Mobile Phone Monitoring

The 3g technology revolutionized the way we use our phones these days. Bringing stable internet connection to our phones was a game changer because it allowed a lot of new and interesting things to be done from a cellphone.

You can now check email, Facebook, post on Tweeter, search trough websites and watch videos on YouTube from your phone and even have Skype video calls. Cool!

However once there is a stable internet connection on the phone, there is a huge game arena open for spyware and monitoring software. This is exactly what was developed and is now available for public purchase from many different vendors all over the internet.

If you search Google for monitoring software you will find at least 10 different tools that you can install on your mobile phone which will then spy on all the things you are doing with your phone.

This includes:
- Contacts
- Pictures
- SMS messages
- Contacts
- Phone calls spying
- Emails
- Ability to add restrictions
- GPS location tracking
- And more bonus features

Yup, you can get all this information from your mobile delivered to your email or your account that one of the vendors that are selling the software will give you with it.

You can use this for variety of different reasons, starting with simply monitoring your phone activity to spying your kids, employees or spouse for cheating.

However the most important thing is that mobile monitoring is 100% real and possible, the worst and the best thing about it is that you don't have to be a hacker to do it because the installation is basically idiot proof with step by step instructions. The only thing you need to do before installing the phone application is to check if it is compatible with the particular version of the phone, however it works on most android and apple operating system so 80% of the phones are compatible from the start.

If your phone is not supported, then it doesn't matter how many cool features the monitoring tool has, because you won't be able to install it.

The rest of the features are based on your specific needs, so prioritize your features and compare the results.

Most of these monitoring tools are similar to one another and there is not much difference between them, however here is a review of the spy bauble - my favorite monitoring software for mobile phones.

Here is a list of some of the best monitoring tools that are available for 2011.

By Aleksandar Atanasoski

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Mobile Marketing - Are You On Trend?

In the last 18 months or so the smartphone mobile market has jumped considerably. With the introduction of Apple's iPhone and the HTC Desire and many other mobile companies producing super smart phones, it's like having a personal PC in your phone. In the UK alone according to the BBC 80% of households have one. Considering there is a 60million population in the UK, that's a huge market.

The new brand of smart phones are now so powerful, and come with 3G and wi-fi access to the internet which makes them convenient, and lighter to carry around.

The new iPad has also generated a lot of new technology with other electronic giants such as Samsung and Dell bringing out their versions of these smaller hand held PC's. If you have an online business you cannot ignore the smart phone market.

Let's face it, the mobile phone is now an integral part of our lives, you can check your mails, your Facebook and twitter accounts on these phones as well as you tube and lots of other social media which is all accessible via smart phones. Coupled with the fact that more and more people are working with computers every day in their working lives, and then don't have the time to 'log on' at home due to late working or tiredness, its far easier to go online on the smart phone.

You tube have picked up on the trend and have realised that a huge market of people are watching you tube on smart phones,and have therefore now included ads on uploaded videos which can be seen by those users.

Your phone is also something personal, you don't go and give out your number to just anyone, therefore if you receive a text message your likely to have a look at it straight away, especially if the offer encourages them to either show the text message or quote the reference number in the text to get a discount.

It is now so easy to create 'apps' or applications for these smart phones and as a developer you can generate two options the 'free option' which carries lots of advertisements, and a paid version which will remove the advertisements. Mobile phone advertising is new and there is a lot of scope to get in there while it is still new and inexpensive compared to Google PPC and AdWords.

If you haven't yet go on trend with mobile phone marketing then now is the time to jump on this wave of opportunity.

Colette Morris has now partnered up with an online company whose social media educational products are helping people from all walks of life to improve their online business presence. Colette has owned two online business for the last 8 years and prior to that has worked as a Consultant Project Manager and Analyst working across Public and Private Industries. Her passion and hobbies include travel, reading, volunteer work, health and wellbeing, personal development and helping others to achieve their potential.

Now you too can benefit from the tools Colette has used to build her brand and presence online making her the expert author and business coach she is today http://www.buildmybusinessonline.info

By Colette Morris

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Learning How to Use Your Wireless Internet Hardware

Although a wireless internet connection may be able to change the way you browse the web, that's really only the case if you make proper use of it. If you don't have your connection set up correctly, there is the possibility that you might not get the best performance out of it. There's also the possibility that your private information could be compromised, especially when wireless solutions are involved. Thankfully, it's not all that hard to get up to speed on what you need to know.

There are currently three different kinds of wireless internet connections that are in widespread usage today. One of them is satellite internet, but chances are that you don't have to even consider that connection. In essence, satellite service is for people who don't have access to any other options. In any case, most of the hardware will be set up for you and security is pretty much guaranteed, at least as far as it relates to the connection itself. The only thing you might have to worry about is making sure that your Wifi router gets set up correctly if you make use of one, but that will be covered next.

A lot of people out there are signed up for cable or DSL and opted to have Wifi connectivity included as part of their package. While their provider will usually take care of the wiring associated with the internet connection itself, they may not actually setup the Wifi router. They might even just send it to you in the mail later, with only some written instructions to help you out. You could try to have a technician come out and help you, but then you're going to have to pay more too. In any case, some people might argue that this kind of cable or DSL setup is classified as a wireless internet connection. Unfortunately, the range is going to be quite limited and you'll probably only be able to use the connection in and around your home. Nevertheless, just make sure that you set up the Wifi router to have a password and to make use of encryption so that your private information will be safer.

A third kind of wireless connection is a cellular internet solution. The current generation is 4G and setting it up really couldn't be easier, from start to finish. The first thing that's going to happen is that you're going to get your hardware in the mail, which is usually a small but fully functional USB modem. Installation is a piece of cake because all you really have to do is plug it in. Since it makes use of the wireless cellular network that operates on a city-wide basis, you wouldn't have to install wires or worry about a technician coming over to set you up. You simply plug the USB modem in and that's it. The connection itself is also encrypted by default so you won't have to worry about setting that part up neither. As you can see, there's really not much learning to be done when you're using a cellular connection. You just plug the hardware in and everything just works. 4G is certainly much easier to learn than the other options; that's for sure.

Head over to getclearWIRELESSINTERNET.com when you're ready to start taking advantage of an easy to use wireless solution.

By Sandra L Edwards

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On The Job: Communications

By Jan Verhoeff

On the job training continues to be a big issue for most companies. Inter office relationships depend on communication to provide information where needed. Without enough communication people are left hanging on their personal assumptions. Too much communication can leave people rolling in their own excess verbage.

Contemporary communications standards indicate the importance of telling people three times what you want them to know. First time you tell them what you are going to tell them. Second you tell them. Third you confirm what you told them.

In an inner office communication this could easily look something like this:

1. Memo: Please come to an inner office meeting at 8 AM Thursday for a discussion on improving Inner Office Communications. Please, have any specific questions or ideas typed in program format for discussion.

2. Meeting outline:

a. Welcome and introduction to special speaker

b. Speaker discourse on communications in office

c. Convo and Questions on any issues

d. Brainstorm solutions

e. Solution discussions

3. Memo: Confirm solutions to communications issues. Thank everyone for attending meeting.

Inner office communications determines whether or not the work gets done, how well it gets done, and who does it. If communication is inadequate or non-existent, jobs suffer, clients become unhappy, and businesses fail.

Offices with great communications skills require fewer people to accomplish the same tasks, are far more efficient, and provide exemplary customer service because there is no lag in communicating needs. This simple difference results in better profit margins, higher quality product, and speedier service.For other information visit--> http://arsandy.wordpress.com

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Problem Solution: Global Communications Corporation

By Dawn Coffinberry



Global Communications feels the pressures of the industries with trying to keep up with its competitors and watching its stock prices fall. Yet the stockholders are giving them a lot of pressure to correct the problem. They need to offer better services than what their competitors are providing to their customers. This paper will discuss the background, the problem, the end goals, alternative solutions, risk assessment, the optimal solution, and lastly the implementation plan.

Situation Background (Step 1)

The entire telecommunications industry has fallen into hard times due to the Cable Companies entering the competition but Global Communications has been hit hard with not just the increased competition but smaller profit margins, the costs of doing business, and have realized that they need a new strategic plan, but will need help in implementing this.

The problem is not really obvious, as one may think. It is easy to say that there is too much competition and blame outside entities for their woes. Ultimately, the real issue is GC’s inability to effectively compete with new players in the market (i.e. cable companies). Often this is the secondary to a failure to differentiate their offerings from those of the competitors. It sounds as if their attempt at differentiation has been “Our Edge is People”. This has two obvious flaws. First, it is in contrast with the apparent reality that their people lack the technical skills to perform the job. Second, differentiation must take the form of something that really matters to the customers. They have already identified the competitive points that seem to be hurting them (new features, televisions, computers, phone service, etc) of and it has little to do with the people. Outsourcing the support jobs may improve the people quality, but unless this is a competitive issue, it may not have a significant effect beyond the reduction in costs.

Issue Identification

- Maintaining employee morale and preventing “brain drain” to competitors, this often occurs following layoffs.

- Maintaining a working relationship with the union and making sure that Maria gets back into good graces with her boss. Maria seems to have a generally favorable attitude toward the company and she could be important.

- Differentiating their new offering from existing competitive offerings. Adding 1000 new sales people are not going to sell a product that has no appeal to the potential customer.

- Maintaining cohesion among top management

- Converting the proposed changes into profit

- Effectively competing more locally and globally…very different games.

- Managing new partnerships effectively and profitably

Opportunity Identification

- Identify markets not currently served (or not served well) by their major competitors and fill that niche.

- Assisting the employees that get laid off.

- Nothing generates future success like current success. If their cost cutting and new competitive plan can improve the numbers, even for a quarter or two, the stock price should rebound a bit.

- Improve their relationship with the union (long term) Identify markets not currently served (or not served well) by their major competitors and fill that niche.

- Increase profits

It is apparent that there is no concern, in the fact that the plan is to grow by serving current customers and that there is no mention of gaining new customers. How important is access to "company information hosted in mainframes" is to a small business owner, because the chances that any small business would have a mainframe computer would be slim. These new partnerships may hold the key, but again, they must be able to differentiate their offering or it will have little effect.

Stakeholder Perspectives/Ethical Dilemmas

Senior management presented the Board of directors a plan in which they are expecting to be implemented as proposed after it has been researched and analyzed sufficiently to ensure success, even if problems have occurred, they just need to inform the board of the adjustments that need to be made

The union has an obligation to the employees, to protect their benefits, their rights and to ensure that they have a job. It is important and the union be informed every step of the way, what is going on with the agency and what is expected of the employees as the change is implemented.

Problem Definition (Step 2)

Global Communications has a lot of issues and opportunities, that can be focused on but there are a couple that could be focused in on the problem statement. In three years, Global Communications will be the leader in the industry by increasing their stock prices, lowering their over head costs, and showing a commitment to their customers as well as their employees. This will also help them meet their end state goals.

End-State Goals (Step 3)

When looking at the end-state goals the first would be profitability, because a business needs to succeed to survive. What may set Global Communications apart from its competitors is by establishing a new product. It is important of the organization to maintain employee morale, union relationships, as well as partner relationships, as they become the leader in the telecommunications industries.

Alternative Solutions and Benchmarking Validation (Step 4)

The alternative would be to minimize the number of jobs that are outsourced to India and keep as many of the jobs in house with the use of better communication skills.

Employee Communications and Development

Understanding the importance of excellent communication and development within a corporation is crucial. Global Communications needs to reestablish and open a line of communication within their organization and the Technologies Workers Union. This communication could resolve internal issues without destroying the organizations commitment or the employee commitment, if implemented properly. When employees feel that their psychological contract has been breached, especially involving issues around pay, communications and development a lower-level of job satisfaction and organizational commitment has been indicated (Pate, 2000).

Employer/Employee Trust

Communication and compromise are the keys to strengthening the bond between the stakeholders. Involving the stakeholders will immediately address any ethical dilemmas that may arise and ensure a successful strategy.

Management needs to enhance the integrity and competence in trust level with employees and all stakeholders. Studies have shown that although employees have an accurate understanding about managers thinking that their relationships with the employees are positive, while managers have an inaccurate understanding about employees feeling negatively about their relationships with managers (Kim, 2003).

High Performance Employees

To ensure high performance in the work-place there needs to be high levels of adaptability, flexibility and involvement by both the employees and the employers, enhancing the contributions of everyone. Creating a positive work environment is crucial to obtain and keep high performances employees. High performance employees are attracted and kept by a company’s culture as well as high pay and benefits. By implementing programs to help the employee become more successful the employee will feel more bonded to a company (Ioma, 2004).

Employee Satisfaction and Security

Employees have a need for job security and the right to have fair wage and benefits. Employees should be able to trust their employers to protect their rights and needs (Boeree 2006). Global Communications has demonstrated poor communication about reducing costs by outsourcing, involving layoffs, and downsizing domestic calls centers, involving pay-cuts. This poor communication has eroded employee trust that somehow needs to be reestablished.

Analysis of Alternative Solutions (Step 5)

First, they plan to realize growth through the introduction of new services, primarily to its small business and consumer customers, who will now be served in both local and long-distance markets across the country. To compete with the local telephone and cable companies, Global has created alliances with a satellite provider to offer video services as well as a satellite version of broadband. Partnership with a wireless provider will allow the small business owner anytime Internet access using wireless telephone or PC cards. Even company information hosted in mainframes can be accessed remotely (UOP, 2006).
As an alternative to the above, approach would be to keep the current services with a different marketing plan or new services to new customers.

Second, the senior team has identified cost-cutting measures that will improve profitability. To maximize both of these initiatives, the company plans to market itself more aggressively on an international level with the goal of becoming a truly global resource (UOP, 2006).
Global communications could, as an alternative to the above, merge or buy local cable companies. This would give them more access to services they do not currently provide. This move would also improve profit and raise share value.

Narrowed List of Alternatives

Global Communication's best solution would be to merge with an existing local cable company. This venture would give them access to their current customers but expand their customer base by adding the competing company's customers. This merger would increase their competitiveness, while at the same time, increase profit. It would also be beneficial for the organization to retrain as many of the employees they have instead of outsourcing. These employees have the knowledge of the organization and that can be an asset that can be utilized and in laying off the employees the organization would be losing this edge, because the new employees would not have this same knowledge.

Risk Assessment and Mitigation (Step 6)

When it comes to risks, there are little to none in making a more positive work environment, yet this is still not an easy process and can create conflict. The training process could have more of a positive outcome, because the workers are not losing their positions but gaining new skills. In the merging with a cable company, there could only be that added customers as well as gaining new customers.

Optimal Solution (Step 7)

The above paragraphs go over the description of the solutions as well as covering the goals.

Implementation Plan (Step 8)

Global Communications will create or update the companies policies to reflect, there ethics and commitment to their customers as well as to their employees. Setting up training as well as a reward system for the employees who show excellence.
A team will be created to research the surrounding cable companies and which ones would be approachable to merge with, as well what it would take to achieve this and then having them meet with the upper management weekly to give a progress report. They should have all the information gathered and the company should be able to choose and start the process of merging with a company within 6 months.
Another team will be created to go over what type of training the employees would need to gain the skills that they do not have and the time frame needed to train them.

Gap Analysis and Estimated Implementation Costs—Evaluation of Results (Step 9)

There will be costs that will be directly involved in the research aspects, as well as in the training of the employees, and even in the workshops to help the laid off employees get new jobs and then in the merging with another company. After implementation there should be an increase of profit, at which time bonus can be given out.

Conclusion

In going through the background of global communications, looking at the issues as well as the opportunities (Maintaining a working relationship with the union and assisting the employees) verses the stakeholders perspectives (in implementing the plan and raising the stock prices) the best solution and most beneficial for the organization would be to retrain as many of the employees they have instead of outsourcing. These employees have the knowledge of the organization and that can be an asset that can be utilized and in laying off the employees the organization would be losing this edge, because the new employees would not have this same knowledge. We have also looked at the alternatives, risks, as well as implementation and I believe that the solutions that have been presented are the best choices for the company.
Even with the decision that Global Communications made it will not be an easy one, for individuals will still be losing their positions. It is important to look at the view of all parties involved. To see the whole picture, because if the wrong decision is made, the organization could fail or for that matter even if it is the right decision it can still fail. They need to find the right edge that their competitors do not have, which may seem to be a simple solution, but it is only simple in the words alone.

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Wireless Communications Vocational Schools

By Michael Bustamante

Wireless Communications Vocational Schools offer courses of study for diplomas and associate degrees in wireless technology. As wireless communications technology continues to explode in growth and uses of wireless technology expands, there is a continuous need for well-educated technicians who know how to design, install, and maintain equipment for mobile and wireless communications, digital telephones, and other media.

Vocational school training in wireless communications will likely include the study of low-power analog, digital, and radio frequency circuitry; speech, video, and image compression communication theory; management and control policies of communication networks; smart antennas; and multimedia applications of wireless communications technology.

Wireless communications training will prepare students for entry into the field wireless communications, which continue to grow throughout the world at astonishingly rapid rates. Professionals in wireless communications technology will enjoy long and varied careers, and training in wireless communications will continue to be valuable for a long time to come.

Graduates of wireless communications programs will work for a local broadcast stations, a multinational media conglomerates, a utility companies, and branches of the armed forces, where communications technology are vital to combat survival.

If you are interested in learning more about Wireless Communications Vocational Schools, please search our site for more in-depth information and resources.

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Wireless Communications Online

By Michael Bustamante

Cellular and other forms of Wireless Communications are growing rapidly, and skills in the field are in great demand. Online Wireless Communications Schools have come along to fill the demand by providing high quality education and learning experiences for students in new and growing Wireless Communications technology.

The field of Wireless Communications is considered very new, but it is not difficult to find a program of study dedicated entirely to the subject. Courses and degrees in Wireless Communications are now offered through colleges and universities, in the classroom as well as through online and distance learning programs.

A Bachelor's Degree in Wireless Communications is preferred at entry level. Training for careers in Wireless Communications will include studies in low-power radio frequency, analog, and digital circuitry; speech, video, and image compression communication theory; smart antennas; communication networks; network management and control policies; sharing strategies; and multimedia applications.

Wireless Communications systems are uniquely vulnerable to attack, which requires training specifically for security of wireless systems. Studies in this arena should include satellite, terrestrial microwave, military tactical communications systems, public safety, and cellular and wireless LAN networks. Security topics of study will be integrity, confidentiality and privacy, availability, and minimization of fraudulent use of systems and networks. Issues for Wireless Communication systems that may be addressed include jamming and interception, as well as methods and means to avoid these situations. Student projects and case studies will be important components of a good Online Wireless Communications training.

Wireless Communications will continue its growth, and the job outlook for experts in Wireless Communications systems will remain strong. With good education in Wireless Communications, entering into the field should be effortless. Finding a good school for training in Wireless Communications will be invaluable to those who seek to enter this growing domain.

Search the options at http://www.schoolsgalore.com to find your school for Online Wireless Communications training.

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Media Communications Schools

By Michael Bustamante

Time to get the word out! Media Communications Schools help students examine communications among global communities, and includes courses in digital media, broadcasting, reporting, writing, interpersonal communications, speech, and rhetoric.

Students should be aware that the terms media communications, journalism, and mass communications mean much the same, or very similar, thing. Therefore, course descriptions in school course catalogs may be more reliable than catalog course titles when considering and choosing among the various programs in Media Communications.

Media Communications differs from Media Studies in that Media Studies stems from theatre, film, and speech, and stresses the effects of media on populations. Media Studies, as a discipline, relates to cultural viewpoints and the interpretation of communications. Media Communications (or Mass Communications), on the other hand, encompasses concepts and skills of writing, journalism, radio, television, and various types of communications through various media sources.

The Internet is used today to convey a great deal of information that both affects and influences huge numbers of people and populations. A major tool of Media Communications, the Internet allows creative skills of individuals to shape, guide, and dispense information. A concern of Media Communications is the development of technical, imaginative, and creative talents as important factors in a good education in the discipline of Media Communications.

Media Communications Schools provide curriculums that prepare students for production positions with media and media-related organizations. Degree programs promote the development of skills in written and verbal communication, grammar, journalism, keyboarding, digital editing, electronic publishing, advertising, public relations, photography, and more. Students often get hands-on writing, print and video production experience, and programming experience with college radio stations, in video production laboratories, and in campus cable television studios.

Media Communications teaches gathering information from various sources; skills in electronic writing, announcing, producing, programming; audio and video digital editing; electronic production formatting and graphic design; organizational structures of communications institutions; ethics, laws, and governmental regulations that influence media; social influences that shape media; social and ethical issues raised by new technologies; and much more.

Media Communications graduates may find positions in newspaper, radio, television, magazine publications, advertising, video production, and public relations.

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Communication Skills Training - Effective Communication

Good Communication Skills are essential
Being an effective communicator takes real skill. Communication skills have to be developed, honed and added to on an on-going basis. They are the heart of interpersonal skills and the greater your awareness of how it all works, the more effective your communication will be.

To be effective in business, you have to communicate well. To be a good manager, you have to communicate exceptionally well.

Here we look at basic communication dynamics, learning skills to improve your communication, using effective communication to improve and promote interpersonal relationships, creating an effective communication strategy.

We could write a book about the importance of communication key skills, but for now you can content yourself with some essentials for becoming a more effective communicator.

Communication Core Skills - The Essentials

Communication is Individual
When you look at communication, presentation skills are not all there is to it. Everyone communicates differently and sees the world differently. The greatest skill you can have in order to instantly and significantly improve you communications skills is to understand the other person's point view and how they see the world. Then you can adjust your own communication to take that into account.

Change Yourself to Change Others
Alongside this has to be the knowledge that the only person you can be sure of changing in any communication is you. Therefore, the most effective way to be in charge of what happens in any communication dynamic is changing what you do. There's never one right way to communicate. Remember your personal style probably says more for you that all the words you use can.

What's Already Working?
Most people tend to look at what's wrong with themselves and other people rather than focusing on what already works.

How Communication Happens

Verbal and Non-Verbal Communication
Interpersonal skills. Everything communicates. Remember! If you aren't clear about what you mean and what your intention is, the other person (or people) could easily (and sometimes deliberately), misinterpret what you mean.

It's now accepted that the words account for only 7-11% of a communication. Your behaviour will 'read' unconsciously to other people and you can certainly be more in charge of the reading matter!

You need to be aware of the padding, justifications and excuses you use and whether they are appropriate. You can make a big impact simply by changing some of your language and developing your verbal skills, This way you can significantly improve your communication skills.

Communication Cycle
There is a neat communication cycle we've come across that can help you understand how to make communication work better. It means that you can take responsibility for every stage on the Communication Cycle:
• Spoken - Heard - Understood - Agreed To - Acted On - Implemented.
• Be aware of where you or others tend to fall off the cycle.
• What can get in the way of Effective Communication
• Here are some Common Barriers to Effective Communication.
• We all make Too Many Assumptions

Notice if you alter your behaviour with certain people because of the assumptions you make about them. Also be aware of the assumptions you think other people make about you.

Assumptions aren't necessarily 'bad'. One effective way to deal with assumptions is to say to the other person, 'I've assumed such and such. 'Is that true?' or 'I'm making an assumption here about... Do you agree?'

Good communication in the workplace is often sabotaged by too many unconfirmed assumptions.

Patterns/Reverting to Type
We are pattern-making beings, which is good. Habits, patterns, routine ways of thinking and behaving are difficult to change. Noticing your patterns at least gets you aware of them! One way to practise this is to see how many communication habits and patterns have crept into your workplace. You can always decide if you want to change them or not.

Needing to Be Right
One skill that does need practise is to let go of needing to be right. Think of it as presenting information or a point of view rather than having to bludgeon someone else with your arguments.

If you want to promote effective relationships, this is one of the greatest communication key skills you can have is to be able to change what you want from a communication. Conflict Resolution

Conflict
One of the purposes of conflict is to arrive at a resolution, so if you avoid conflict, the problem usually (though not always) gets worse. Good communication skills require you to be able to resolve conflict.

Agreement
Find something (anything will do) in the other person's argument which you can genuinely agree with. This is a great way to take the wind out of someone's sails and ensure you don't get drawn into an insoluble argument. People usually won't listen until they feel heard.

Bridge Building
Building bridges by making an offer can help enormously, as can changing what you want.

'I' not 'You'
Use 'I' statements, not 'You' statements to avoid blaming. Improving Communication Skills

Attitude
You can change the direction of a communication if you change your attitude. Effective Listening and Responding

You can have tremendous influence on a communication as the listener and the responder. When we get little or no response from the listener, we often project our assumptions onto them about what they are thinking (and usually we assume they aren't thinking good things about us!).

Be Positive
Use affirmation and encouragement to get the best out of people. Notice when others do things well (even if it's part of their daily routine). This shows you're being attentive; most people respond well when they know that others are aware of what they do. Quite simply, the workplace can be a far better place to be if you consciously sprinkle your communication with positive feedback.

The Importance of Basic Communication Skills
What's most important is that you don't leave the business of communication to chance. Raise your awareness, develop your skills and you'll be a role model for effective communication.

The Seven Essentials of Business Communication
There are seven essential elements to successful business communication:
• Structure
• Clarity
• Consistency
• Medium
• Relevancy
• Primacy/Recency
• Psychological Rule of 7±2

If you are going to communicate effectively in business it is essential that you have a solid grasp of these seven elements.

1. STRUCTURE
How you structure your communication is fundamental to how easily it is absorbed and understood by your audience.

Every good communication should have these three structural elements:
• an opening
• a body

This structural rule holds true no matter what your communication is -- a memo, a phone call, a voice mail message, a personal presentation, a speech, an email, a webpage, or a multi-media presentation.

Remember - your communication's audience can be just one person, a small team, an auditorium full of people or a national, even global, group of millions. In this instance size doesn't matter -- the rules remain the same.

Opening
An opening allows your communication's audience to quickly understand what the communication is about. Short, sharp and to the point, a good opening lets your audience quickly reach a decision of whether or not to pay attention to your message.

Body
Here's where you get to the 'heart' of your message. It is in the body of the message that you communicate all of your facts and figures relative to the action you want your communication's audience to take after attending to your message.

Keep your facts, figures and any graphs or charts you might present to the point. Don't bog down your audience with irrelevant material, or charts with confusing, illegible numbers and colours.

--SIDE BAR--
There's a key to rapid uptake of your message -- KISS.
Pitch your presentation's graphics at a grade seven child. If THEY can follow and understand them, chances are good that your audience will too.
--END SIDE BAR--

Close
The more powerfully you can end your communication, the more easily remembered it will be by your audience.

2. CLARITY
Be clear about the messaqe you want to deliver, as giving a confused message to your audience only ends up with them being confused and your message being ignored.

If you are giving a message about, say, overtime payments don't then add in messages about detailed budget issues or the upcoming staff picnic -- UNLESS they ABSOLUTELY fit in with your original message. It's far better and clearer for your audience if you create a separate communication about these ancilliary issues.

3. CONSISTENCY
Nothing more upsets a regular reader of, say, your newsletter than inconsistency of your message. Taking a position on an issue one week, only to overturn it the next, then overturn THAT position the following week, only breeds distrust in your message.

And distrust in you!
People who distrust you are exceedingly unlikely to take the action you wish them to take. They are also highly unlikely to pay any attention to your future messages. As well as consistency amongst multiple messages, be aware that inconsistency within your message can be just as deadly to audience comprehension.

4. MEDIUM
Similarly, if all you believe you have as a communications tool is PowerPoint then pretty soon all you'll do is reduce very communications opportunity to a PowerPoint presentation. Which is the right one?

The one that communicates your message:
• with the largest likelihood of audience comprehension
• at the lowest fiscal cost
• at the lowest time cost


There's absolutely no value in spending the least amount of money if the medium you choose doesn't deliver on any of the other criteria.

So what media are available?
• paper-based memo
• letter
• one-to-one face-to-face presentation
• seminar
• one-to-one phone presentation
• meeting
• one-to-many personal presentation
• plain text email
• text + graphics email
• voice email
• webpage
• webcast/webvideo
• radio broadcast
• television broadcast
• press release
• tv/film commercial
• cd-rom/dvd

Choosing the right medium or media is obviously critical, as the fiscal costs of some in the above list are higher than others. Get the media mix wrong and you could end up spending a whole lot of time and money on a very visually attractive business communication that delivers next-to-zero ROI (return on investment).

5. RELEVANCY
Screen-after-screen of lengthy text, in a small barely legible font size (because a small font size is the only way to fit all of the words onto the slide), which the manager duly and dully reads verbatim.

Ugh!
The psychological reality is that unless a person is interested in the subject of the message they are highly unlikely to pay any attention.

Which means that if you force them to attend to your message you will actually turn them against you and be even less likely to receive their attention in the future.

Save your in-depth budget and performance analysis Excel-generated charts for those who genuinely care and need to know about such things.

If your business communication needs to touch on several areas that might not be of interest to your entire audience, let them know of alternative resources that more fully address each of these additional areas.

6. PRIMACY/RECENCY
the power and memorability of its opening
Psychologists call the effect of remembering the first few items presented as a 'Primacy Effect'. Similarly, they call the effect of remembering the last few items presented to you as a 'Recency Effect'.

A powerful opening can be anything that captures the audience's attention:
• a quote,
• a joke,
• a loud noise,
• a preposterous statement.

Just make sure that your opening remains consistent with and relates to the subject of the communication.

For example, whilst the opening line, "Free Sex is available in the foyer" would no doubt get your audience's attention, if the theme of your communication thereafter is about some process re-engineering going on in your department, your audience would be annoyed (some would be very annoyed at your duplicity. Equally, a powerful close that bears no resemblance to the main body of the communication would just confuse and disappoint an audience brought up to expect something more.

Business communication is a serious business and very few people have the skill to be able to deliver a humourous message that the audience will retain and act upon.

A fantastic example of how humour engaged an audience but failed to elicit the desired response is from Jeffrey Robinson's superb book 'The Manipulators'.

One of America's great comedic writers, Stan Freburg, was convinced to dabble in advertising. Deciding that his own agency should be called, 'Parsley, Sage , Rosemary and Osborn, a Division of Thyme, Inc.', Freburg created a series of incredibly funny adverts. On the strength of these, he was hired to create an advert for Pacific Southwest Airlines (PSA), forever remembered in the annals of advertising as 'White Knuckle Flyer'.

"He was aiming at people who hate to fly and are forever worried that planes crash. To pacify them, he got the airline to hand out security blankets — literally, tiny blankets with the PSA logo — to any passenger worrying that flying might get them killed. PSA had succumbed to humour and, unfunnily, went out of business.

As Granville Toogood says in his excellent book 'The Articulate Executive', humour is a very risky strategy. If you are determined to use humour in your presentation, then please follow Toogood's recommendation:
• Tell the story as if it were true. The punch line is a lot funnier if we aren't expecting it
• Tell the story to make a business point. If you don't make a point, you have no business telling a joke
• The opening and closing of your business communication are the two most easily remembered and therefore essential elements. Make sure you give your audience something to remember.

7. THE PSYCHOLOGICAL RULE OF 7±2 (seven plus or minus two)
Psychologists have long known that the human brain has a finite capacity to hold information in short-term or 'working' memory. Equally, the brain is also structured to retain information in 'clusters' or groups of items. Similarly, your audience will group your business communication's message with between four and eight other messages in their long-term memory.
Now do you see the importance of clarity of message and of having a distinctive and memorable opening and close?
If you want your key points to be remembered even five minutes later, it is essential that you limit your business communication to between just five and nine key points.

Equally, if you want your key action points to be remembered five weeks later, ensure that your communication is amongst the five to nine most memorable messages your audience has attended to in the last five weeks.

The human brain 'chunks' information together, so if you have a long document or communication that you want to deliver, especially on paper, then structure your document so that you have:
• 7±2 'chapters' or sections
• 7±2 sub-sections in each section

If you find that you end up with 10 or 11 sub-headings in a chapter, or sub-sections in a section, see if you are able to either consolidate two or three sub-sections in to, or create a new main section out of them.

CONCLUSION...
There are seven essential elements to successful business communication:
• Structure
• Clarity
• Consistency
• Medium
• Relevancy
• Primacy/Recency
• Rule of 7±2

If you are going to communicate effectively in business it is essential that you have a solid grasp of these seven elements.

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How Can A Communications Audit Help You?

Organizations communicate in two directions: internally to staff and externally to clients, customers, shareholders, stakeholders, the media. Faulty internal communications can lead to mistakes, discouraged and unhappy staff, employees leaving the company. Poor external communications can jeopardize image and sales. Any overall management strategy needs a communications plan or the whole operation might fail.

A communications audit analyzes an organization’s practices to reveal how effective they are—throughout a whole company or in specified parts of the organization. It can pinpoint problem areas such as frequent misunderstandings, information blocks, information lacks, information duplication, misrepresentation. An audit could be part of a periodic health check but it is especially helpful at a time of change: a merger or acquisition, launch of a new product or service, entry into new markets, for example.

The exact nature of the audit will depend on the type of organization and its particular needs and problems. But it will certainly aim to identify target audiences: the external audience will have different needs from an internal one. It will need to identify the key messages that need to be communicated and the channels that exist for conveying them. My husband is a shareholder in a building company. Every year it produces a glossy Annual Report that it sends to shareholders. The report is extremely detailed and full of lavish photographs. It clearly costs a lot to produce and distribute. This makes my husband very angry. He doesn’t want to read the full report and resents the money that is wasted on producing and sending a document that goes straight in the bin. Does the company realize that some shareholders feel this way? This company has a two-way problem. The communications it sends out are wrong for some shareholders but it has not thought about a way of creating a channel for the shareholders to give their feedback. It is thus breaking a fundamental rule of effective communications: you must have feedback.

Or take an internal issue. The HR department of a company gives out a detailed instruction manual to new employees. Yet many of the newly hired people seem completely lost during their first weeks. Well, in the first place, the employees are mostly involved in manual work. They are not used to reading chunks of written material. Most of the manuals lie unopened in their lockers. The director of the company made a habit of telephoning staff for briefings at lunchtime because he knew they ‘weren’t busy’ then. But that was the point. The amount of resentment he caused by this policy of disturbing people during the precious few minutes they had to relax was enormous.

Communicating is a complex process with potential pitfalls at each stage. Is the message clear? Does the recipient have a channel for feedback? Can the recipient understand how to provide the feedback? The old metaphor of the Chinese whisper holds true. The audit will look at the people who send and receive messages; the means of communicating—which extend beyond the obvious use of the telephone, meetings, conferences, e-mail etc. to encompass dress code, office layouts, desk-tidy policies—in order to build up a comprehensive picture of what is happening. Every aspect of communication provides another piece of the jigsaw and, once this is complete, you have the basis for an evaluation.

The evaluation report will consider attitudes towards the communications (do people look forward to meetings or consider them a waste of time?); it will look at the needs of different groups (the most appropriate way to deliver training, for example) and it will provide evidence of any problems that need to be addressed.

However, it is important to evaluate the audit within a relevant framework. For this reason, key people will have to clarify the purpose for the organization’s existence, its cultural values and its identity. For example, the communications strategy for a budget airline will be very different from one which targets business executives. The two companies will have different purposes, values and identities. The audit is thus a valuable tool for enhancing internal motivation, loyalty and efficiency and for beefing up market position. It can be handled internally but there are also benefits from using an external consultant. Employees might feel inhibited about expressing their real view to another company member, whereas an outsider, who guarantees their anonymity, will be less of a threat.

How to Write Marketing Communications Plans
Marketing Communications are “all strategies, tactics, and activities involved in getting the desired marketing messages to intended target markets, regardless of the media used” (MarcommWise, 2006). Tony Yeshin (1999) defines marketing communications as “the process by which a marketer develops and presents stimuli to a defined target audience with a purpose of eliciting a desired set of responses” (Yeshin, 1999). Marketing communications are: adverting, sales promotions, personal selling, PR and direct and interactive marketing (Fill, 1999).

Consequently Marketing Communications Plan is the marketing plan which promotional plan incorporates two or more integrated marketing communications mediums aiming to reiterate the same goals and objectives. Marketing Communications Plans are generally based on two different frameworks: Marketing Communications Planning Framework and SOSTAC (Fill, 1999).

Marketing Communications Plans consist of the following vital elements:
• Context analysis
• Promotional objectives
• Marketing communications strategy
• Promotional mix (methods and tools)
• Budget schedule
• Evaluation and control (Fill, 1999).

When writing marketing communications plan it is important to:
1. Set corporate, marketing and marketing communications objectives, which would support and integrate with each other.
2. Develop segmentation, targeting and positioning strategies
3. Develop creative message with which Marketing Communications Plan with communicate with target audience

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