Week 2 Assignment Com530

MEMORANDUM
TO: New Hire (Accountant Manager)
FROM: John Smith, Senior Account Manager
DATE: April 20, 2015
SUBJECT:
CC: <Team B>Letesia Poole, Lydia Mysnyk, Rohan

I’d like to welcome you to ABC Financial. We are excited that you have accepted our offer and agreed upon your start date. I trust this letter finds you mutually excited about your new employment with ABC financial as an Accountant Manager. We know you will bring experience, knowledge and skills that enhance our capabilities.
Communication
As an accountant manager, your communication skills will be an important asset that determines your success within the company and collaborating with junior account team. I have provided some tips and examples that you will find very beneficial for your role within the company.
The five stages of communication are the following:
1. Forming Stage- everyone is new, getting to know one another, relationships start to form
2. Storming Stage- differences are brought out, conflict evolves, leadership style mentors and coaches team
3. Norming Stage-ground rules established, group works together, cohesive group emerges
4. Performing Stage- group understands roles, develops sense of purpose, performs at his/her best
5. Adjourning Stage- group sometimes experiences disappointment the group is resolving, nervous or excited about next assignment
Relationships are the ongoing connections you make with other people. By determining roles, norms, status, power, trust, and effects of culture (the feelings) of the group, relationships are formed. With every communication that takes place, relationships grow. In order for good relationships to form, there needs to be good communication. If communication is used to be encouraging, good-healthy relationships will form. If it's used to tear down the other person or make them feel inadequate, bad-unhealthy relationships within group forms.
When groups are just starting out, group communication consists of the forming stage where everyone has conversation to get to know one another then starts the storming stage. This is where conflicts arise due to unavailability or differences of opinion and the group needs to communicate with the people who are not communicating. Norming stage forms once ground rules are made clearer through communication and the group works together.
Through discussing the jobs in the team goals, the performing stage develops. Each person decides on a part to work on and the job starts to be accomplished. Once the job is finished, the adjourning stage has taken effect. Then the members feel a sense of disappointment about the group ending and express excitement or anxiety about the next assignment.
Communication Barriers
There are also several barriers that may occur at any stage of the communication process. Barriers may lead to your messages becoming distorted and you therefore risk wasting time and/ or money by causing confusion and misunderstanding. Effective communication involves overcoming these barriers and conveying clear and concise messages.
Common barriers to effective communication include the use of jargon, cultural differences, differences in perception and viewpoints, and emotional barriers. The most common barrier that was experienced within the team was revolved around emotion; therefore, it is very important to conduct one-on-one meetings when necessary to allow each employee to voice their opinions and ideas outside of group meetings.
Overcoming Barriers
The examples listed below should be very helpful in assisting you with overcoming communication barriers.
Brainstorming: Alex Osborn an advertising executive felt the need for a creative method that did not emphasize evaluating and criticizing ideas but instead, focus on developing imaginative and innovative solutions. Out of this need, he created brainstorming that is a creative technique designed to help groups or teams generate solutions to a problem or problems. According to the text, many businesses, committees, and government agencies use brainstorming to improve the quality of their decision-making. Brainstorming allows members to think of many solutions to solve a problem and communicate them to the group. The group will positively evaluate the solutions when the brainstorming process is complete. Members of the group must understand that once a possible solution is communicated to the team, the group owns it and thus anyone can modify it. They should also understand that piggybacking is good for the process, and team members should reserve evaluation and criticizing for the appropriate time. The group members should also note that the process of brainstorming is for thought-starters.
Nominal group technique: This technique uses silent brainstorming instead of oral brainstorming. Individually, each member will write down their thoughts and ideas before submitting them to the group. The group then discusses the ideas (possible solutions) and ranks them. Subsequently, the group presents the rankings until they can conclusively decide on a ranking. This technique produces better results than traditional brainstorming. The reasons are because it eliminates premature criticism and evaluation, someone can build on another person's idea, and it promotes more contribution from members that would otherwise diminish due to fear in traditional brainstorming.
Delphi technique: otherwise called the “absentee brainstorming,” this method allows individuals to share ideas in writing or by e-mail without meeting face-to-face. One person will then coordinate the information and share it with it with the rest of the group. This technique is specifically useful in conflict resolution when conflict within a group prohibits active interaction. It also helps distance and time when members are too far and exist within different time periods (zones) to meet.
Electronic brainstorming: this technique allows a group to suggest solutions by typing their ideas on a computer keyboard and having them displayed to the entire group. The process can be performed by all group members in the same room, a computer lab or at their individual homes. Some researchers believe that this method generates more ideas that are also of higher quality. The stated reasons include anonymity and less fear and anxiety from being criticized for unconventional ideas. The evaluation process is likely to be unbiased because they are based on merit and quality since no one knows who suggested the ideas. Electronic brainstorming is also efficient.
Affinity technique: this method seeks to sort and organize ideas that the group generates. Though similar to the nominal group technique, members write ideas on post-it notes instead of listing ideas on paper. The ideas are sorted by similarity into groups. It allows members to write their ideas, walk around a room, review others’ ideas, and group them into categories. The group can then identify the number of people who generate the same idea. The affinity technique builds acceptance, provides for interaction and acceptance of ideas and preserves a written record of ideas presented.
Again welcome to the team. If you have questions, please call me at any time. We are looking forward to you joining our team and your success at ABC Financial.