Observing Communication in Business Settings - Essay Assignment

“Two-way process of reaching mutual understanding, in which participants not only exchange (encode-decode) information, news, ideas, and feelings but also create and share meaning."

1) Visit a large box store (Best Buy, Target, WalMart, etc.) in your area and a small business (a local butcher, bakery, shoe store, or other small business). Spend at least thirty at each location observing how employees communicate with customers and with each other in a business setting. Thereafter, try to speak with a manager regarding what policies the business has in place pertaining to communication with customers.

2) Complete the Week One: Observation Sheet located in the Important Documents Folder. Please upload your completed assignment to Moodle.

The essay should address the following questions:

1) Describe your experience as the reader. a. What communication challenges did you face during this process? How did you overcome these challenges? b. What non-verbal body language (from the listener) did you observe during this process? What did the non-verbal body language of your partner indicate to you? c. If you were to participate in this exercise again, what could you do to avoid any challenges in communication and ensure that the listener clearly understood the information you were relaying?

2) Describe your experience as the listener. a. What communication challenges did you face during this process? How did you overcome these challenges? b. What non-verbal body language (from the reader) did you observe during this process? What did the non-verbal body language of your partner indicate to you? c. If you were to participate in this exercise again, what could you do to avoid any challenges in communication and ensure you clearly understood the information relayed by the reader? 3) Describe any other observations you have pertaining to communication during this process.