester could be achieved by:

Establishing an informal and friendly atmosphere at work so team members do not feel afraid to speak out. Encourage them to speak our honestly and candidly.

Inviting a consensus whenever important team decisions need to be made. Encourage everyone to participate at a team level.

Involving all team members in determining the goals for the team/ department. Support training and development so that all team members are confident enough to give input in these situations.

Rejoicing in the achievements of landmark accomplishments of the team as a whole or an individual member’s also.

Three communication modes that can be used at Alliance & Leicester to incorporate the methods above into the culture of the organisation are:

Spectrum, the staff newspaper which is distributed to all staff and pensioners can be used to celebrate the achievements of team members and the ‘Over To You’ forum can be used to encourage staff to speak freely.

Team Briefs can used by managers to celebrate the achievements of team members.

Staff Suggestion Scheme can be used to encourage and reward staff for achievements and great ideas.

Question 2:

Assertiveness is "a form of communication in which needs or wishes are stated clearly with respect for oneself and the other person in the interaction" (About.com, 2013). Assertive communication is different from passive communication where one’s needs or wishes are not said out loud and aggressive communication where needs or wishes are stated in an antagonistic or severe way.

Assertiveness, as a skill, can affect the communication between me, as retail distributor for Alliance & Leicester, and the other retail distributors in resolving the disagreement on the best marketing activities to be used for meeting the sales target sales target for the next 12 months.

As the retail distributor involved in the process of negotiating and re-defining the sales target and approaches to increase sales for the next 12 months, I would use assertiveness in the following ways to resolve the disagreement:

Showing respect for my needs, and respect for the other people involved in the disagreement. I should be able to care for my colleagues enough that I can share with them feedback about what it is that may be stopping them from accepting the new ideas put forward as the best marketing activities. I need to stick to my guns but do it in such a manner that my colleagues do not get offended but are motivated enough to listen to me.

Being open to dialogue and working together to agree on future actions.

Once I’ve shared the necessary information in an assertive manner, then it is important to ask for their input, so I am able to understand their point of view. As someone putting forth new ideas, I will need to communicate consequences to the managers of not being able to adapt to the the best marketing activities to be used for meeting the sales target sales target for the next 12 months which would obviously be: not reaching the sales targets.

As an assertive communicator, I would need to be very careful with the words that I use and the tone of voice used.

Negotiation: is the act of bargaining (which simply means give and take) "between two or more parties (each has its own aims, needs, and viewpoints) seeking to discover a common ground and reach an agreement to settle a matter of mutual concern or resolve a conflict" (WebFinance, Inc., 2013)

Negotiation, as a communication skill, may affect the communication between me, a retail distributor, and the management of Alliance & Leicester in reaching a reasonable price when buying the product from the Company. It can be utilised in the following two ways:

It is very important in any negotiation to know how the other side perceives its position.

It isn't enough to know what your real bargaining position is. One also needs to consider how each side perceives its position as perception is a very important component of any negotiation. In a situation like this, even when my negotiating position isn't great, if I see that the management of Alliance & Leicester are afraid to lose the deal, I could win the negotiation by being assertive and coming on strong which would play to their fears of losing.

As a retail distributor who sells to others also, I should be prepared to walk away if the deal takes too long or the management of Alliance & Leicester are being too dogmatic. The only way I would be able to have more power at the negotiating table is if I can get the management of Alliance & Leicester to believe that I have other irons in the fire and am not that concerned if I lose this deal. That is the only way I will get the upper hand at this negotiation.

Giving and receiving constructive feedback: Constructive feedback can be described as communication that can make a person aware of an area in their performance that could do with some development. Constructive feedback should not be looked at or be offered as criticism; it should only be descriptive and never attack someone as a person.

Whether or not feedback works largely depends on how it’s presented. Offering constructive feedback can help you get the results you want (Demand media, inc 2013). Constructive feedback may deal with both positive and negative aspects of behaviour and is only useful if given in such a way that it can be understood and maintains a healthy relationship that enhances future relations. Feedback is most important part of communication process. Following are example how the Alliance & Leicester’s national sale conference may use this skill to understand expectation of distributor.

Alliance & Leicester is discussing performance with retailer by receiving feedback from retailer, if the prices set by the retailers seem to be too high or the demands too stubborn, the organiser of Alliance & Leicester’s National Sales Conference may use constructive feedback to inform the retailers on their situation. The organiser could use constructive feedback to show the retailers where they might have gone wrong so that negotiations can continue without a problem.

When the organiser of Alliance & Leicester’s National Sales Conference feels that his/her own managers are being too demanding or unnecessarily short-sighted, they can be guided back on track by constructive feedback. By informing them where their demands or actions may be too demanding so they can get back on track.

Question 3

Question and Discussion: A question can be defined as a ‘problem’ under discussion whereas a discussion can be looked on as a formal discourse on a particular subject.

The senior manager will use these factors to make interview more effective. By specific questions the senior manager will get all information needed. I can ask questions about this managerial problem and further questions related to problem will help me to find out solutions. This will also work vice versa as the Group Executive can also use questions to understand and then answer correctly the queries of the senior manager. Discussion will help the Group Executive to better express himself and explain the management issues that were not answered in briefing. In discussion, the senior manager (I) can converse about the managerial issue openly.

Clarification is an explanation that makes something clear and easy to understand. The other purpose of clarification is to check whether a listener is interested in the conversation and making sure the listener can understand the speaker.

The senior manager of Alliance & Leicester can use this skill to make sure the Executive understands what the questions about the briefing are while I can clarify any misunderstandings that I have about it. It will help both parties to explain the managerial issue from the briefing effectively and receive information in similar way.

Feedback: Receivers are not just passive absorbers of messages; they receive the message and respond to them. This response of a receiver to sender’s message is called Feedback (Managementstudyguid.com, 2013).

Feedback plays very vital role in any conversation and gives confidence to speaker. I will use this communication factor to make the conversation effective and give feedback to the Executive and receive feedback from him. Receiving feedback from the Executive will increase my confidence and I will be able to express myself easily. While effective feedback to the Executive will make our conversation clearer.

Follow-up: Following up on a conversation is a very important communication factor. It is another method of providing written feedback through a report to keep people informed of what may be happening in a particular area.

After the interview with Executive I will send him a follow up email to thank him for his time and review the matters discussed in the interview. In future I will send him another follow up email as an update on the managerial issue from the briefing that had been discussed in this interview..

Question 4

Individual participants

Individual are the employees of Alliance & Leicester. They pay most important role in regular meeting to discuss range of matter face to face. Following are the main responsibilities of individual participants.

Employees should simultaneously provide feedback to manager and actively involve themselves into the current discussion topic.

Individuals should listen carefully and understand purpose of the meeting without interrupting the speakers. They can ask questions to clarify anything they do not understand.

Example: At a meeting, even when you do not agree with what is being said, you do not interrupt the speaker. Wait for the Q/A session to clarify your doubts.

Chairperson:

One who is organising a meeting and playing a neutral role in meeting. Their main task is to motivate members to achieve meeting objectives and generate successful outcome. The main responsibilities of chairperson are following:

Clarify agenda of meeting and clear any misunderstandings between employees regarding meeting topic. This should be done impartially.

Welcome any suggestions from employees and involve their ideas into discussion. This will provide better meeting outcomes.

Example: As the chairperson, you can never support someone just because you have drinks or coffee together after work every day. Just because someone is your friend does not mean you should support them. The chair needs to be impartial and unbiased.

Minute recorder (or secretary)

A minute recorder also known as secretary is person who keep records of the meeting. They are not involved into evaluation of meeting agenda or decision making process. They play neutral role in meeting process. Following are the main responsibilities of secretary:

Record the key point, take notes of meeting, making sure proposals and decision are recorded and make sure action plan are clear. The secretary also needs to follow up on the action plan accordingly.

Provide all the necessary information for topic on the agenda and remind chairperson if an item has been overlooked.

Example: The secretary has the responsibility of making sure everyone is on track after the meeting too. S/he needs to send the minutes to everyone and then follow up to see people are doing what had been decided at the meeting.

Question 5

Downward communication:

The flow of information comes from higher management to downward to managers and workers in organisation. The upper management motivates employees to work in the company. Downward communication is usually instructions or order, polices, appraisals and information. Downward communication is used to inform, direct, coordinate and evaluate employee and when managers assign goals to their employees (Zeepedia.com, 2013).

Alliance & Leicester is using downward communication to inform employees about development within the business and explain how it will affect their daily decisions. The manager shares strategies with employees to achieve company objectives.

Group executive holds briefings for managers twice a year and answer their questions. The manager holds regular meeting with their staff to discuss any matter. The managing director holds road shows to motivate employees.

These are all examples of downward communication at Alliance & Leicester.

Question 6

Centralised network: A network where all users are connected to the central server, which is acting as communication agent between all users. One group has access to more communication channels and processed more information compare to other communication network. Hierarchical chain network is transmitting information through hierarchy. Employee only communicates with their senior like supervisor or manager. In leader centred wheel leader is acted as hub and all employees communicate to him/her.

Decentralised network: In decentralized communication networks, all members of the same group have direct communication access to each other, which means that information does not need to pass through an assistant, an HR representative or other intermediary before it reaches higher-level managers and executives (Hearst Communications, Inc. 2013). It is also known as star network. It allows all members to talk to each other’s without any intermediate assistant.

Recommended for Alliance & Leicester: The decentralised network is best use for Alliance & Leicester. Following are main advantages of decentralised network:

The decision making authority is distributed between top management and promoters and therefore management is left with more time to pursue the long term strategy and vision. Decentralised network gives enough time to Alliance & Leicester management to make long term planning instead of making day to day decisions which can be done by middle management instead.

The lower level management and employees will feel more responsible toward their work because they feel themselves involved into decision making process. It will provide operational impendance to Alliance & Leicester departments and help to grow overall.

Several talented people spread out across the organisation instead of one centre of excellence. Authority is delegated at the local level, which means decisions are more informed. Alliance & Leicester management delegates tasks to employees according to their skills. It will provide opportunity to employee polish their talent.

Question 7

E-mail: is electronic way of communication. Alliance and Leicester computers are equipped for email. Email is very fast way of communication. It allow user to send file, picture and video. Following are advantage and disadvantage of email:

Advantages:

Fast delivery and reply of message with appropriate communication mode. Alliance & Leicester staff use email to fast response and send urgent information to branches.

Can contact a group of people at the same time. It will help to send information more than one person at once.

Employees can send large documents without using resources like paper.

Disadvantages:

Less social contacts. For example person who sending email to other does not really know each other sometime. For example staff from different branches of Alliance & Leicester send messages to each other but never meet them personally.

Spending too much time on computer is harmful of person eyes. It will effect on employees health who working on computers daily.

Videos: Alliance & Leicester use videos for training purpose, product launches and for providing message to staff. Video is very effective way to for training. Organisation also uses interactive videos. It is easy to learn while watching it. Following are advantages and disadvantages of video as communication technology.

Advantages:

Video allows employees to learn more in less time. For example it is easy for Alliance & Leicester employees to learn watching video than reading theory or other communication way.

Video is also used for publish information and provide detail about new product. It is very effective way provide information to employees.

Cheap way of training. Alliance & Leicester can save money by using video as training purpose.

Disadvantages:

Training process is controlled by trainees, which can sometime lead to waste of time and money.

Some people could take this information and leak it out as videos are not necessarily secure.