Wiley.com

Message Not Received: Why Business Communication Is Broken and How to Fix It

ISBN: 978-1-119-01703-5
272 pages
April 2015
US $35.00 Add to Cart

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Business & Finance, Computing & Technology


February 24, 2015
Hoboken, NJ

Why Business Communication Is Broken and How to Fix It

Thanks to bewildering jargon and excessive e-mails, the vast majority of business communication just doesn’t work. The McKinsey Global Institute estimates that the adoption of collaborative technologies can save $1 trillion annually.

Far too many business people from executives to salespeople to rank-and-file employees communicate poorly—or not at all. Some drop ostensibly sophisticated terms like paradigm shift, synergy, net-net, form factor, and optics to seem more effective—or even clever. Others regularly rely upon acronyms, techno babble, and buzzwords instead of plain English.

Not only are too many people in business talking without speaking, they are relying far too much on a single communications vehicle—e-mail. In the process, they actively resist new and truly collaborative tools specifically designed to make people work and communicate better.

It doesn’t have to be this way.

So says Phil Simon, management and technology expert. In his new book, MESSAGE NOT RECEIVED: Why Business Communication is Broken and How to Fix It (Wiley, March 2015), Simon demonstrates how intelligent professionals and organizations are embracing simpler language and new technologies. In so doing, they are communicating in a much more straightforward and effective manner—and seeing impressive results.

Simonexamines how we use (and often misuse) both language and technology at work. With case studies from progressive companies like Klick Health, Sidecar, and PR 20/20, MESSAGE NOT RECEIVED shares they use new platforms, tools, and collaborative technology to improve how we communicate and how messages are received.

At a minimum, communication breakdowns are directly responsible for a myriad of inefficiencies, including duplicated efforts, project failures, internal political squabbles, forgone business opportunities, and more. How many could have been averted if two colleagues had engaged in a five-minute live conversation or videoconference or with a quick phone call and screen-sharing session?

Divided into four parts, MESSAGE NOT RECEIVED is a thoughtful and thorough analysis of how we got to where we are in business communications, how to correct the errors being made and how to advance beyond e-mail.

  • Worlds Are Colliding. A recap of recent technological, societal, and business developments and trends in communication.
  • Didn’t You Get that Memo? Why we don’t communicate well at work? The two main problems of business communication: increasing use of buzzwords, and the evolution of our continued dependence on e-mail.
  • Message Received. Principles to increase the chances that our audiences will receive messages in addition to specific communications tips around language, context, and case studies.
  • What Now? Final thoughts and how we can effect change in our jobs.

Additionally, Simon discusses and can address:

  • Our growing dependency on e-mail, its limitations, and other alternatives (both more traditional and more technologically advanced).
  • The overwhelmed employee has become the norm. A great deal of internal and external business communication is not properly received, much less understood.
  • The effects of poor communication on employee morale, marketing campaigns, etc.
  • Alternative words and phrases to use in place of business jargon.
  • Hacks to stop using your e-mail inbox as your task-management list.
  • Tactics for building solid communication foundations.
  • Detailed case studies detailing how companies have deployed new collaboration tools.