Communicating Internally for Maximum Impact: A Middle Eastern Perspective

Communicating Internally for Maximum Impact: A Middle Eastern Perspective

Dr Ahmed Elshenawy

Austin Macauley Publishers

Communicating Internally for Maximum Impact: A Middle Eastern Perspective

About the Author

Dedication

Copyright Information ©

Introduction

Module 1: Communication Basics

1.1 Acquiring Confidence, Self-Esteem and Self-Concept to Project a Positive External Image

1.1.1 Key Difference Between Self-Concept and Self-Esteem

Self-Concept

Enhancing Your Self-Concept

Self-Esteem

The Power of Self-Esteem

1.1.2 Focus Group Interview (1) Self-Esteem in Middle East

1.1.3 Developing Healthy Self-Esteem

1.1.4 Self-Esteem in Workplace – Tips for Managers

1.2 Establishing Trust and Credibility for Strong Work Relationships

1.3 Using Rapport to Shape Effective Messages and Enhance Your Influence

1.3.1 Focus Group Interview (2) – Workplace Relationships in Middle East

1.3.2 Building Rapport in the Middle East Business Society

Module 2:

Targeting Your Message

2.1 Audience Analysis: Creating Messages that Address Listeners’ Needs, Wants, and Priorities

2.1.1 What Do I Need to Know About My Audience?

2.2 Adapting Messages to Others’ Communication and Learning Style Preferences

2.2.1 Learning to Cope with Communication Style Bias

2.2.2 The Communication Style Model

2.2.3 Four Basic Communication Styles

2.2.4 Tips on Style Identification

2.2.5 Versatility: The Third Dimension

2.3 Using Listening Skills to Get the Information Needed for Creating High-Impact Messages

2.3.1 Components of Active Listening

2.3.2 Signs of active listening

2.3.3 Barriers to Active Listening

2.4 Creating Messages That Speak to Listeners’ Hearts and Minds

2.4.1 Organising Your Messages

2.4.2 Using Vocal Elements Effectively

2.4.3 Understanding Nonverbal Language

Module 3: Interpersonal Influence – Up, Down and Across the Organisation

3.1 Effective and Powerful Communication

3.1.1 Avoid the Passive and the Aggressive style

3.1.2 Assertiveness – the Core of Communication Skill

3.1.3 How to Be Assertive

3.2 Identifying and Removing the Roadblocks to Effective Communication

3.3 Identifying How Hot Buttons Make People Lose Their Diplomacy and Tact and Credibility

3.3.1 Techniques to Control the Hot Buttons.

Module 4: Establish High Standard of Written Communication

4.1 Good Business Writing Skills

4.1.1 Legal Style

4.1.2 Excessive Courtesy

4.1.3 Say It in Plain English

4.2 Understand Your Readers

4.3 Writing Strategies

4.3.1 Write faster and better

4.3.2 Design Heading Hierarchy

4.3.3 Paragraph Frequently

4.3.4 Use Informative Headings

4.3.5 Edit for Clarity

4.4. Rules for Plain English

4.4.1 Select Your Sentence

4.4.2 Select Your Words

4.4.3 Be Specific

4.4.4 Capitalise properly

4.5 Punctuation Matters

4.5.1 Commas between Statements

4.5.2 Colons and semicolons (: ;)

4.5.3 Em dashes — and En dashes –

4.5.4 Exclamation marks!

4.6. Writing Style Guide

4.6.1 Distinguish which from that

4.6.2 Affect and Effect

4.6.3 Among and Between

4.6.4 Because and Since

4.6.5 Can and May

4.6.6 Ensure and Insure

4.6.7 Fewer, less

4.6.8 Prepare to and prepare for

4.6.9 Ask and Request

4.6.10 Provide for

Exercises – Written Communication

4.7 Communicating with E-Mail in Business

4.7.1 E-mail Communication

4.7.1.1 The Main Elements of Messages

4.7.2 Top-8 ways to save time dealing with e-mail

Module 5: Body Language

5.1 Understanding Effective Body Language and Appropriate Word Choice

5.2 Three Rules for Accurate Body

Language Reading

5.3 How to Read the Body Language Gestures

5.3.1 The Basic Head Positions

5.3.2 The Power of Hands

5.3.3 The Magic of Smiles

5.3.4 Eye Movement

5.3.5 Arm Signals

5.3.6 The Legs signals

5.4 Signs that someone is lying

5.5 Improve your body language

Bibliography

About the Author

Dr Ahmed Elshenawy obtained his PhD degree from Monarch Business School, Switzerland. He received a bachelor’s degree in accounting from University of Alexandria and a master’s degree from University of Wales UK.

Ahmed is a management instructor with more than ten years’ experience, specialised in management, business skills, banking, and communications behaviour. Ahmed has conducted several short professional courses for more than 1,200 participants especially to oil and gas, banks and services companies. Moreover, Ahmed has more than twelve years of experience as a senior manager in the Middle East market.

Dedication

To my wife, Heba, and my children; Nour, Rana and Zaina, without whom this book would not have been completed.

Copyright Information ©

Dr Ahmed Elshenawy (2020)

The right of Dr Ahmed Elshenawy to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by the author in accordance with section 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publishers.

Any person who commits any unauthorised act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.

Austin Macauley is committed to publishing works of quality and integrity. In this spirit, we are proud to offer this book to our readers; however, the story, the experiences, and the words are the author’s alone.

A CIP catalogue record for this title is available from the British Library.

ISBN 9781528936422 (Paperback)

ISBN 9781528968690 (ePub e-book)

www.austinmacauley.com

First Published (2020)

Austin Macauley Publishers Ltd

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Introduction

Real leaders appreciate when employees practice upward communication, taking the responsibility to communicate new ideas, innovations and better ways to get the work accomplished. This ability is especially crucial during times of economic uncertainty, where responsibilities can change unexpectedly and fresh ideas and input are essential at all organisational levels.

This book offers practical and adaptive tools and techniques for upward communication, as well as across and downward communication, to inform and influence others no matter where they fit in the organisational chart. The book will recognise the impact of stress on communications and how to adjust for it, develop and demonstrate better listening skills, allow you to understand the importance of perceptions, and explore the communication style differences and learn to flex your own style.

Module 1:

Communication Basics

1.1 Acquiring Confidence, Self-Esteem and Self-Concept to Project a Positive External Image

For your happiness and career success do not depend on someone else, it is your own responsibility. If you cannot love, trust and respect yourself, no one else will be able to make that happen. According to (Farrar, Stopa, & Turner, 2015), holding a negative self-image in mind had a negative effect on explicit self-esteem. Be confident, identify and define yourself, accept whom you are completely; the good and the bad, and make changes as you see it, not because you think someone else wants you to be different.

In this module, we will discuss two important psychological terms that are very commonly used: the self-concept and self-esteem. Most people do not know the difference, or think that they reflect the same definition, but in fact, there is a difference in the meaning between the two terms. Your self-concept is your knowledge about yourself: Who am I?

Self-esteem, on the other hand, is your general attitude toward yourself. Self-esteem includes the following:

The extent to which you like, accept, and approve of yourself.

How much you value yourself.

Self-esteem always involves a degree of evaluation, and we may have either a positive or a negative view of ourselves. This can vary depending on (1) what has been going on lately, and (2) any feedback you have gotten recently from your environment and people around you.

1.1.1 Key Difference Between Self-Concept and Self-Esteem

The key difference between the two concepts is the addition of feelings. Self-concept is simply the informational side of things, where you know facts about what you are like (Baumeister, 1999). Self-esteem is how you feel about those things you know, such as whether you enjoy the fact that you are talkative at parties (high self-esteem) or you think that you are annoying and need to learn to shut up sometimes (low self-esteem).

Self-Concept

Self- concept is defined as a person perception of himself formed through his experience with his environment (Shavelson et al., 1976). Fundamentally, all of your communication starts or ends with you. When you are the communicator, you intentionally or unintentionally code your thoughts and emotions to be interpreted by another. On the other hand, when you receive a message, you interpret the information through your own frame of reference. Your self-image, as well as your needs, values, beliefs, and attitudes, serve as filters for your communication with others.

As you develop and establish relationships, you may become more aware of these filters, and you may have the desire to alter them. A close relationship often provides the impetus for change. To better understand the role that self-concept plays in interpersonal communication, we will explore the first basic question, Who am I?

Who are you? can be a challenging question. Perhaps your self-descriptions identify work activities in which you participate. Alternatively, they may list groups and organisations to which you belong or some of the roles you assume. Who you are is also reflected in the attitudes, beliefs, and values that you hold. These learned constructs shape your behaviour and self-image.

An attitude reflects what you like and what you do not like. The attitude concept is as an internal psychological tendency, which is expressed by the evaluation of some entity with some degree of favour or disfavour (Eagly & Chaiken, 1993). Thus, if you like school, butter pecan ice cream, and your mother, you hold positive attitudes toward these things. In reality, you were not born with a fondness for butter pecan ice cream; you learned to like it, just as some people learn to enjoy the taste of snails or raw fish.

Beliefs are the ways in which you structure your understanding of reality, for example, what is true and what is false. Most of your beliefs are based on previous experience, reflections or blind acceptance of what other people tell us (Kuhn, 1970). You trust that the sun will rise in the morning, and that you will get burned if you put your hand on a hot stove.

How are attitudes and beliefs related? They often function quite independently of one another.

A number of studies provide correlational evidence that prior attitudes play an important role in belief retrieval (Johnson, Lin, Symons, & Campbell, 1995; Wood & Kallgren, 1988). In reality, you may have a favourable attitude toward something and still believe negative things about it. You may believe, for example, that your college hockey team will not win the championship this year, though you may be a big fan.

Values are enduring concepts of good and bad, right and wrong. Your values are more resistant to change than either your attitudes or your beliefs. Rokeach (1979) defines a value as a type of belief that is centrally located within one’s total belief system. For example, when you go to the supermarket, you may spend a few minutes deciding which cookies to buy, but you probably do not spend much time deciding whether you will steal the cookies or pay for them. Our values are instilled in us by our earliest interpersonal relationships; for almost all of us, those who raise us shape our values.

Figure 1.1 shows that values are central to our behaviour and concept of self, and that what we believe to be true or false stems from our values.

Attitudes are at the outer edge of the circle because they

are the most likely to change. You may like your co-worker today but not tomorrow, even though you believe the person will come to work every day and you still value the concept of friendship. Beliefs are between attitudes and values in the model because they are more likely to change than our core values, but they do not change as much as our attitudes (likes and dislikes). Table 1.1 compares and contrasts attitudes, beliefs, and values.