Can You Get Hacked by Listening to a Voicemail

two.iii: Selecting Appropriate Channels

Learning Objectives

four. Distinguish between communication channels to determine which is most appropriate for item situations.
5. ENL1813 Form Learning Requirement 1: Program, write, revise, and edit brusk documents and messages that are organized, complete, and tailored to specific audiences.
i. Select appropriate channels for delivering messages (ENL1813HIT CLR 1.ii)

Throughout this chapter we've been considering messages sent via electronic mail considering it is the near common aqueduct for written business concern messages. Withal, many professionals brand the mistake of sending an electronic mail when another channel (e.g., a verbal rather than a written one) would be more than appropriate for the situation and the audience. If yous had to deal with inappropriate behaviour in the workplace, for example, the right matter to practice is discuss information technology in person with all involved considering conflict resolution requires social intelligence informed past all the verbal and nonverbal data you can gather from them. You could follow upward with an e-mail summarizing a remedial activeness programme reached through constructive dialogue, but you lot would never deal with the situation by email solitary.

Addressing sensitive situations exclusively by email (or, fifty-fifty worse, text message) tends only to intensify a conflict. E-mail or messaging can't peradventure address the emotional complexity of a toxic situation and usually results in plush delays given the time lag between responses. Tensions likewise tend to escalate when people have the time to read too much into emails and text or instant messages about sensitive topics, misinterpret their tone, and write aroused or passive-aggressive ones in return. (Many people tend to lack filters when writing electronically in a state of heightened emotion because they feel relatively gratis to express the internal monologue that they would otherwise restrain if in the concrete visitor of the person they're writing to.) Recognizing that email is only one channel on a spectrum of other options, yet, and that others would be more efficient in certain situations, can relieve plenty of hassle from knee-jerk reliance on one favoured or comfy channel.

Between traditional and rapid electronic media, we have more choice for communication channels than ever in human history. Each has its own unique advantages and disadvantages that make it appropriate or inappropriate for specific situations. Knowing those pros and cons, summarized in Tabular array 2.3 below for a dozen of the near common verbal and written channels available, is necessary for being an constructive communicator in the modernistic workplace. Choosing channels wisely can hateful the difference between a message that is received and understood equally intended (the goal of communication), and ane that is lost in the noise or misunderstood in plush ways.

Table 2.3: The Spectrum of Mutual Workplace Communication Channels

• In-person chat and group meeting
• Email
• Instant / Text message
• Tweet
• Instagram
• Article, essay, or web log
• Letter
• Memo
• Report / PowerPoint
• Fax
• Phone, VoIP, voicemail, and conference calls
• Video chat and web conference

Channel: In-person conversation and grouping meeting

Advantages	Disadvantages	Expectations	Appropriate Use
The most information-rich aqueduct combining words and nonverbal messages Dialogue facilitates immediate back-and-forth exchange of ideas Maintains the human chemical element defective in most other channels Additional participants can join for group give-and-take	Requires that speakers travel to be physically in the same space together Some people are poor listeners and some are poor speakers Impermanent unless recording equipment is used	Audience must be present and attentive rather than distracted by their mobile technology or multitasking Utilise for genuine dialogue rather than monologue or shallow, superficial exchanges A dynamic speaking ability is required to engage audiences	Apace commutation ideas with people shut by Visually communicate to complement your words Add together the human element in discussing sensitive or confidential topics that need to be worked out through dialogue

Aqueduct: Email

Advantages	Disadvantages	Expectations	Appropriate Use
Delivers messages instantly anywhere in the world to anyone with an internet connexion and email address you have Sends to one or many people at once, including secondary audiences CC'd or BCC'd Allows yous to attach documents up to several megabytes in size or links to whatsoever internet webpages Allows for a back-and-forth thread on the topic in the subject area line Archives written correspondence for review even decades later Can be washed on any mobile device with an internet connection Is free (beyond your subscription fees to an net or telephone provider) Is somewhat permanent in that emails exist somewhere on a server even if deleted by both sender and receiver	Gives the illusion of privacy: your messages can be forwarded to anyone, monitored by your company or an outside security agency, retrieved with a warrant, or hacked even if both you and receiver delete them Can be slow when used for dorsum-and-forth dialogue Tone may be misread (eastward.g., jokes misunderstood) due to the absence of nonverbal cues May be sent automatically to the recipient's spam folder or otherwise disregarded or deleted without being read given the volume of emails some people get in a solar day Subject to errors such equally hitting "ship" prematurely or replying to all when merely the sender should be replied to Subject to limits on document zipper size Subject to spam (unsolicited emails) Regretted emails tin't be taken back or edited Requires a working internet connexion on a computing device, which isn't bachelor everywhere in the world	Reply within 24 hours, or sooner if company policy requires it Follow conventions for writing a clear subject line; salutation; message opening, body, and endmost; endmost salutation, and due east-signature Netiquette: exist every bit kind as y'all should exist in person; don't write emails angrily Edit to ensure coverage of the subject indicated in the subject line with no more or less information than the recipient needs to do their job Proofread to ensure right grammer, punctuation, and spelling because errors compromise your brownie Avert defoliation due to vagueness that requires that the recipient respond asking for description	Speedily deliver a message that doesn't need an firsthand response Send a message and receive a response in writing as bear witness for time to come review (lay down a paper trail) Utilise when confidentiality isn't necessary Ship electronic documents as attachments Send the same bulletin to several people at in one case, including perhaps people whose email address you need to hibernate from the others (using BCC) to respect their confidentiality

Channel: Instant/Text message

Advantages	Disadvantages	Expectations	Appropriate Use
Enables the rapid exchange of curtailed written letters Can be done quietly so as to not exist overheard Inexpensive Autocomplete feature helps achieve efficiencies in typing speed and spelling Nonverbal characters such every bit emojis can clarify tone Plenty of instant message applications are available, such as Facebook Messenger, Google Talk, WhatsApp, and SnapChat	Oftentimes used to avoid homo contact when telephone or in-person communication is available and more appropriate Encourages informality with lazy abbreviations, initialisms, and acronyms Even with autocomplete, typing with thumbs alone can be slower than using ten fingers on a desktop or laptop reckoner Concise text alone can be misinterpreted for tone when used to summarize complex ideas Other nonverbals such as emojis help clarify tone, merely also undermine credibility if used in professional person situations Give the illusion of privacy: texts exist on servers and tin can exist retrieved even if deleted by both sender and receiver Mobility and portability of texting devices tempt users with poor impulse command to text dangerously while walking or driving, or rudely in forepart of people talking to them	Reply immediately or as soon as possible, since the choice to text or IM is usually for rapid commutation of data Be patient if the recipient doesn't respond immediately; they may be busy with real-life tasks Proofread when used for professional purposes every bit confusion due to writing errors can exist costly when acted upon immediately Use just when able; never text when driving because the distraction turns your vehicle into a lethal weapon; never text when walking because you go in people's manner, hit obstacles yourself, and wait like a slave to engineering	Apply for exchanging short letters quickly with someone physically distant Go an data commutation in writing for reference later Use when confidentiality isn't important

Channel: Tweet

Advantages	Disadvantages	Expectations	Advisable Use
Able to reach a big audience of social media users for promotion using hashtags and by developing a following Able to broadcast real-time updates accessible on smartphones Able to ship and reply to straight messages quickly (like texting and instant messaging) The 280-grapheme limit (previously 140 before 2018) on tweets encourages conciseness Able to link people to webpages for more information	The 280-character limit forces concision frequently leading to confusing initialisms, abbreviations, and word omission	Strike a residual in posting frequency—not too seldom, not too often Be concise but also clear and grammatically right Maximize potential past using hashtags and links to conductor readers towards further data	Circulate data in real time to a broad range of users Utilise when confidentiality isn't important

Channel: Instagram

Advantages	Disadvantages	Expectations	Appropriate Employ
Instagram for Business organisation provides branding visuals for interested customers, especially millennials Allows customers to respond in real time	The audience is largely limited to a younger demographic with limited spending ability Ways of expression is limited to photos and brief captions Can undermine professional credibility if used for selfies, which brand you lot appear juvenile and overly self-involved Inconvenient if posting and managing an account from a laptop or desktop calculator rather than a smartphone Doesn't provide an easy way to link to a company website to provide audiences with further information Contributes to a platform seen to be the worst for mental wellness (Purple Guild for Public Health, 2017)	Apply for providing visuals of visitor products or services rather than for individual self-promotion with selfies Strike a residual in posting frequency—non too seldom, not too often Include every bit part of a marketing mix that includes other social media such every bit Facebook and Twitter	Post company photos to reach younger demographics

Channel: Article, essay, or blog

Advantages	Disadvantages	Expectations	Advisable Use
Able to write at length about any topic and accomplish a potentially big online audience as a blog or article published in an online media outlet Can let dialogue if a comments section is enabled beneath if posted online	Tend to be monologues without the possibility of feedback People with short attention spans tend to avoid large chunks of text Some tend to be wary of blogs considering they are a genre overpopulated by people'south sick-formed opinions	Organize with a clear topic thesis and support it with a logical flow of disarming arguments built around credible evidence Edit and proofread to ensure correctness, conciseness, and reader-friendly period Enable comments for feedback and dialogue	Articulate thoughts on topics that require lengthy evolution

Channel: Alphabetic character

Advantages	Disadvantages	Expectations	Appropriate Use
Shows respect through formality and effort Ensures confidentiality when sealed in an envelope and delivered to the recipient's physical accost (it is illegal to open up someone else'south mail) Tin can innovate other physical documents (enclosures)	Dull to arrive at the recipient's address depending on how far away they are from the sender Can exist intercepted or tampered with in transit (albeit illegally) Can be overlooked every bit junk mail service Time consuming to print, sign, seal, and send for commitment Post postage is costlier than email	Follow conventions for dissimilar types of messages (e.g., block for company letters, modified block for personal messages) and providing the sender's and recipient's address, date, recipient salutation, closing salutation, and writer's signature Utilise company letterhead template when writing on behalf of your organization	For providing a formal, permanent, confidential written message to a single important person or organization Platonic for task applications (cover letter), persuasive messages (e.k., fundraising campaigns), bad-news letters, matters with possible legal implications (e.g., claims), and responses to letters For non-urgent matters

Channel: Memo

Advantages	Disadvantages	Expectations	Advisable Use
Provides a written tape of group decisions, announcements, policies, and procedures within an organization Can also be a format for delivering modest reports (e.k., conference report) and recording negotiating terms in agreements between organizations (eastward.g., memo of agreement) Tin can exist posted on a physical bulletin board and/or emailed	Requires a good archiving arrangement to make memos hands accessible for those (specially new employees) needing to review a record of company policies, procedures, etc.	Use template with visitor letterhead Follow the same conventions as email, except omit the opening and closing salutations and due east-signature	For a written tape for decisions, announcements, policies, procedures, and small reports shared inside an organization Post a printed version on an office bulletin lath and email to all involved

Aqueduct: Report / PowerPoint

Advantages	Disadvantages	Expectations	Advisable Use
Allows presentation of a high book of information presenting enquiry and analysis Can take various forms such a certificate booklet or proposal for reading alone or PowerPoint for presenting	Time-consuming to write with proper research documentation and visual content, as well as to set up for (presentations) Time-consuming for the busy professional person to read or an audition to have in Presentations tin can bore audiences if not engaging	Follow conventions for organizing data according to the size of the report, audience, and purpose Augment with visuals Engage audiences with effective oral commitment and visual appeal	For providing thorough business organisation intelligence on topics important to an organization's functioning For internal or external audiences For persuading audiences with well-adult arguments (e.k., proposal reports)

Aqueduct: Fax

Advantages	Disadvantages	Expectations	Advisable Utilize
Fast delivery of letters and forms Allows the use of company letterhead	Limited to eight.v×11" formats Expensive for the purchase of fax machines and paper rolls that need regular replacing Possibly expensive if long-distance telephone charges use Few people utilise fax and a dwindling number of businesses still use them	Keep it brusk Use only if required in an industry that however favours fax	For sending forms or work orders in industries that still use fax (eastward.one thousand., health care)

Channel: Phone, VoIP, voicemail, and conference calls

Advantages	Disadvantages	Expectations	Appropriate Employ
Enables audio-but dialogue between speakers anywhere in the earth Quick back-and-forth saves time compared to written dialogue past email or text Can send ane-mode voicemail letters or leave them when the recipient isn't available Tin can be conducted cheaply over the internet (with Vocalization over Internet Protocol) and easily on smartphones Specialized telephone equipment and VoIP enable conference calls amongst multiple users	Absence of nonverbal visual cues can make dialogue occasionally hard The receiver of a phone call isn't e'er available, then the timing must be correct on both ends; if not, availability bug lead to "telephone tag" Time zone differences complicate the timing of long-altitude calls Possibly expensive for long-altitude calls over a public switched telephone network (PSTN) if VoIP isn't available Not always clear how long y'all have to leave a voicemail message, running the risk of being cutting off if your message runs too long Recording of conversations is typically unavailable unless you have special equipment	Follow conventions for initiating and ending sound-only conversation For voicemail, strike a balance between brevity and providing a thorough description of the reason for the call and your contact data Record a professional call-back message for voicemail when not available to have a call Respond to voicemail as soon as possible since you lot were called with the hope that you would be available to talk immediately Be careful with confidential information over the phone, and don't talk over confidential information via voicemail	For when quick dialogue is necessary between speakers physically afar from one another Conference phone call when members of a team can't be physically nowadays for a meeting Utilize VoIP to avert long-distance charges Leave articulate voicemail messages when receivers aren't bachelor When a tape of the chat isn't necessary When confidentiality is somewhat of import

Channel: Video chat and web briefing

Advantages	Disadvantages	Expectations	Advisable Utilise
Enables face-to-face 1-on-ane or grouping meetings for people physically distant from 1 another (anywhere from across town to the other side of the planet) Allows participants to see nonverbals that would exist unseen in a phone conference coming together Can be integrated into a real in-person meeting to include physically absent-minded members Inexpensive with common applications such equally Skype, FaceTime (for Apple devices), and Google Talk Cheaper than flying people around to behave routine meetings	Connexion problems often result in poor audio quality (cutting in and out) and split-2nd delays that result in misleading nonverbal cues and participants talking over 1 some other Enterprise applications improve functionality but for a cost	Requires a high-speed net connection, microphone, and webcam all in good working social club Requires that participants be as nowadays and presentable (at least from the waist-up) as they would be for an in-person coming together Participants must control their groundwork surroundings, especially when web conferencing from habitation, to avert interruptions	For when in-person meetings are necessary only participants are in unlike concrete locations Frequently used for job interviews when participants cannot conveniently attend in person

Choosing the right advice channel on the spectrum of options using the criteria above involves a decision-making process based on the purposes of the communication, as discussed before in this chapter. Factors to consider include convenience for both the sender and receiver, timeliness, and cost in terms of both time and money. When choosing to ship an electronic mail, for instance, you:

1. Begin with the idea you demand to communicate
2. Decide that it must be in writing for futurity reference rather than spoken
3. Consider that it would be more convenient if it arrived cheaply the instant you lot finished writing information technology and hit Send
4. Want to requite the recipient the opportunity to respond quickly or at least within the 24-hour norm
5. Decide that information technology would be better to send your message by email rather than past other electronic channels such as text, instant message (considering you have more to say than would fit in either of those formats), or fax because y'all know the recipient prefers email over fax, as do most people and all merely a few professional person fields.

All of these decisions may occur to you in the span of a second or so because they are largely habitual. Figure 2.three charts out that decision-making process for selecting the nigh appropriate channel amid the 12 given in Tabular array 2.three above.

Effigy ii.iii: Aqueduct Selection Procedure Flow Nautical chart

We will examine the uses, misuses, conventions, and implications of these channels in the chapters ahead, especially Chapters half-dozen-7 on written documents in Unit of measurement two and Chapters 10-11 on oral communication in Unit 3. For now, nonetheless, let's appreciate that choosing the correct channel at the outset of the writing process saves fourth dimension—the time that you would otherwise spend correcting advice errors and doing damage control for having chosen the wrong one for the situation at paw. If you observe yourself forced to meet someone in person to deal with the damage wrought by a toxic email exchange before moving frontwards, just recall how you would be into the next steps if you had skipped the electronic mail war and met in person to deal with the situation like adults in the kickoff place.

Key Takeaway

Choose the about appropriate communication channel for the occasion past taking into business relationship the full spectrum of traditional and electronic ways, as well as your own and your audience's needs.

Exercises

Identify the near appropriate channel for communicating what'southward necessary in the given situation and explicate your reasoning.
1. You lot come up with a new procedure that makes a routine job in your role in the organisation quicker and easier; praise for your innovation goes all the way up to the CEO, who now wants you to meet with the other employees in your role in the seven other branch offices across the country to share the process.
2. A customer emails you for a price quote on a custom job they would like yous to do for them. (Your company has a formal process for writing upwards quotes on an electronic form that gives a price breakup on a PDF.)
3. You lot are working with two officemates on a market report. Both have been bad lately about submitting their work on time and y'all're starting to worry virtually meeting the next major milestone a few days from now. Neither has been absent-minded because yous can meet them in their offices as you lot walk past in the hallway.
4. You are almost to close a deal merely need quick authorization from your director across town about a certain discount you would similar to apply. You need it in writing just in example your managing director forgets virtually the authorization or anyone else questions information technology back at the office.
5. Your division recently received discussion from management that changes to local bylaws mean that a common procurement procedure will accept to exist slightly altered when dealing with suppliers. Your team meets to go over the changes and the new procedure, only you need to fix it down in writing so that everyone in attendance can refer to information technology, equally well as any new hires.
6. You take a limited amount of time to discuss a potential funding opportunity with a colleague in another city because the proposal deadline is later in the week and it's near endmost time in your colleague'southward office. Yous'll have to hammer out some details about who will write the various parts of the proposal before you get to work on it tonight.
7. Y'all were nether contract with a local entrepreneur to perform major landscaping services. Virtually the terminate of the chore, y'all discovered that he dissolved his visitor and is moving on, merely yous haven't yet been paid for services rendered. You want to formally inform him of the charges and remind him of his contractual obligations; in doing so y'all want to lay down a paper trail in example you need to accept him to court for breach of contract.

Reference

Regal Social club for Public Health. (2017, May 19). Instagram ranked worst for young people's mental health. Retrieved from https://www.rsph.org.united kingdom/about-united states/news/instagram-ranked-worst-for-young-people-s-mental-health.html

garcianeques.blogspot.com

Source: https://ecampusontario.pressbooks.pub/communicationatwork/chapter/2-3-selecting-appropriate-channels/

Share this post