Question

As a manager of a company there are situations where the manager has to prefer written communication over spoken communication and at times spoken communication is a better option than a written communication.

Consider yourself as a manager of a company and discuss three situations wherein you will:

1) Prefer spoken communication over written communication.

2) Prefer written communication over spoken communication.

Answer 1

Situation where I as a manager prefer written communication over spoken communication-

1. Legal/Personal Liability arises to the company or its director :

If we have any document in written then we can easily preserve it, while on the other hand non-verbal communication doesn’t have any proof as they cannot be preserved. We can easily access the records in future as it act as a permanent record.

This feature is essential for all such types of communication which are risky and may arise any liability to the company in future like

· Employment terms and conditions of staff,

· Making Contract with clients,

· Terms of warranty or guarantee of products offered to customer etc

2. More Clarity and Accuracy required :

Written communication helps in representing complex matters easily, it can be clearly understood by all. We don’t have to repeat each and everything again and again instead we have a paper in written we can handle that paper to the other person and he can understand all easily.

Examples:

· To explain the steps of production/ process of manufacturing any product to employees.

3. Mass Coverage required :

Written communication saves our precious time and money. We can without going here and there can exchange our views.

Examples are

· via email in just a few seconds, all we have to enter the email address of every person to whom we want to send the document and they will receive it at once,

· Declare any holiday or overtime to staff, we just put the same on notice board.

Situation where I as a manager prefer spoken communication over written communication-

1. Personal Communication :

Oral communication is effective, where personal communication is required like –

· To sending emotional message to the stakeholders of the company in general meeting,

· Delivering motivational speeches to staff so that their productivity rises etc.

2. Immediate Feedback :

Oral communication is fast and frequent, it helps where we require immediate action like-

· Customer care service i.e. to listen customer complaints and resolve it instantly.

3. Emergency :

Examples are :

· Calling for first aid to injured staff or any associated person,

· Making arrangements in case of natural calamity, like in case of earthquake, we have to evacuate all the persons from the premises by making verbal announcements.