Custom «Analyzing Messages» Essay Paper Sample

Communication refers to the practice of conveying and receiving messages with integrated meanings (Schermerhorn & Hunt, 2000). The sender, receiver and the communication conduit or path are the most significant essentials in the communication process. The communication process entails a sender conveying or sending a message with a deliberate meaning and the recipient making sense of the received message (decoding) into an apparent sense, which can be the same with the intended meaning or differ from it. The conduit by which messages are passed through is known as the communication channel. Nowadays, the study of communication skills is aiding individuals every day in their quest for lucidity of messages they generate and comprehension of messages conveyed to them by others.

The capacity to create, launch, and receive a communication calls for consciousness and communication by both the correspondent and recipient. The sender of the message ought to be conscious of both the tone of the message that is to be sent and the gist of the message that is being composed. The recipient ought to be open to response (or feedback) both affirmative and negative, and be capable of determining the distinction between the two. Communication is vital when conveying and receiving messages. The way a message is fashioned and received establishes how the receiver or receivers perceive it. Framing is the practice of aiming or directing a communication or a message to a precise audience or receiver(s) (Raffoni, 2009).

Messages can be enlightening and/or persuasive. A message is a type of communication linking the recipient and sender that expresses the sender's feelings and views. Messages elucidate data and are commonly utilized to enlighten, convince, or seek out action from the recipient. Once a message is received, the receiver should be able to fully comprehend the message and determine the objective of the communication. Persuasion communication is initiated with the intention of altering the receiver's feelings, outlooks, and judgments. Action communications are initiated with the intention to push the recipient to execute some function particularly. This paper will further analyze three Business messages using the communication process and the reply to one message as it links to communication feedback.

In general a business message has specific and particular content that is associated to the business in question. A business message can be intended for in-house purposes such as the staff or board of directors' memo; or external, for example, for customers, service providers, and creditors. Whoever the business message recipient is, it is crucial to conform with an extent of requirement in sending the message to realize the goal of broadcasting the message to the receivers. There are several types of Business Messages. The type of business message is dependent on what is the intention of sending out that business communication to the receiver on the other end.

Business Related Message I

Ambrose, at the time the new Director of Nursing at St. James Home Health, sent an email correspondence a fortnight to the individual case seminar in preparation for the same. The communication read:
"I would like to set up a meeting next week (of June 8, 2010) commencing from 10:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. to confer about my coming on board alongside any other issues you may want to discuss."
"Thank you in Advance."

In this communication process, Ambrose takes the position of the message sender, and I act as the receiver of the same. Ambrose, the sender has ignited a communication, which is the determinant of the objective of the message, the means through which the message is conveyed, and the kind of reaction that is to be expected. The message sent by Ambrose is through email (means of sending) and entails both action and information. The action required that I schedule the meeting on the specified time probably by cancelling any other engagements that could be canceled or by ensuring there is no other scheduled task on the same day and time. Home Health is an extremely demanding line of work, and calls for a lot of endurance and commitment. Even though, telephone correspondence is generally utilized and often favored, Ambrose settled for electronic mail over the phone as a method of communication.

Email saves more time and permits both the sender and the receiver to keep lasting records of conveyed and received messages. Owing to the timely notification through the email, I had the time to set my schedule in view of that and make arrangements and the preparations to attend the case seminar. Even though, there was no noise (barriers that disrupt the sending or reception of a message in the communication process) that was experienced through this particular communication channel, email has the potential for noise interference. Noise in email can come from spelling and grammatical errors in an email message and the blocking of the sending or reception of an email message by firewalls. This particular message through the email was mailed with positive intent. Feedback was not very necessary but a quick note confirming the receipt of the message would be courteous.

Business Related Message II

The second business message to be analyzed is a different type of communication, feedback. Feedback as a form of communication can entail various kinds of intentions, for example, feedback can be evaluative, interpretive, descriptive or all three at the same time communication. The provision of feedback to the sender of a prior message is an essential part of the follow-up procedure and sending messages (Roebuck, 2006). A number of months ago I held a seminar with prospective health workers and I was tasked with instructing them on the proper administration of first aid to automobile accident victims. A week after the seminar, I received a phone call from one of the student that participated in the seminar, Janice, who was highly critical of some of the materials, information and methods I presented in the seminar. Though it is not possible to present an accurate verbatim of the phone call, Janice's general message to me was:

"Before your presentation in the seminar, I felt extremely uncomfortable with handling wounded victims and would often shy away from victims who bled profusely. However, I am now very confident and I can go to an accident scene, and administer first aid to victims without a problem. The demonstration you executed with the mannequin and dressing the wounds to stop or reduce bleeding along with the notes you left with us raised my confidence a great deal"

Similar to the first message in the first instance, I was the receiver of the message (the decoder), and Janice was the message sender (or the encoder). Janice and I are close acquaintances, and I hold her in high esteem as an associate in the Health profession even at the time she was still undergoing training. I respect her and her dedication to taking care of the sick despite the fact that; we infrequently see or chat with each other. When she is volunteering at our home center, she is very pleasant at our meetings, and I always get positive reaction from patients she is caring for or has taken care for earlier. This particular interpersonal communication from her was both positive and informative.

However, based on the message she was conveying to me, the use of email would have been the best means of communication. This particular exchange called for continuous conversation and response. I needed to give her more details and due to the impermanence of the message in this form, she could not refer to any information I gave in future. This conversation too was not affected by possible noise that can affect the telephone as a means of communicating. These possible noises include insufficient instructions or details given over the phone, physical noise around the sender or receiver of the message when making the call and a bad cell phone line.

Business Related Message III

The third message that will be analyzed also came up some few days prior to the seminar. This particular seminar is held annually, and upon completion, the participants are each awarded a certificate. The seminar happens in one day, and I was in charge of scheduling. Two days before I set an exact date (the week was already set) I got a call from a health worker making an appeal that I reschedule the seminar to the next week. The nurse said that she has to attend to a patient that she did not remember to rearrange her meeting with the doctor. The patient in question, she explained, has a pending blood draw that is asked for by the Physician. During the conversation, the fellow health worker did everything to make me feel responsible for her predicament by scheduling the seminar when a patient had to be taken care of.

In this communication situation, I was once again the receiver or the decoder and the fellow healthcare worker was the encoder, or the sender. The colleague's approach was antagonistic and sometimes disrespectful. She attempted at times to bully me using her words. The atmosphere was uncomfortable and negative; either she had to attend to the patient, but she also needed to do a presentation at the seminar. No formal noises were involved through the communication to help in deflecting my awareness and help me maintain my composure. I was annoyed at the thought of being held responsible for whether or not the colleague would present to the seminar or attend to her patient, as we are devoted to doing daily knowing all too well that it was she who was responsible for forgetting to reschedule. The message-required action as it required the receiver to respond and rectify the state.

Productive Response

While reacting to the colleague above, I dealt with the circumstances professionally and in a composed way. My rejoinder to her was simple "I am aware we all have patients that require attending to, and as such I gave a one month notice of the seminar." "I obviously recognize your worry and will make arrangement to have all your materials for the seminar can be presented by someone else." 'Again, I regret the inconvenience and am waiting to hear from you after you have your material ready". In responding to the nurse, I was the encoder or the sender and the nurse was the receiver. The environment was not as hostile as before. I tried to present a resolution to the circumstances and set up another tone. This made it for the nurse to accept the offer I made.

In conclusion, the analysis of these messages shows that the manner of delivery and sending of a message is relevant to efficient sending and reception of a message. Communication entails correct manipulation of the tone, setting or the environment, persona approaches, feedback and noise. Making sure that all these elements are right will make the sending and reception of messages and communication in general smooth and easy.