Sunday, May 3, 2015

Late Introduction

Who I am and What This Is?






Hi bloggers and readers, my name is Shaun Moore. I was born and currently reside in Atlanta, Georgia. I am person that is involved in sports at many levels. Basketball is my first love, though I would like to think I am good at all sports; even though I am not... (just a fun fact about myself). But the reason I composed this blog is illistrate a compilation of content related  skill learned throughout my academics and professionalism in communication. I am nearly finished in my pursuit for a B.A in communications. I am attending Ashford to complete in communication studies. With my first degree I would like to work for a major broadcast company or possibly within healthcare, therefore you can say I am undecided. I would like this blog to serve as information source in the field of communications and provide a hint of insight concerning some of the nuances of in the business. So with that being said, Welcome again to Moore In The Evenings 

Prospective Communication Organizations

Looking For Where to Start?







Public Relation Society of America (PRSA)


PRSA is an organization of nearly 22,000 college graduates with background primed for public relations and communications throughout America. Although it seem that their primary members are geared towards recent college grads, PRSA's include members  leaders of the world’s largest multinational firms. PRSA offers representatives that range in expertise in every field of communications including  professional and academic setting within the public relations. There also a healthy amount of 10,000 student members that study abroad here at PRSA. PRSA has been around since 1947, offering professional development, setting standards of excellence and upholding principles of ethics for its members and, more broadly, the multi-billion dollar global public relations profession. PRSA is one of the veteran public relations organization, that has been around for years and likely many more. (2009-15 The Public Relations Society of America)

American Communication Association (ACA)


ACA is a not-for-profit virtual professional association with actual presence in the world of communication scholars and practitioners. ACA was found in 1993, so there are relatively new. ACA was found off a core of four goals:  fostering scholarship in all areas of human communication behavior, promoting excellence in the pedagogy of communication, providing a voice in communication law and policy, and providing evaluation and certification services for academic programs in communication study. Throughout ACA time in the field, they have been dedicated to providing an effective use of new and evolving communication technologies to facilitate instruction, research, and criticism. ACA provides technologically-supportive venue for all who study the ways in which humans communicate.

Association for Women in Communication (AWC)


If you looking for an communication organization that here for the advancement of women in the field, the AWC is where you should be. The AWC itself in recognizing the “complex relationship that exist across the various practices of communication”. The AWC is truly one the oldest communication organization that was founded in 1909 by seven female journalist. Over the many years, the AWC’s prominent members have been bestowed many awards such as, Headliner Award which were give to notable like Gail Sheehy, Helen Thomas, Barbara Walters and Heloise. Currently the organization has over 2000 members mostly from urban and suburb area.  “The AWC member survey indicates 94% are college graduates, 47% hold graduate study or degrees; just over half work in for-profit businesses and most work in companies with fewer than 100 employees; most are salaried, full-time employees; approximately 40% are in the executive or management roles.” One the most stable organization in the nation. A great option for those seeking to join. (http://www.womcom.org/wp/about/overview/)

International Association of Business Communication (IABC)


It could be said that the IABC are experts in audience interactions. IABC are sincere about passionately engaging their audience with strategic communication, which they defined as their purpose and Principles focus in their work and form a global standard. “Communication  professionals represent the voice of an organization as it interacts with customers, clients, employees, partners, shareholders, competitors and the community.”I believe this would be the organization for a person like myself. In the IABC, there seem to be a heavy focus upon bringing the organization to life with a brand voice that aligns its verbal, visual and digital messages and activities. This aspect of communication allow a person that already outgoing and upbeat to be as creative a possible. In order to be effective with their approach of communication there would be a lot of face to face encounters which I feel is most inclusive and fun. (https://www.iabc.com/global-standard-2/)

IEEE Communication Society

This organization was established in 1952, and has evolved into diverse organization of global industry professionals with like goal in promoting all communications technologies. Communication Society works in the area of advertising such as printing advertising, online advertising like e-new and advertising banners packages. “Members interact across international and technological borders to”:
  • produce publications
  • organize conferences
  • foster educational programs
  • promote local activities
  • work on technical committees
http://www.comsoc.org/about
So if you were looking for organizations that can spring you in to great opportunities... Here a few of my suggestions... Good luck!!!


Thursday, April 30, 2015

Working with Diversity


Incorporating Diversity





As we journey further into global organizations we without a doubt are moving to a more heavily diversity concerns with in the workplace. Our nations population is now increasingly diverse and so has our workplace.   Understanding and recognizing diversity is important to runninng a thriving organization.  One of the first rule to thumb the diversity is not going anywhere and the importance of addressing it.  The world in thought is similar on comparison to an ocean floor, although we are under the impression that we have knowledge of every  swimming creature within our vast ocean, we barely know every creature our ocean floor represent.  And how could we know? Organizational leaders must communicate to their employees the intentions about what is acceptable workplace behavior that reflect policies and standards. Adl.org (2010) Organizations like the ocean floor must find ways to recognize each individual and productively find out what exactly each individual will be able to bring to the table to create a seamless work environment.
 
 Assumption are often how organizational mishaps occur. For example,we often view older employees as washed up or a group that does deal with new technological advances, but really they are the veteran people who have the knowledge base that has supported the organizations for years.  One way of building better diversity is conduct mandatory diversity workshop for all employees. A method to improve diversity in the workplace is, come up with design model that would be inclusive in the hiring process of employees. As a part of employee orientation implement classes in understanding diversity.  It would be a part of our service credo so that others would know that as an organization we will not be challenged by diversity.

The best method to breakdown diversity within an organization is through statistical evidence that insinuate that there is an issue with diversity in an organization. Focusing on diversity and looking for practices to create an inclusive organization and one that makes absolute use of the contributions of all employees that will generate increased productivity. Adl.org (2010) Diversity is one of the most important avenues of any organization, especially in this current economy with the majority of organizations looking to work and function globally. Recognizing the need to implement diversity training will help organization develop and strengthen differences that help make up a strong organization.

Reference:

Diversity in the Workplace - Building a Work Environment where Performance Thrives (2010) retrieved September 10, 2010 from Diversitybuilder.com

Diversity Training (2010) retrieved September 10, 2010 from www. Achievemax.com
A world of difference: Diversity (2010) retrieved September 10, 2010 from adl.org

Tuesday, April 28, 2015

Concept Writing


Writing With Purpose




Social media has now ventured into the business world. Every where we go now companies are settting Twitter accounts, blogspots and other social media platforms to promote product or the overall company. In this new information age, for all its high-tech gadgetry, success is writing based. One forming of witing that is vital in this branch of communication is concept writing.

Concept writing involves explaining concepts and ideas to others who may not be familiar with them. Explain, or exposition, is very much like teaching someone.  Therefore, explaining a concept, a key factor is to hook your audience's interest in your concept and keep it. An introduction that initially engages the reader or listener, a body that communicates the main argument and comprehendible conclusion that leaves the audience enlighten. Keeping that in mind concept must be explained in steps. Determining the topic of the concept is key element in the task. To explain, or expose, a subject requires that you know why and how something is or is not. Understanding the topic gives you a clear path to exclamation. Narrow down the information into a precise idea that you want to make clear to your audience. Concept essays themes tend to be more abstract than the topics for other essays. For example, you may be asked to write about how to create a culture within organization, communication theories or simple business wisdom. Thinking about what you already know about your subject and then find out what you don't know. You are educating someone about a topic, so make sure you know as much as possible about it. Once you have done your research, you will decide how much of it to use. Again make sure the correct information is broadcast quite important. You do not want "go over the audience head". Maintain interest with clear precise detail. Details should support the topic , and the overall body should support your concept. Remind the audience of the main idea of your concept. A conclusion summarizes the main points of your idea. Be careful to word this in a new way so your essay does not seem repetitive but, make sure that its not falling out context and confusing the audience. Also ask question to make sure of comprehension.


Working With Each Other



Team Work in Organization 



Within organization it is imperative that we find way to manage conflict. Conflict is vital for meaningful problem solving and for effective interpersonal relationships within organizations. One way of dealing with conflict is coming up with a strategy in order to resolve the conflict somewhat seamlessly. In organization leaders are in charge of creating a work environment that promotes people to thrive. If turf wars, disagreements and differences of opinion escalate into interpersonal conflict, managers and leaders must intervene immediately. Humanresource.about.com (2010) Sitting on your hands is not an option because it can destablize the value and culture of an organization.
Often those involved organizations view conflict as a bad situation, or something to steer clear of. Yet conflict, differences, or disagreements are a natural result of people working together. Without these conflicts, teams can become complacent and not perform at peaks levels. Obviously, one of the core responsibilities of any supervisor or group leader is to solve conflict. The two key goals for a group leader are to remain impartial, and to facilitate understanding among the group members. chumans.com (2010)
One example would be, an employee may be dealing with an unsatisfiedcustomer, and instead of making a decision on how to solve the problem with the customer, the employee deicide to get the manager involvement(or leader). Meanwhile, the employee then can take on the position of collecting the information on what the customer’s issue is, the employee allows the resolution to leader (Lorette,2015).
It can be a tremendous source of creativity, and at the same time it can sidetrack a team. What makes the difference is having group members, and a group leader that understands and manages conflict effectively. chumans.com (2010) Conflict on the job, in religious settings, in general conversation is as natural as drinking water but how we react and manage conflict makes the difference in how the outcome will be.

Thursday, April 23, 2015

Fighting Organizational Entropy



Organizational Development 



The steps of organizing, which is riddled with obstacles and hardships, is a continuous battle for many organizations. It takes an incredible amount of initiative and impactful communication to create the channels of cooperative kinship and coordinated projects needed to achieve complex organizational standards. There are always different hang-up, errors, and demands that arise in organizational life that can break down an organization.  In systems theory language, this threat of organizational erosion is known as entropy, the natural degradation of systems that leads to disorganization (Berrien, 1976). There is an inherit habit for all systems, but especially for human systems, such as the organizations we all participate in, to deteriorate and disorganize over time. In physical systems, the entropic threats that break down buildings and machinery can be traced to environmental and chemical processes such as the negative effects of gravity and oxidation. Organizational strategy and innovation combats against that. Many things can be done to prevent the natural trend toward entropy, to help keep organizational members on task, to adapt organizational processes to meet new demands, to identify emerging threats to organization, and to implement plans to overcome these threats. The process of organizational renewal that helps organizations resist entropy and promote ongoing organization is known as organizational development (Schein, 1969). If form follows functions, these steps along with awareness will be helpful for your business getting bigger and bigger.

Conflict Resolution


Navigating Conflict 



Conflict form part of people’s livelihood, every moment of time people conflict in ideas and opinions. There exist many types of conflicts; some of the most common types include domestic conflicts, where people of a given family or household engage in constant loggerheads with each other (Deutsch & Coleman, 2000). Causes of such may be land issues, inheritance, and leadership among others. Another type of conflict is the social conflict. This is where a person is at conflicting interest with certain aspects in the community. These may include norms, rules, and regulations, social cultures among other things.

Effective conflict resolution is the solution to all these types of conflicts. The best approach to any successful conflict resolution is putting in place proper communication strategies (Jandt, 2003). Such strategies will ensure that both conflicting parties achieve their interests fairly and in the most peaceful way possible. A good communication strategy ensures fairness and justice during the process of the conflict resolution.

One of the best ways for effective conflict resolution is by communicating in a manner that will facilitate the problem solving process. This means that both the conflicting parties and the arbitrator must talk in the direction that is leading towards finding a solution. The arbitrator should also avoid being bias towards one party; all communications must remain neutral for effectiveness to be achieved.

Another important strategy is to be open and not withdraw from the conflict. People are often cowered during conflicts and therefore they are tempted to withdraw in effort to find quick remedies. The best way out is to be open in all communication. Each party needs to air its views in the presence of the arbitrator independently and openly. The arbitrator then will form an opinion as to which party is right and which is wrong.

During this process, one needs observe what what he/she says, and the manner in which they say these words. Communication is very important in instances as these. The manner in which certain words are spoken can depict different meanings, depending on the context (Lincoln, 2002).  This implies that the arbitrator needs to advise both parties on the importance of proper communication during the entire process. Anger and stress can be triggered by certain words and they can also be quenched by certain words.  The choice of words is therefore deemed paramount.

Active listening is also encouraged during conflict resolution. Both the parties need to make each other fully aware that they have in-depth understanding of the situation at hand. This can only be achieved through proper listening.  It is also through this that the arbitrator will find grounds for settling the conflicting parties.  The arbitrator should play an active role in informing these persons about the importance of listening keenly and carefully to each other.

During the process of communicating their grievances, both the conflicting parties need to periodically summarize what they have discussed. This will help them not forget the very important aspects of their discussion (Mayer, 2000). Making a summery of the communication can lead to fast solution since each party will know the progress of their petition.

Abiding by these simple communication strategies can lead to a great breakthrough during conflict resolution.  It is worth noting that communication is the only easiest and the most effective means of settling any form of dispute. Withdrawing from the dispute or maintaining silence will even worsen the situation at hand.  The above simple resolution methods can lead to very excellent outcome.


Reference:
Deutsch, M., & Coleman, P. T. (2000). The handbook of conflict resolution theory and practice. San Francisco, Calif.: Jossey-Bass.
Jandt, F. E. (2003). Conflict resolution through communication. New York: Harper & Row.
Lincoln, M. (2002). Conflict resolution communication: patterns promoting peaceful schools.
Lanham, Md.: Scarecrow Press.
Mayer, B. S. (2000). The dynamics of conflict resolution: a practitioner's guide. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass Publishers.