Analysis of business-related messages
Donna Smith
COMM/470
April 27, 2014
Elizabeth Kachmor

Analysis of business-related messages
In business today most communication is relayed through electronic means. This is done using e-mail, texting or video chats. There are advantages and disadvantages to using virtual communication, examples of the advantages are increased productivity, ability to work at home, or in the field, and less time in the office. There is also the advantage of being able to connect to staff or clients without having to access the information in the office. Some of the disadvantages are being available twenty four hours a day, and loss of personal communication. There is also the possibility of miscommunicating messages. According to Deborah Roebuck, when writing for business it is essential that the writer formulate the writing prior to sending it with the process entailing “determining your purpose, analyzing your audience, organizing your thoughts, establishing a logical order, constructing your draft and editing and polishing your draft using the 7 Cs” (Roebuck ,2006, pg.31). To communicate effectively in a business environment it is important to create a system or follow a system such as the one mentioned previously. To many times those of us, in the business field are too busy to take the time to review what we are sending. This leads to confusion on the part of the receiver and creates further time researching clarification on the original e-mail. So, those few seconds reviewing your message can actually save time for both parties, as well as making sure the message you want to send is clear and received well.

In the business field there are vast amounts of virtual communication. This is used because there are so many stores in locations all over the southeast. The main source of communication is e-mail. Most of the communication is in regard to labor usage for our next week and informing the store managers what is expected of them in the near future. These messages are sent from our regional supervisor. These communications are very important, because he is notifying over sixty stores what he needs from us. Having clear direction is essential for us to staff our store, and make money for our owners. When he sends these emails we are given a certain percentage to use based on the previous year’s sales. We are notified whether to add more staff, or to decrease our staff on our next schedule. Our area supervisor will relay this information via e-mail. This is the most recent one sent, “Store managers, based on last year’s sales we are as a whole up 3% so plan your labor accordingly. Do not forget, that we had a large groupon sale on Thursday, so do not use those numbers for that day. Please respond if you are not sure of your numbers”. Using the communications module, our area supervisor is the sender of the message because he initiated the communication. He will determine the intent of the message, and if any response is needed. The store managers are the receivers of the message and the purpose of the message is to let us know what labor to use to make our next week’s schedule. The message is an action-oriented message, because it is requiring the managers to do something, which is to use the information to complete our next week’s schedule. The internet is the environment of this message and the technology being used is e-mail. The noise in the message is the reference to the groupon sale from the previous year. Without knowing how much that sale was for the previous year, we have no idea how much labor would be required for that day this year. The feedback message was, as follows. “Cliff, would you please relay the amount from last year’s groupon sell. That way I can give you an accurate labor amount for that day this year, by reducing my labor that amount. “The second e-mail I selected was from another manager. The e-mail message is as follows “Donna, can I please borrow some white icing? I do not have enough to get through the upcoming weekend”. The sender is the other store manager. Sheryl is the store manager, because she initiated the message. The receiver would be me because I am the one she is sending the message to. The purpose of the message is to borrow some icing, because she does not have enough for the weekend. The environment is the internet, because it is sent by e-mail. The technology is e-mail, and the noise would be the confusion with regard to the amount of icing she needs. My response was given by phone to find out how much icing she would need, and if I had enough to let her have some. The last email I have selected was from my son’s teacher. “Ms. Smith will you please sign the form I sent home? We are not allowed to have electronic devices at school during testing”. The sender was from Candy Sparks, my son’s teacher. The purpose is to have a form signed and returned to school. The receiver is I, Donna Smith. The technology is e-mail, and the environment is the internet. The noise, for me was the confusion, because I thought electronic devices were never allowed in school, and I had never seen the form she had mentioned. Apparently, she had sent it home on three different occasions, and I had not seen it in my son’s backpack. I replied to the email and ensured her it would be returned the following day. I believe all three e-mails were confusing with the lack of information in each and every one. I further believe the technology used was an appropriate delivery method for the messages. My belief is that individuals are not very detailed when e-mail is used. In some cases, such as the above messages, details tend to be forgotten. That is why every email should be reviewed before sending. We should look at all our emails, as if we were the one receiving them, before sending the email. Then we can edit or add additional information, if it is needed.

Turban, E. King, D. McKay, J. Marshall, P. Lee, J & Vielhand, D. (2008). Electronic Commerce 2008: A Managerial Perspective. London: Pearson Education Ltd.