Communication Methods

Face to Face communication
Advantage: Creates a better experience because the depth of understanding is enhanced by body language and posture. Disadvantage: Body language could be misread and lead to a miscommunication of the intended message.
Telephone

Advantage: With the presence of cell phones, communication can be done anytime and anywhere. Disadvantage: The cell phone presents times when phone conversations may not be appropriate and could cause a miscommunication in the conversation.
Videoconferencing
Advantage: It is inexpensive, builds relationships, and allows face to face communication. Disadvantage: There could be technical problems that hinder the conference from happening.
Email
Advantage: Very fast. Can be changed instantly. It can reach large amounts of people at one time. Disadvantage: May not be written clearly and can cause miscommunication.
Memos
Advantage: Reach a large amount of employees at one time. The message could be very traditional or high impact that is easy to interpret. Disadvantage: The memo could have a message that is not easy to interpret and is hard for the reader to understand.
Address the following scenarios:
1. One of your employees is constantly late, leaving food and drinks at the work station, and you are forced to address the situation. The best form of communication for this situation is face to face. Face to face communication is the “richest: form of communication because it contains cues from many sources that add to the interpretation of the message exchanged by the sender and receiver. . This would be the form because it is important that the employee who is participating in this type of behavior in the workplace understand the implications of the rules that are being broken in the workplace. The employee may need a serious demeanor and body language that expresses that this type of behavior can and will not be tolerated. The employer also needs to see the body language of the employee so that they can see if the employee takes the situation seriously and plans to make changes.
2. You need to let all employees know about a company special event. The best form of communication for this scenario is an email. The email would have to be highly detailed. It would need to include: time, place, cost, and theme of event. The email would need to ensure to let employees know if they can bring a guest or if it is for employees only. The email would need to include rather or not the employee needs to state if they are attending the event or not. It would need to be clear and concise.
3. You hear from a friend that a client is about to sign a contract with one of your present competitors. The best form of communication to deal with this scenario is face to face communication. In this scenario a meeting may need to be arranged. That way the client could be persuaded on the reasons why it would be best to use your company versus the competition. You may also be able to build a level of rapport with the competitor because you were upfront about the information you heard in regards to the contract.
4. You have three bids on a piece of equipment and you need to get a management decision on purchasing. The best form of communication of for this scenario is videoconferencing. Videoconferencing would allow the managers to see the equipment and understand why one product could be a better purchase than the other. The videoconference would give the manager the luxury of using video aids without leaving the comfort their office.