Seven Cs

When we talk about Effective Communication, one thing that comes to our mind is what the basic principles of effective communication These principles tell us how your message can become effective for your target audience. They also shed light on the style and importance of message. These principles commonly known as 7 Cs of effective communication. These seven Cs are: o Completeness o Conciseness o Consideration o Concreteness o Clarity o Courtesy o Correctness

Completeness
A message is complete when it contains all facts the reader or listener needs for the reaction you desire. Message receiver, either listener or reader, desires complete information. If possible, provide him some extra information which he does not know,. In this way you can maintain good business relations with him; otherwise, he may switch to another company. Completeness offers numerous benefits as it helps: o Achieve desired result without the expense of additional messages. o Build goodwill between the sender and receiver. o Avert\prevent costly lawsuits which may result if important information is missing. o Show concern for the receiver. One way to make your message complete is to answer the five Ws. o WHO? o WHAT? o WHEN? o WHERE? o WHY? o The five-question method is useful when you write requests, announcements, or other informative messages. o For instance, to order (request) merchandise, make clear WHAT you want, WHEN u need it, WHERE it is to be sent.

At the end we can say that, you must provide the receiver: o All necessary information requested by him. o Answers to all questions carefully o Some more information, which he is not requiring, just to maintain good relations.

Conciseness
Conciseness is saying what you have to say in the fewest possible words. It is the prerequisite to effective internal and external communication. A concise message saves time and expenses for both sender and receiver. It contributes to emphasis----- important ideas stand out. To achieve conciseness, you have to consider the following. o Avoid wordy expression o Include only relevant material o Avoid unnecessary repetition. Use single word substitutes instead of phrases. o Wordy At this time o Concise: Now o Wordy: Due to the fact that o Concise: Because. Omit trite, unnecessary expressions o Wordy: Please be advised that your admission statement was received. o Concise: Your admission statement has been received. o Wordy: Allow me to say how helpful your response was. o Concise: Your last response was helpful. Avoid overusing empty phrases. o Wordy: It was known by Mr. Aslam that we must reduce inventory. o Concise: Mr. Aslam knew we must reduce inventory. Replace wordy conventional statements with concise versions. o Wordy: Please find attached the list you requested. o Concise: The list you requested is attached. o Wordy: Such refreshing comments are few and far between. o Concise: Such refreshing comments are scarce. Omit which and that clauses whenever possible: o Wordy: She bought desks that are of the executive type. o Concise: She bought executive type desks. Always try to provide only relevant information to the receiver of the message. o Stick to the purpose of message o Delete irrelevant words o Avoid long introduction, unnecessary explanation etc.

Get to the important point concisely. o Examples: Wordy: We hereby wish to let you know that our company is pleased with the confidence you have reposed in us. Concise: We appreciate your confidence. Wordy: At this time I am writing to you to enclose an interview card, which has been post-paid, for the purpose of arranging a convenient time when we might get together for a personnel interview. Concise: Please return the enclosed interview card to set up a convenient time for an interview.

Avoid unnecessary Repetition Sometimes repetition is necessary for emphasis. But when the same thing is said two or three times without any reasons, the message become wordy and boring. Therefore, try to avoid unnecessary repetition. Some ways to eliminate unnecessary words Use shorter name after you have mentioned the long one once. Instead of North Central Company use North Central. Use pronouns or initials E.g. Instead of world trade organization use WTO or You can use IT for Information Technology.(Keeping in view the fact that receiver knows about these terms)

Consideration
Preparing every message with the message receiver in mind. Specific ways to indicate consideration are as follows: o Focus on You instead of I and We. o Show audience benefit or interest in the receiver. o Emphasize positive , pleasant facts. o Focus on You instead of I and We. o Using You does help project a you attitude, but overuse can lead to a negative reaction. Creating you-attitude may require avoiding telling others how they feel, assuming you know their needs. o We- attitude: I am delighted to announce that we will be extending our hours to make shopping more convenient. o You- attitude: You will be able to shop evenings with the extended hours. o I -attitude: I live less than 15 minutes from your office, which is convenient for me. o You-attitude: Your location is so convenient, I would have no trouble arriving on time , even in bad weather. You can be insensitive in negative situations. Moreover messages that contain we can be receiver oriented if we includes the recipient of the message.

The use of you in negative situations can be avoided by employing the passive voice, making the receiver part of a group , or depersonalizing the situation. o Insensitive: You failed to enclose your check in the envelop. o Considerate: The check was not enclosed.(passive voice) o Considerate: The envelope we received did not have a check in it. (depersonalized) Show audience benefit or interest in the receiver. Readers may react positively when benefits are shown them. E.g. You will be glad to know that we now have a walk-up window open 7-9a.m. and 3-8p.m. every weekday. You can now take care of your banking needs at our new walk-up window. It is open with a capable teller to serve you 7-9 a.m. and 3-8 p.m. Monday through Friday. If you are writing to a large group or a person, try to personalize the reader benefits instead of stating them in general way. Emphasize positive, pleasant facts. Accent the positive things i.e. stress on what can be done instead of what cannot be done. Negative Unpleasant: It is impossible to open an account for you today. Positive-pleasant: As soon as your signature card reaches us, we will gladly open an account for you. Another message with negative tone: We regret that since you closed your account your name will be missing from our long list of satisfied customers. We sincerely hope that despite the best efforts of our fine staff there were no occasions on which you felt we failed to serve you properly.

Concreteness
Being concrete means being specific, definite and vivid rather than vague and general. Misunderstandings of words have produced tragedies in both war and peace, in business and non business situations. Use denotative words instead of connotative words to gain concreteness. Using obvious words let your receiver know exactly what is desired. Guidelines for composing concrete and convincing message. o Use specific facts and figures. o Put actions in your verbs. o Choose vivid, image building words. o Use specific facts and figures. Whenever possible use concrete facts and figures in place of general statements in oral as well as written communication. o Vague statement: Students GMAT scores are higher. o Concrete/precise statement: In 2009 the GMAT scores averaged 600; by 2010 they had risen to 610.

Put actions in your verbs. o Be, give, have, hold, make, put and take can be designated as deadly verbs when the action they introduce is hidden in a quiet noun. o E.g. Action hidden in quiet noun: the function of this office the collection of payments and the compilation of statements. Action in the verbs: This office collects payments and compiles statements. Put actions in Verbs , not in Infinitives Action hiding in infinitive: The duty of the secretary is to check all incoming mail and to record it. In addition it is his/her responsibility to keep the assignment book up to date. Action in the verb: A secretary checks and records all incoming mail and keeps the assignment book up to date.

Clarity
Getting the meaning in the head of receiver accurately. Choose precise, concrete and familiar words. Easily understandable and appropriate for the situation. Short VS. Long sentences When uncertain, use familiar words. e.g. o Unfamiliar: After our perusal of pertinent data the conclusion is that a lucrative market exists for the subject properly. o Familiar: The data we studied show that your property is profitable and in high demand. Technical terms should be avoided or must be explained during the document rather than later. Understanding the receiver helps in choosing appropriate and familiar words. Construct effectively sentences and paragraphs (length , unity , coherence ) Achieve appropriate readability. Include examples, visual aids, pictures, illustrations whenever required.

Courtesy
(To know others perspectives and feelings) Knowing your audience allows you to use statements of courtesy. Being courteous means to say sorry or thank you ? Politeness that grows out of respects and concern for others. Guidelines to achieve courteous manner Be sincerely tactful, thoughtful and appreciative. Use expressions that show respect. Choose nondiscriminatory expressions. Being abrupt or blunt shows your discourtesy.

Being unaware of cultural differences may lead you towards discourteous behaviour. e.g. o Tactless : I rewrote that letter three times the point was clear. o Tactful: I am sorry the point was not clear here is another clear version. Cordial and courteous messages help in building good will. Use expressions that show respect. Offending messages must be avoided. Omit irritating expressions I dont agree with you VS. the fact that Irresponsible VS. You forgot to Omit questionable humor Laughter to one person is disgust for another

Correctness
At the core of correctness are correct grammar, punctuation and spelling. You lose your credibility if the message is not correct. Message must be perfect grammatically and mechanically The term correctness, as applied to business messages also mean three characteristics o Use the right level of language o Check the accuracy of figures, facts and words o Maintain acceptable writing mechanics