Workplace Communication

What the resources cover

This unit is mostly mind maps, with a few quizzes, flashcard decks and one note. Together they follow communication from basic ideas to how organizations manage it.

• Foundations: the Effective Communication mind map sets out the communication cycle: encode, send, decode, receive and give feedback. It also touches on negotiation, persuasion and assertiveness.
• Organizational communication: the Human Resources Communications Plan mind map moves through objectives, context analysis, internal strategy, scheduling, evaluation and control.
• Employees and managers: Employee Communications and the map on the role of the manager in internal communication and staff engagement look at flows, purpose and relationships.

Where to start

Begin with Effective Communication, since it gives you the vocabulary the other maps reuse. Next, read the Communication mind map for a plain statement of purpose: getting a message across so both sides understand it.

Then move to the Human Resources Communications Plan. It shows how the basic cycle becomes a planned program inside an organization.

Using quizzes and maps together

Read a map first, then take the Employee Communications quiz. It asks about employee information, change and the questions staff have. Any question you miss points you back to a branch of the map to reread.

The Interviews flashcard deck is a quick way to practice the types of interview questions and what each one aims to do. The note How to Read Your Boss asks reflective questions about hierarchy and workplace terms, which suits a slower, written session.

Other topics worth a look

Several maps deal with communication styles, cross-cultural communication, written instructions, interviews and meetings, and electronic communications protocol. The map titled Can your employees really speak freely? raises trust and honest feedback at work.

Where this unit sits

Workplace Communication belongs to the People and Organisations strand of Human resources. It connects to nearby topics through its links to staff engagement, coaching and power dynamics.

Pick one map today, take a quiz, and then sketch a version of your own.