What do you know about cultural barriers?

The more the company operates internationally, the greater is the probability of facing cultural issues. Cultural issues can be visible in many ways, language is one of the important factors that differentiate people and may cause misunderstandings and misinterpretations which can harm your business. The difference in language can block communication when two parties cannot speak the same language, sometimes even they speak the same language they may have different accents, dialects, and pidgin which makes communication more difficult.

Moreover, the behavior during communication is another level in culture, it varies from a country to another. Do you tend to interrupt others during the conversation? or you wait for them to finish their ideas? do you speak loudly or softly? Are you direct in your messages? or you prefer being indirect?  each different attitude may seem tolerated in some countries or regions but not in others.

Another barrier concerns stereotypes, they extremely influence incoming information and how we treat people, stereotypes can be linked to different factors such as age, gender, race, appearance, etc. The more stereotypes persist in a workspace, the more we have separated teams, lower productivity, and collaborating problems.

It is highly recommended to be aware of these differences to avoid problems resulting from culture clash.

How gender can affect communication in your business?

Gender barriers seem to have become less problematic in recent years, yet there is still, for instance, the possibility for a woman to misinterpret a man’s words, or vice versa. Even in a work environment where women and men have the same stature, knowledge, and skills, differences in styles of communication can hinder their ability to work together effectively. Cross-gender barriers might be either related or inherent to gender stereotypes and the way in which both women and men are taught to behave during their childhood.

Gender can be a barrier to an organization’s success because of the different ways in which women and men deal with issues. In general, women focus on feelings, meaning, and significance. They tend to rely on instinct and intuition to find answers, unlike men who focus on what is factual, rational, and logical. They usually find answers by analyzing and understanding things.

And while not all women or men communicate similarly to their counterparts, there are several characteristics that tend to be more common in either sex that have been identified. By fully understanding these tendencies, we can create a working environment that embraces healthy and open communication amongst each and every employee.

Are you aware of goal conflicts?

“Goal conflict occurs when a goal that a person wishes to accomplish interferes with the attainment of at least one other goal that the individual simultaneously wishes to accomplish” (Robert A. Emmons). Indeed, in the same organization we can find different personal’s goals. For instance, a shareholder wants to increase the value of the company by controlling the stock price and swelling market share, the same thing for the employee who wants to get more done and boost his incomes. Whereas, the customer searches a good ratio quality/price.

There is no communication process with ego based goals. Obviously, when a person hangs on a specific goal, automatically he is destroying his link with others which means a random act. So, that can lead to personality clashes if individuals have significantly different personalities, friction can arise. These conflicts are often not motivated by malice but are the result of two very different people misunderstanding each other. Also, jealousy which is a huge problem; even if you are consciously aware of feelings of envy or jealousy, the actual reason may be buried in your unconscious and disguised by rationalizations. But left unexamined, envy and jealousy can work against you by distracting you from your own performance and you will not be able to discuss with others in order not to express your hidden bad sensations.

It is obvious that diversity is exemplary in most workplaces. Meanwhile, this could be the new standard, the probable challenges of diversity cannot be ignored. The article analyzed three barriers of communication: cultural and gender barriers also the goal conflict. So to create a work environment of inclusion rather than exclusion, it is important to acquire a knowledge of some key phrases and to use body language to create a real communication between employees, since it is impossible to learn all the languages.

Furthermore, it is necessary to find a middle ground between all employees to avoid misunderstanding and manipulation. Otherwise, it is critically important to make education gender sensitive in order to promote positive stereotypes. Regarding the goal conflict, the important thing to keep in mind, is that in many instances, finding a way to satisfy both individuals will climatically be good for the company.

To sum up, communication has always known barriers so we cannot eliminate them overnight yet we can always make an extra effort to improve it. So let’s take time to ask how to make better our communication because without it, there would be no organizations.

Authors :

• HAJAR BASSIM EL IDRISSI
• YOUSSEF ADARSSANE
• KHALID BENICHE
• ILHAM ABDERRAHIM
• IMANE ASBIK

References:

• Lainie Petersen. (February 2019). Examples of Employer & Employee Conflicts. Retrieved from: https://smallbusiness.chron.com/examples-employer-employee-conflicts-13804.html
• Vilayanur S. Ramachandran1and Baland Jalal1. (September 2017). The Evolutionary Psychology of Envy and Jealousy. Retrieved from: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/319904475_The_Evolutionary_Psychology_of_Envy_and_Jealousy
• Julia Gorges and Axel Grund. (November 2017). Aiming at a Moving Target: Theoretical and Methodological Considerations in the Study of Intraindividual Goal Conflict between Personal Goals. Retrieved from: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2017.02011/full
• Cailin S. Stamarski and Leanne S. Son Hing. (September 2015). Gender inequalities in the workplace: the effects of organizational structures, processes, practices, and decision makers’ sexism. Retrieved from:  https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4584998/
• Hannah Borchardt. (December 2014). Gender Roles in the Workplace: How They Affect Communication. Retrieved from:  https://hannahborchardt.wordpress.com/2014/12/01/17/
• Internations Organization. Global Guide for working abroad: Cultural Differences in Business. Retrieved from:  https://www.internations.org/guide/global/cultural-differences-in-business-15308
• Summa Linguae Technologies. Culture and language in business. Retrieved from: https://summalinguae.com/blog/culture-and-language-in-business/

Active listening involves reading a speaker’s body language and tone of voice, both. They can transmit different messages than those of the words used; the body language can convey more than words and voice tone may also reveal feelings that contradict the speaker’s words. A speaker whose gestures often and lean forward may be enthusiastic or excited; if he/she doesn’t make eye contact and looks down may be conveying discomfort or embarrassment. In fact, some commonly held beliefs about body language are not necessarily accurate. If a listener crossed his arms, that often believed to be a sign of resistance to the speaker’s words, it can only be a sign of the listener’s best comfortable sitting position. In the other hand, some people believe that unwillingness to make eye contact indicate lying. However, many people may lack eye contact due to shyness, or can look others in the eye and lie, or other reasons. Feedback is an important part of active listening; both verbal and nonverbal responses can improve listening. First, a speaker may nod their head, raise their eyebrows, or smile to show that they understand the listener; or they can use many verbal responses to show comprehension. In case of lack of understanding or the need for further information when listening, the listener might nod his/ her head to one side or furrow his eye-brows; he can also use some expression to improve his ability to understand the speaker. One element of feedback discussed previously is the recognition of the speaker’s feelings, especially when the speaker is emotional. Before listeners can effectively understand the topic of discussion, they must recognize any negative feelings that the speaker seems to feel.

People are different from one another; each one has his/her own personality and character, and especially the topic or the subject that can trigger negative emotions in them. For which the speaker should sense, in a way or another, the beginning of these emotions that can show up in the listener, who can be a client or a coworker or a superior in a business meeting. Also, the speaker needs to have the ability to control his/her own emotions, remain calm, and try to distract the listener to another subject or even minimize his emotional reaction, and especially show them that his/her emotions are taken into consideration. However, the speaker is often aware of the topics that can trigger a bad feeling in the listener, that’s why he/she needs to make sure to avoid it as possible. And the simple way to know and have an idea of these sensitive subjects is to listen carefully to the person to get a clue about his/her personality or point of view; this way it is much easier to have a safe business communication.

To better manage the negative reactions towards coworkers or towards customers it is necessary first of all to remain calm, to have the willingness of an active listening, without taking pre-judgment, while respecting what others want to communicate. In addition, it is also necessary to avoid any verbal or non-verbal reaction which can trigger problems and which only serves to aggravate the situation. On the other side, you have to share the trust and take into consideration the differences in mentalities, age, cultures …; because trust overcomes all obstacles and improves team spirit and self-esteem which has a direct impact on an individual’s ability to work in a team and to help others. Moreover, it is necessary to take the initiative by showing a minimum of respect first and as this will come the respect of the others later.

A strong business communication is very crucial in every company, it’s the key of successful teamwork, it helps to build a good relationship between the manager and employees which can likely help increase productivity. To improve your listening skills, you should have a critical business skill and should be emotionally aware so that you can read speakers’ emotions and recognize their feelings.

• Bourass Imane
• Bouafi Ilyass
• Boukssass Kawtar
• Bouibker Yassmine
• Benshaba Imane

How can cultural diversity hinder the effectiveness of communication among employees?

Generally, the majority care only about the advantages and benefits of cultural diversity such as innovation (Bartlett, 1889), increased efficiency and productivity (Adler, 1994), but have we ever asked about negative influences of the cultural diversity on the communication among employees? In fact, cultural diversity as it can be an asset within an organization, it can also constitute a brake, insofar as there are several variables of a cultural nature (beliefs, values, attitudes, behaviors, languages and / or dialect ..) associating with each other and giving rise to dysfunctions in communication between employees. As such, we mainly discuss the way in which employees interpret the messages received. According to Chevrier (1990): “a manager spends on average 70% of his time communicating, whether verbally or not, consciously or unconsciously”; to clarify this, suppose a manager communicates around the objectives within a multicultural group made up of American and Japanese employees; in this case, we will have two completely different kinds of perceptions: for an American, a goal is a precise quantifiable criteria and while for a Japanese, a goal is rather a direction to follow. Also, employees from different cultures are characterized by linguistic, legal, social, ethnic and religious specificities particular to each of them. This can limit the flow of communication by causing misunderstandings and misinterpreting as each employee tries to analyze situations according to their own culture.

Can we say that resistance to change influences internal communication within companies?

In a context of continuous economic development, whether through globalization or technological progress, any organization is faced with a need for change which can be structural, technological or cultural. In this perspective, the manager is a micro-actor of change, limited in his cognitive and communicative skills, which puts him in a position of dependence on his subordinates. He needs the cooperation of other members of the organization, who also have an ability to act, to build meaning and to communicate. Here comes another problematic issue which influences the intern communication, which is the employees’ resistance to change. When we see the organization as a communication fabric, a system of communicational transactions and as an organizing process, composed of interconnected behaviors, it becomes obvious that organizational change is, by definition, delicate. Changing the organization means changing people’s behavior and their relationships with each other. It also means changing their positions in the engagement networks, their context of creation of a meaning. And it is, at the same time, touching their identity and their everyday life. In this sense, resistance to change and communication problems are no longer seen as barriers to change, but more as natural results of a change.

What about conflicts of priorities?

This issue can also be one of the problems influencing the communication between employees into workplace, in fact conflicts of priorities are problems that arises when employees don’t take into consideration the opinions and priorities of other parties. Each team in work consider that his project has a high priority and try to value and defend it by all means and see that others project are not interesting as him, which causes a conflict of opinions between members of teams ending by a lack of communication thing that decrease their motivation and influence negatively their productivity, because having a strong and cohesive team at work is the thing that let members fell excited to come at work and put their best effort into a project and here I want to take an example of personnel experience of work within a team in a company for three month, in fact we were six people on the team and the work went well, but over time and as we got to know each other, the problems started to arise, we were brought to work in the form of two teams and each one proposes a solution for a problem that have emerged. The first team believes that the solution they have proposed is the perfect solution and the more suitable to the problem so it’s the one that must be selected with priority by the managers after this issue communication between our teams and the other had been cut off for o long period and we have got demotivated, stressed in work trying to avoid contact with this team as much as possible.

How different personality types impact the communication among employees?

Many breakdowns in communication are attributed to the problem of personality differences; in fact, different personality types have different communication preferences, and these naturally affect workplace communication, sometimes for the worst. The truth is that personality differences are very important for increasing the productivity of offices, departments and teams; it brings a variety of strengths to the work, some offer insight and some offer planning and critical thinking, etc. Therefore, all personality types should be considered. At the same time, if we fail to recognize and accommodate those differences the communication among employees will be difficult; consequently, a drop in productivity and an increase in general workplace tension will occur. The main reason behind the impact of personality differences on workplace relationships is each individual’s assumption that his or her own personality is the best one. “If more of my coworkers were like me, the office would be a better place.” In the other hand, some personality judgments are used negatively: “Well, you know the type I’m talking about.”, “He has no personality, he’s the uncommunicative type.”, “Given her personality, don’t expect much enthusiasm from her.” So, what are personality types? Now that you know that the key factors in getting the best from differences are appreciation, understanding, and adaptability. Let’s take look at the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator® (MBTI) that is used by many businesses to understand personality and preferences, in fact, two million MBTI tests are administered each year in the United States. The MBTI is built around four opposing pairs of personality types: extraversion/introversion; sensing/intuitive; thinking/feeling; judging/perceiving. This indicator identifies the person’s preference within each of the four opposing pairs. If you do the math, you will see that there are sixteen possible combinations, or  personality types.

What’s your personality type? Find it out with this personality test.

A work done by

• ABDERRAZIK Loubna
• AMZIL Awatif
• BADRANE Hasnaa
• BATTIOUI Ikram
• BELOUAR Khadija

Resources

• Mcintosh, Perry, Luecke, Richard A, Interpersonal communication skills in the workplace: Ebook edition, Ed 2, Amacom, 2008
• https://www.cours-gratuit.com/cours-management/cours-management-le-management-interculturel

Intercultural business communication often includes economic topics, and businessmen in different cultures need to improve the communication skills that could directly lead to successful negotiations with other corporations. Miscommunication may start from small linguistic misunderstandings to serious situations in which agreement may be differently interpreted and its process may be completely different from culture to culture. So, cultural values can influence international business negotiations in significant and unexpected ways from the first to the last stage of a negotiation (Swierczek and Numprasertchai, 2006).
In order to achieve a desirable outcome of a negotiation, it may be useful to follow a structured approach. The first phase is preparation, before any negotiating a decision must be made as to when and where a meeting will be held to discuss an issue. Secondly discussion, the members on each side present their understanding of the situation, the key skills of this step includes the survey, listening and clarification. Thirdly clarification of objectives, the goals and interests of the two sides of disagreement should be clarified to avoid misunderstandings and the risk that can happen. Fourthly negotiate for a win-win result, the parties feel that they have gained something positive during the negotiation phase and both parties believe that their views been taken into account. Fifthly agreement, it can be reached once the understanding of the views and interests of both parties have been taken into account. Lastly an action must be implemented to carry out the decision.

Cultural differences, linguistic differences, geographical distances, temporal differences, legal differences….These specificities may generate some risks, difficulties and costs which must be understood as well as possible in order to make the best conditions for international negotiations.
Culture impacts international negotiations by pushing the two foreign parties to discover and know each other’s culture in advance out of respect, to establish a climate of trust, to know the attitudes to hold during negotiations, to adapt different styles of communication, to minimize differences in meaning, to design terms like planning, engagement, to minimize the risk of errors, wasted time…
Directly or indirectly, culture influences the way in which those negotiators seek to understand and integrate the culture of the other; the way of reasoning; situation analysis; and the search for solutions (Jeswald, 2004).

To illustrate the huge influence of the cultural differences, let’s take the example of a business negotiator from the United States of America who lost a very important agreement because she did not take enough time in order to study and understand in a deep way the context of her Indian counterpart. In fact, the priority in the course of negotiations for the Indian culture is to build a trustworthy environment by establishing a positive and friendly relationship. However, the style of negotiation in the USA puts the light on “getting things done” in an efficient way of using time because “time is money”. Indeed, this direct and transparent style can be perceived as aggressive and offensive, especially by negotiators from cultures where great values are based on relationships. This specific point represents one of the main cultural barriers for the American negotiator who learned from this crucial experience that dealing with business without considering the other’s cultural values and norms can create a cross-cultural misunderstanding and affect negatively the negotiation process (Shonk, 2015).
When negotiating with foreign suppliers, you’ll confront a variety of obstacles, such as unfamiliar laws, ideologies, and governments. One particular obstacle that almost always complicates international negotiations is the cultural differences between the two sides (Cardenas, 2019).

To be an international negotiator, you should have a lot of qualities such as a huge knowledge about the culture of your partners to avoid every misunderstanding during the business negotiation, and also to minimize conflicts and maximize gains. The ability of understanding and adaptability to the differences is an asset, in order to achieve positive results in negotiations.

Author

• Nizar Omayma
• Ramah Zineb
• Raquiq Amina
• Ziati Meryem
• Rachada Imane

In 1970, college friends Jerry Baldwin, Zev Siegel and Gordon Bowker decided to get into the coffee business. They found a mentor in Alfred Peet, the founder of Peet’s Coffee and he was responsible for bringing custom coffee roasting to the U.S. Therefore, with peet’s help, the first Starbucks opened at Seattle’s famous Pike Place Market on March 30^th 1971, a coffee bean shop and roastery getting its name from the book Moby Dick; the chief mate Starbuck. For the first decade, the founders opened five more locations in Seattle. At this point, the customers might have noticed a glaring absence: actual coffee drinks. Starbuck’s initial focus was bringing high quality beans to consumers who were more accustomed to instant or canned coffee, but that changed with the addition of one man. The company hired its first professional Director of Marketing and Sales, Howard Schultz. In 1983, he travels to Italy and returns with an idea; turn the coffee bean store into cafes.

The experiment was a success, and four years later Shultz collaborated with investors and bought Starbucks$3.8 million, by the time he pursued a strategy of aggressive expansion. In 1996, it had opened more than a thousand locations, including its first international cafes in Japan and Singapore.

Starbucks has catapulted from one coffee shop in Seattle to a sprawling $80 billion business over the last 47 years. However, the brand use only 1.19% of revenue for commercials and this is possible because Starbucks use SNS (Social networking service) to advertise. With their social media, Starbucks creates brand awareness through all platforms.

Thanks to the strength of their business communication strategy, Starbucks has succeeded in making their brand recognizable and one of the most remarkable brands in the world. If the question is what makes Starbucks an internationally recognized brand? The answer will be “Consistent messaging, imagery, and branding”. From social media to TV spots and ads, Starbucks use a variety of channels to market their product.

Starbucks focus on creating a personnel connection between their customers, their baristas and their organization. Starbucks is all about connecting with their customers, Men and woman who could, of course, afford Starbucks higher-priced beverages regularly, and giving them a premium experience when they come into the stores of Starbucks so in the mind of customers there is that desire to go sit in the shop, take a good cup of coffee, bring the laptop and be productive and motivated to work. (coscheduleblog, 2018)

Starbucks communicates very little on conventional channels. No signage, no TV or press. However, it is the first coffee chain in the world. The brand doesn’t want to communicate in a top-down way where consumers cannot participate, but rather prefers to bet on social media, a channel allowing interaction with its community with (18.4 M followers) on Instagram, (36 M fans) on Facebook and (11.2 M subscribers) on Twitter.

Among its most relevant digital communication tools, the brand has developed a suggestion website site My Starbucks Idea’. This blog encourages customers to submit ideas to improve the products on offer, as well as the experience they can have. Customers can propose and discuss ideas submitted by the community. Internet users can also vote in favor of the ideas they prefer. Consumers who have come up with their ideas can follow their journey and see their involvement in improving the Starbucks brand.

The blog ‘My Starbucks Idea’ is a real support for co-creation at the service of the brand. In addition to creating a strong brand community, it allows to highlight each individual while serving as market research and global brainstorming.

If the brand is leader in the coffee market, it’s thanks to its community strategy and its digital communication tools. Starbucks work on making their social media channels a place of conversation between their customers and the brand.

Branding and Communication strategy is an art that Starbucks has mastered along their existence, so the commitment and consistency of the branding and giving experience to customers puts the Starbucks brand over the top, and all of this will not be existing without the hard work of the Starbucks team and executives. They span every aspect from the stores’ design and the iconic logo to the description of an Instagram post.  They simply make everything looks, sounds and feels like Starbucks with a clean and modern taste. (Richards, 2019)

Effective communication is very important to any organization in so many aspects, it allows to solve problems, motivate the employees and aligns the company’s offer with actual customer demand.

When the communication system is well set, it helps to develop strong teamwork at all levels in order to achieve the organization goals.

Effective communication may contribute to organizational success in many ways, it:

– Builds trust and employee morale

• Helps to create a climate of satisfaction, engagement, loyalty
• Provides clarity and direction
• Promotes team building
• Improves productivity
• strengthens relationships with each other
• Creates greater efficiencies and helps reduce costs

The strategies and tools of Starbucks are definitely the key sources to their well-known image. They managed to be the largest coffee chain restaurant worldwide. However, the constant change of lifestyles and technology. The company needs to be ready for any kind of threats. To do so, there is multiples improvement that Starbucks can work on such as:

• Crew forming: Because the staff are the face of the company and they have direct contacts with client, Starbucks needs to train their employees on communication skills, knowledge of the products and team spirit, so they can deliver a good service and also can transfer information what they observe in the attitudes of clients.
• Culture: Starbucks is an international company which means that they introduce their idea to several cultures. They can try to create new products to serve each culture. And to prove that they are interested in satisfying every customer.
• The variety of choice: Some customers like to buy food with their coffee, and some like to buy tea for their friends or families that don’t drink coffee. So, Starbucks needs to increase their products items to save their customers time, so they don’t have to move to other stores.
• Discounts and offers: Starbucks can introduce new special and occasional offers to their regular customers, such as collecting points for each order to win a prize at the end.

Authors

• SOUHAIL Imane
• ZAGDOUNI Manal
• OUAHDOU Yasmine
• SIJAM chaimae
• SAFIR Chouaib

References

• https://medium.com/@shahmm/how-did-starbucks-build-its-sustainable-competitive-advantage-79ff5eedb5ff
•  https://coschedule.com/blog/starbucks-marketing-strat/?fbclid=IwAR3iaFygAHLbkvQNT3cpnrQSqAKHmQ4AdugrVUnF1BcllMD67Z0VMObHnUs
•  https://smallbusiness.chron.com/effective-communication-organization-1400.html?fbclid=IwAR1ag3zYJhTYbVgf91tLP0A6kRdvHOKPQAQjVO0Fc7GXpUNnPk9upoQ1ENQ
• https://www.starbucks.com/?fbclid=IwAR1ag3zYJhTYbVgf91tLP0A6kRdvHOKPQAQjVO0Fc7GXpUNnPk9upoQ1ENQ
•  https://www.ukessays.com/essays/marketing/communication-objective-and-strategy-of-starbucks-marketing-essay.php?fbclid=IwAR127hYQrnN8R9Dh6btHnQ6WNGnB8maawGzhVA6yr1FBcMWojQL15POx9

If there is one key idеа that defines higher education as ‘higher’ it is critical thought. The nееd for critical thinking has bееn approached from different perspectives and with different ends in sight, but these approaches all tend towards the concept of а dynamic and hеаlthy economy and society. So what is critical thinking? and how important is it in business communication?

Critical thinking is often associated with well-developed, effective, thoughtful and rational thinking. There are many definitions of this concept, but all converge on the idea of ​​a thought arrived at a very great intellectual rigor.

The critical mind is the natural child of freedom, on the one hand; and intellectual rigor, on the other hand (Desbiens (1999). A person must in fact manifest a certain number of attitudes, dispositions, habits of thought and character traits which can be grouped under the label “The critical mind”, the critical thinker must not only be able to properly assess the reasons, but must also have a tendency to do so. The critical mind would therefore be in a way the intellectual posture, the state of mind that the critical thinker must always adopt when he is confronted with a new source of information, with a problem which, ultimately, does not arise necessarily.

In order to increasе critical thinking, we nеed to assеss the information we receivе, or bеforе accepting a truth that is told to you as such, think about it. Ask yourself what is the problem? and what arе the possiblе solutions? Of course, you have to choose what to beliеve, what to decide, and what to do. But by evaluating things, it is morе likely that you will make better decisions.

Critical thinking, therefore, involves thinking clearly and rationally, as well as understanding the logical connections between ideas. Nowadays, a company cannot succeed without having a serious consideration of business communication knowing that it can be the link between multiple parts in the businesses. Communication as it is defined by Newman and Summer Jr. is an exchange of facts, ideas, opinions or emotions by two or more persons. In business, there are two types of communication : Oral where it can be formal or informal, the first one is used in meetings, interviews, group discussions etc. Informal form is used in practically every day, regular phone calls, social media messages, while eating in the break. The second form is the written one, it includes agenda, reports etc.

A failed business communication can be devastating in some cases, when the company doesn’t show any interest in the consumer behavior towards her products or policies, a good example can be the incident that occurred two years ago where a bad communication of an official in a big company in Morocco concluded to a boycott campaign in which this company and other companies were the target.

You must ask about how critical thinking could help businesses to grow. And I could tell you that nowadays, with our modern technologies, the world is going so much fast to keep working with slow processes. The employees are bombarded with a complex flow of information. Deadlines are putting pressure on them, and worse than that! They need taking decisions as quick as possible; those are more often took by the top management. Here, comes the golden skill known by the critical thinking, so the employee won’t slow down the process by relying on others. But not anyone has it, and that’s why companies are losing money!

Those must take action and train their leaders and employees to develop this essential skill. Even if there is good training out there, it took time! Don’t worry dear whoever reading this article. We have a simple solution for you.

Before all else, start by placing all those complex information in front of you.

First thing to do is to ask the right question! Then filter those information by leaving the most important and legit ones, and throw away the waste of time ones in the nearest trash beside you.

Finally, focus only on those in front of you and connect between them employing logic, so you can develop a clear and efficient decision.

Yes, simple as that! But wait! NOT EVERY DECISION COULD BE MADE with this skill.

If communication refers to the meaning full exchange of information in an organization, critical thinking is the engine that provides the meaning. The ability to identify a problem and develop a cogent explanation and solution is important for business communication.

Critical thinking is essential for optimizing business models, communicating with clients and making overall better decisions.

To conclude, Critical thinking doesn’t just help you arrive at the best answer, but at a solution most people embrace. Modeling critical thinking at the top will help the skill trickle down to the rest of the organization, no matter what kind or size of company you have. When mistakes are avoided and business is seamless at all levels, not just at the executive level that means critical thinking is actively implemented in an organization. Between trainings, time and patience, critical thinking can become a second-nature skill for employees at all levels of experience and seniority. The money, time and conflict you will save in the long run are well worth the extra time and patience of implementing critical thinking in your workplace.

Written by

• Khaliss Ayoub
• Mardassi Wadie
• Karim Ayoub
• Moujahed Mohamed Amine
• Naouis Reda

Resources

• Desbiens, J (1999). Book of Critical thinking. What is critical thinking. Definition and meaning. Accessed ( 2020, April 16 ) at https://books.google.co.ma/desbienne+1999+critical+thinking.html     Robert H. Ennis ( 2009) Critical thinking assessment. Accessed ( 2020, April 16) at https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00405849309543594?journalCode=htip20

• Researchgate.net. at https://www.researchgate.net/publication/235938453_Business_Communication)  Managementstudyguide.com. What is Business Communication at https://www.managementstudyguide.com/business_communication.htm)

• Coralfern.com. Why Critical Thinking in necessary for decision making at https://coralfern.com/importance-of-critical-thinking-in-decision-making/   Theinnovaregroup.com. Why is critical thinking important in business at https://theinnovaregroup.com/why-is-critical-thinking-important-in-business/

Wе will еxрlаin hоw аnd why it’s gооd tо hаvе rеаl intеrnаl соmmuniсаtiоn. The latter mаkеs it роssiblе tо shаrе соmmоn vаluеs ​​аnd mаkе аll tеаms аdhеrе tо thе сulturе оf thе соmраny. Mаnаgеmеnt thеrеfоrе hаs аn imроrtаnt rоlе in this соnсерt. It еmbоdiеs thеsе vаluеs ​​аnd аllоws еvеryоnе tо wоrk in thе sаmе dirесtiоn. Bеfоrе gоing furthеr, it is а gооd idеа tо dеfinе а littlе bit thе соmmuniсаtiоn strаtеgy within thе frаmеwоrk оf а соmраny. In gеnеrаl, thе соmmuniсаtiоn strаtеgy is nоthing mоrе thаn thе wаy in whiсh а соmраny рlаns аnd сооrdinаtеs thе еssеntiаl асtiоns еnаbling it tо асhiеvе its соmmuniсаtiоn оbjесtivеs. Gооd соmmuniсаtiоn with еmрlоyееs is еssеntiаl tо thе suссеss оf thе businеss, аs it is rесоgnizеd thаt еmрlоyееs whо dо nоt knоw whаt is еxресtеd оf thеm rаrеly dо whаt is еxресtеd оf thеm. Ассоrding tо а study by thе Аmеriсаn соnsulting firm “Tоwеr Wаtsоn”, it hаs bееn rероrtеd thаt соmраniеs thаt соmmuniсаtе mоrе еffесtivеly with thеir еmрlоyееs аnd саrе аbоut thеir орiniоns gеt mоrе sаtisfасtiоn аnd lоyаlty соmраrеd tо соmраniеs whоsе еnvirоnmеnt is rерulsivе, аnd thus inсrеаsе thе rаtе оf nоn-соntinuity in wоrk. Аn imроrtаnt еlеmеnt оf соhеsiоn within tеаms, intеrnаl соmmuniсаtiоn is а vесtоr оf suссеss fоr thе соmраny. Whаt аrе thе оbjесtivеs оf thе аррrоасh? Hоw tо sеt uр аn еffесtivе intеrnаl соmmuniсаtiоn strаtеgy? Whiсh suрроrts tо usе?

Whеn dоеs соmmuniсаtiоn bесоmе еffесtivе аnd рrоduсtivе ?

Thе bаsiс dеfinitiоn оf соmmuniсаtiоn is: trying tо undеrstаnd еасh оthеr by tаlking аnd еxсhаnging idеаs. Аny tyре оf соmmuniсаtiоn imрliеs sоmе sоrt оf diаlоguе аnd rесiрrосity frоm thе соmmuniсаting mеmbеrs. In а mоrе рrоfеssiоnаl fiеld , соmmuniсаting is dеfinеd by bеing аblе tо suссееd in а соllесtivе рrоjесt, аnd tо thаt аll thе раrts оf this рrоjесt shоuld bе оn thе sаmе sidе shаring mutuаl оbjесtivеs аnd idеаs, аnd аdditiоnnаly аll оf thеm shоuld bе аwаrе оf thе stаkеs, аnd bе fully соmmittеd tо thе suссееss оf their соmmоn асtivity .

In оrdеr tо асhiеvе thаt, соmmuniсаtiоn must bе еffесtivе аnd рrоduсtivе. Еffiсiеnсy by dеfinitiоn  is рrоduсing thе еxресtеd rеsults аnd асhiеving  gоаls set, sо wе саn оnly tаlk аbоut еffесtivе соmmuniсаtiоn if it is аblе tо rеасh its рurроsе, аnd tо thаt thеrе is а lоng list оf stерs. Thе mоst imроrtаnt оnе is thаt yоu nееd tо knоw еxасtly whаt аrе yоu еxресting frоm соmmuniсаting with оthеrs, аnd stаy аwаrе оf thаt thrоugh thе whоlе рrосеss оf соmmuniсаtiоn, sо thаt yоu саn usе аll thе tооls in yоur disроsitiоn tо еnsurе thаt оthеr mеmbеrs will rесеivе yоur mеssаgе сristаl сlеаr .

Hоw dоеs соmmuniсаtiоn bеnеfit thе соmраny?

Thе соmmuniсаtiоn оf аn оrgаnizаtiоn соvеrs а sеt оf struсturеs аnd рrосеdurеs. Thе оvеrаll оbjесtivе оf intеrnаl соmmuniсаtiоn is tо mаnаgе орtimаlly thе rеquеst / оffеr соuрlе оf infоrmаtiоn in thе оrgаnizаtiоn. Thе сhаrасtеristiсs оf thе rеquеst must bе intеgrаtеd: dеmаnd еvоlving оvеr timе (dереnding оn thе еvеnts), vаriаblе ассоrding tо рlасеs аnd соntеxts (аll sеrviсеs оr еstаblishmеnts dо nоt hаvе thе sаmе nееds) аnd diffеrеnt dереnding оn рорulаtiоns (thе еxресtаtiоns оf а wоrkеr аrе nоt thе sаmе аs thоsе оf а mаnаgеr). Fасеd with this, thе оffеr must bе rеgulаr. Рrоfеssiоnаlism is еssеntiаl аnd аssumеs thаt thе соmmuniсаtоr bе а mаn оf listеning, оf diаlоguе.

Whаt аrе thе bеnеfits оf еffесtivе соmmuniсаtiоn in a соmраny?

“Thе аrt оf соmmuniсаtiоn is thе lаnguаgе оf lеаdеrshiр”, Jumеs Humеs, thе bеst usе оf соmmuniсаtiоn аsресts оnе оf thе rеаsоns nесеssаry fоr thе рrоgrеssiоn оf thе соmраny, sinсе cоmmuniсаtiоn is а sоurсе оf infоrmаtiоn tо thе оrgаnizаtiоnаl mеmbеrs fоr dесisiоn-mаking рrосеss аs it hеlрs idеntifying аnd аssеssing аltеrnаtivе соursе оf асtiоns. Cоmmuniсаtiоn рlаys аn imроrtаnt rоlе whеn thе еmрlоyееs еxсhаngе thеirs skills with оthеrs аnd tаkе аdvаntаgе by sеlf-instruсtiоn. It helps in improving mоtivаtiоn оf еmрlоyееs tо раrtiсiраtе in organizational change; mаnаgеrs must bе аblе to еffесtivеly соmmuniсаtе thеir visiоn tо thе rеst оf thе оrgаnizаtiоn (Rаdоviс Mаrkоviс, M. аnd Оmоlаjа M, 2009) and build strоng rеlаtiоnshiрs with еxtеrnаl аudiеnсеs аlsо build strоng sоlid соmmuniсаtiоn аbоut рrоduсts, sеrviсеs аnd соmраny сulturе аnd vаluеs.

All in all,  effесtivе соmmuniсаtiоn is оnе оf thе mоst роwеrful tооls fоr еvеry оrgаnizаtiоn’s suссеss. Соnsidеring thаt mоst оf thе рrоblеms еnсоuntеrеd in thе wоrkрlасе аrе соmmuniсаtiоn rеlаtеd, еstаblishing аn еffесtivе соmmuniсаtiоn саn оvеrсоmе аll thе misundеrstаndings аnd dysfunсtiоnаl bеhаviоrs, аnd build аn аtmоsрhеrе оf trust аnd sесurity whiсh will inсrеаsе thе еmрlоyее’s рrоduсtivity. To rеаlizе thе imроrtаnсе оf еffесtivе соmmuniсаtiоn in оrgаnizаtiоns,  аsk yоursеlf this quеstiоn: In whiсh оrgаnizаtiоn wоuld yоu bе mоrе рrоduсtivе аnd mоrе аblе tо асhiеvе yоur gоаls? : Оrgаnizаtiоn whеrе yоu аrе wеll infоrmеd аbоut еvеrything gоing оn аnd whеrе thеrе is а сlеаr еmрhаsis оn соmmuniсаtiоn рrосеdurеs. Оr yоu wоuld rаthеr wоrk in thе оrgаnizаtiоn B whеrе thе соmmuniсаtiоn bеtwееn еmрlоyееs is mоrе diffiсult аnd thеrе is а lасk оf сlаrity!

Authors

• MOUKNI HAJAR
• KINANI WAFAE
• MINOUBI FATNA
• KACHANI MOUAD
• NIFAI REDA

Resources

• https://www.airtract.com
• https://management.efe.fr/2016/12/19/secrets-dune-communication-efficace/
• https://scholarvox.com/catalog/search/searchterm/Communication%20interne?searchtype=all

Business communication has two types: Firstly, the internal communication which refers to the transmission of information between all members of an organization to illustrate accounting department share its information with other departments to guide them in their decision making. Secondly, the external communication that could be interpreted as transmission of information between a business and another person, or in the company’s external environment. Specifically the company shares its information with its partner to aid in the execution of various projects or with its clients to persuade them buy its products.

However, understanding what we communicate is more crucial than the ways of delivering it. Accordingly, Simon Sinek believes that the gist of an organization is doing all of its work; for instance, Apple marketing is not based on the products themselves; their marketing is focused on what drives the whole organization such as their aim to challenge and their different way of thinking. Furthermore, Sinek’s golden rules are confirmed by biologists; that is to say, our brains are more persuaded if we communicate why we do things rather than how or what we have as a result. Eventually, any business needs to communicate its purpose for doing things which can be distinctive and cogent.

Moreover, external business communication enhances the organization’s external image. To elucidate, a business can use psychological and sociological knowledge to create a positive image of its activities. In fact, a lot of businesses are aware of this and they’re willing to spend enormous amount of money just to improve their public image; for instance, a fast food company may sponsor a marathon just to boost its image in the health public. Equally, the coca-cola company may arrange for cleaning campaigns just to hoist its image.

To summarize, an organization needs to understand the aim of its communication in order to decide on the most appropriate strategy and behavior. At least those strategies should make the organization able to adjust the new social, economic, and technological demands of its external and internal environment. Nevertheless, the information shared by the organization should be accurate and fact-based to grab the attention of its clients to maintain a good external image and a positive perspective.

Authors

• Boufounass Ayoub
• Boumahdi Roukia
• Bourhim YAssin
• El berdai Taha
• El kabbabi Sanaa

References

• https://www.smartinsights.com/digital-marketing-strategy/online-value-proposition/start-with-why-creating-a-value-proposition-with-the-golden-circle-model/
• http://thecommunicationsweekly.com/process/golden-circle-internal-communications/
• https://alexrister1.wordpress.com/tag/simon-sinek/

Have you ever asked yourself how did Google Company succeed?

I know you did, but do you really know the answer? As we all know the principal concurrent of Google is Microsoft with Bing. Both have had a high level of innovation had attracted scientific minds. They were following exactly the same goals but only Google company became the leader. What made Google special was not their ability to think differently, nor their ability to build such a huge company, what have made Google special is the use of ultra-modern ways to communicate in the organization, the company gives employees freedom to express their point of view and contribute to  innovation; any employee can directly talk to the ultimate boss too; also employees can work 24*7 even when they are at home, they can receive work emails from their superiors and do video conferencing to discuss project.

In contrast great companies should all have a good business communication, they should encourage exchanging information; boost their employees’ and managers’ communication to achieve their organizational goals. It seems normal however, studies show that 60% of companies don’t have a long-term strategy for their internal communications (workforce) in fact, 74% of employees have the feeling they are missing out on company news (Tribal impact), 57% of employees report not being given clear directions and 69% of managers are not comfortable communicating with the employees in general. (HR Technologist) and only 5.9% of companies communicate goals daily. Aren’t you surprised?

Since effective communication between workers is a key part for any company’s success, it is obviously necessary for business leaders to recognize its importance in making the objectives clear for everyone, and to know the different basic forms of communication to implement in the workplace. Besides, business communication includes external communication between the company and its stakeholders that needs to be concise under a stated purpose to ensure better sales, better performance and maintain a good relationship. After all, business communication can be seen from three different angles. Tackling the first description, the structure of communication is bifurcated into two categories which are formal and informal communication.

Regarding the second description which is related to the medium, we distinguish between verbal communication whether it’s written or spoken words, and non-verbal form which occurs in actions as the following saying states “action speak louder than words”. In my opinion, a communication cannot be completed if non-verbal means are included! The third description is based on the way information flow within a formal set up in the organization. In fact, we distinguish between downward communication which involves the communication from a superior to a subordinate, the upward form where messages flow from the bottom level of the hierarchy to the upper level, and finally the lateral or horizontal form of internal communication where communications occur between persons within the same level of organizational hierarchy.

As standard as its presence may seem, business communication has a crucial role in the realization of company’s objectives and goals. Goals are smaller things that could be planned on a day to day basis which can make up for objectives that are considered in long term. Both of them are important in all aspects of life, although they are paramount in managing successful organization and to ensure its survival. With clear and measurable ones, the company can measure its progress and can know where it is going. Many companies fail to execute strategy because of the lack of goals and objectives, since goals help the building blocks of the overall strategy, which leads to an objective. For each company, both managers and employees need to know company’s needs and what they are supposed to accomplish, in order to make it much easier for them to contribute.

The objectives of an organization are classified into four categories, firstly the financial objectives which aims at the maximization of the profit and the growth of the company. Secondly, social objectives such as good working conditions and the participation of employees in making decisions. Thirdly, environmental objectives, such as production methods that preserve the environment and natural resources. Finally, the societal objectives.  Therefore, spending time discussing the strategy and all business affairs could help companies with the goals they strive for and help them to achieve their long-term objectives. After defining its internal communication objectives, the company must invest in external communication, especially to improve its image.

A brand image policy seeks to trace a territory and to impose it on the various expressions of the company. Business Communication is about creating conditions of independency. Everybody must participate in the same institutional message. To ensure this homogeneity, the most effective thing for the enterprise is to consider a certain value and bypass it to the following acts of communication of institutional message, publicity-product, visual communication, sponsoring action, etc. If we consider “Slogans” that companies use to express a message about their brand we will find for example:” Refresh the world. Make a difference” Coca-Cola’s, “Create more smiles with every sip and every bite”  Pepsi’s.

They have crossed the boundaries, conquered hearts and minds thanks to a good communication. You certainly know these two brands, no one has ever been spared by their notoriety neither their influence. In the field of refreshments; it became evident to ask people about their favorite coke and be sure that they will say one of those. It became a history, an experience a memento talking about those two American giants. Coca-Cola and Pepsi, an endless communication war, but which brings a lot of money-37 billion Euros of annual turnover in the account of Coca-Cola, and more than 50 billion Euros in the account of Pepsi which is more diversified than Coca-Cola. In final, they teach us that communication is the key to success for any business company to achieve a vast amount of clients and earn their loyalty, and more, to realize their goals and objectives.

In the age of technological revolution, organizations are living in an environment characterized by a strong technological potential which leads them to set up new ways of working involving a change in the way how employees communicate. That is to say technology is used by organizations in many ways, it is a vicious circle of which purpose is improving communication and the flow of information between the various departments of an enterprise, HR relies on technology to select, train and develop employees. Accounting employees rely on technology to record and control the different transactions realized by the company. Management relies on technology to communicate with those they supervise; it is done by using new technological platforms that enable employees to communicate easily with each other as Google hangouts, slack which are so easy to handle.

I’d like to point out that technology is a blessing, especially in business; to illustrate this, let’s take an example of an organization of which employees are spread over different regions, imagine the situation if there was no technology, the company wouldn’t success to coordinate with all the employees. But we can’t simply overlook the negative aspects and effects of a misuse of technology, we mean by that employees who spend their working time surfing in social media and other useless applications, the harmful effect of this fact, you can waste much of your time without being aware, because it takes you to another world you have imagined that it is less boring, it interrupts your working time, reduces your productivity. “In a recent study using a NASA workload scale which measures stress, they found that people who were interrupted during their working time with phone calls and messages had higher levels of stress, frustration, feeling of time pressure and mental workload.

From these facts, to succeed in your organization, you have to set up a great internal communication strategy that enhances collaboration across your organization!

Authors

• El machrouhi Zineb
• El Faizi Fatima Ezzahra
• Nouhaila Bouziane
• Aboubakrine Diallo
• Ibtissam Beradi

If you ask any manager what mission is most important to them, they will often say “motivate employees”. The question is : What exactly motivates employees? And how can motivation impact employees’ performances.

Here are immediate actionable tips to increase employee motivation in the workplace; first of all, don’t let employees become bored; you must create a social climate for employees through group work, which confirms the theory of Elton Mayo on (social man), Man is there for not only an economic being but also has motivations related to the interest of the job. Let them pick a project or give them the opportunity to propose a new project to you. Chances are they’ll pick something they’re interested in, something innovative, impressive and useful to the company and something you may not have even thought about yourself.

Also, you can value individual contributions; their individual efforts and contribution play an important part of the company’s overall goals and direction. Employees will take pride and be engaged in their work if they are aware of how their efforts create an impact the organization; regardless of how big or small their contributions are. Managers do not have to reward their employees with gifts every single time they did a good job at a task. At times, a simple “Thank You” or “Great job” will suffice.  These meaningful words acknowledge effort, build loyalty and encourage people to work even harder.

Without forgetting the right environment to work in; when it comes to managing your employees, one of the most important things you can do for them is to provide the right work environment. A workspace should empower employees to do their best work. But it’s not just about physical comfort. “It’s also about designing work to suit workers’ cognitive and psychological characteristics, adjustable standing desks and well-positioned computer screens can not only alleviate pain but can also affect employees’ emotional well-being and promote focus. Remember, employees can’t do their best work in an office they find disruptive. Consider creating a comfortable, productive space that encompasses everything from ergonomic furniture to temperature-regulated interiors. Prioritize onboarding and training is realizing that a sink-or-swim mentality doesn’t work when the aim is to cultivate high-performing teams and a positive work environment.

And of course, take care of physical health: every employee cares about being productive, being in good physical and moral health will allow them to be more beneficial and eventually have a less stressful day. Initially, the concept should be easy to use, create an online based-programs that are accessible for smartphones which offer employees track fitness, help them with their diet by making a schedule and count calories programs. And also suggest other activities and exercises which are relatively simple which all workers or most of them feel comfortable doing, and adapt these exercises to their evolution overtime to manage their health. In addition, organizations are progressively bringing wellbeing professionals on-site for their workers to get to. It can include wellness coaches, nutritionists, physical specialists, coaches, therapist and more.

Finally, the company can provide some entertainment methods: Finding fun ways to motivate employees empowers a positive work environment. It shows that it’s not all about work; a little loosening of professionalism can go a long way toward encouraging your workers. The organization can also offer something outside the work to make sure the workers can get along even outside the work environment by organizing sports, team work or a dinner in a specific restaurant according to the culture of each, so they can exchange their cultures.

It goes with no doubt in the business world today that employee motivation is a key factor in improving your bottom line. Many studies have suggested that a decrease in employee motivation had a significant impact on the bottom line of the company’s studies (70% percent of American employees lack engagement and motivation, which costs a yearly 450 to 550 billion dollars in lost productivity-Gallup study on “State of the American Workplace”). This would lead many of us to ask how you improve your overall employee motivation. Job performance can just like work motivation be divided in task and contextual performance. The performance can simply be measured over time. After a specific period they can see if the performance of an employee is increased or decreased. There are variables that influence the job performance. The most important variables are joy, interests, money and power. All of these variables have a positive influence on the job performance.

In short, one can say that motivation has a positive effect on the job performance of employees within an organization. Both intrinsic as extrinsic motivation have a positive influence on the job performance. Managers can use this information within an organization to motivate their employees which will increase their performance.

Authors

• EL MOUMNI CHAIMAA
• ELBAYA HOUSSAM
• ESSADIKI NOUHAILA
• HADDOUBI HAJAR
• EL RAITI ANAS
• HOSSAINY OUSSAMA

References

• https://www.thebalancecareers.com/how-great-managers-motivate-their-employees-1918772
• https://www.coburgbanks.co.uk/blog/staff-retention/stop-employees-getting-bored/
• https://inside.6q.io/employee-motivation-important/
• https://www.unitedway.org/blog/five-steps-to-improved-physical-health
• https://www.researchgate.net/publication/322340840_Influence_of_FunEntertainment_at_Workplace_on_Employee_Performance_in_Sri_Lankan_IT_sector
• Practical and Effective Management of Libraries : Integrating Case Studies, General Management Theory and Self-Understanding ; author: Moniz, Jr., Richard;Editeur: Elsevier Science; Publication Year: 2010