Communication Skills for Business

Unit J/617/1149 Communication Skills for Business
Level 4 15 Credits
Sample Assignment
The Senior Management Team (SMT) of a local medium sized organisation
has become aware of communication problems within their organisation.
Customers have been complaining of poor service, the Managing Director is
appalled to see spelling errors in letters and now suppliers have refused to
deliver further goods until they receive a response to their emails and phone
calls about their outstanding invoices.
You work with a training consultancy, Training Solutions. An experienced
colleague, Asha Kumari, has established what the problems are in SHDE
Holdings and you have been asked to deliver the proposed solutions.
You receive the following email and attached report from Asha.

Email
To: xxxxx
From Asha Kumari
CC
Subject SHDE Holdings
Dear XXXXXX
I have recently visited SHDE Holdings and attached my report. Please read
this carefully.
I would like you to finish this project. The business needs a workshop on
communication with some training materials (e.g. a manual or hand-outs)
plus a report for SMT. Please carry out the following tasks:
Task 1
Prepare a formal report for the senior staff and line managers at SHDE
Holdings. (AC 5.1). You will need to use charts and graphs to present
information as appropriate to convey quantitative data (AC 5.3)
This report should include:
a) An analysis of the process of communication within organisations (AC
1.1) and the barriers that exists within organisations meaning
communication is sometimes not effective (AC1.3), giving examples
from SHDE Holdings
b) An assessment of the methods of internal communication that should
be used for different purposes (e.g. letter for formal communication
with customers, telephone call for clarification of a complex matter,
email for confirmation of detail). Please support this with an
assessment of what other organisations do and examples of that could
apply to SHDE (AC 1.2)
c) An assessment of how organisations portray themselves through their
communications. What image does SHDE Holdings currently have?
Give an assessment of other organisations and the images they portray
through their communications. (AC 2.3)
For a Merit you must:
provide guidance for SHDE, using examples of best practice from
other organisations. Make sure you:

● Analyse possible legal and ethical issues in relation to the
communication of information within organisations (AC 1M1)
● Evaluate the effectiveness of a range of communications (verbal
and non-verbal) in contributing to the success of an organisation
(3M1)
Task 2
Design an oral presentation with supporting notes for the customer facing
staff at SHDE Holdings. (AC 4.1). Please include:
a) Formal communications systems that should be used to
communicate with customers. Please evaluate different systems.
(AC 2.1)
b) An analysis of the effectiveness of social media to communicate
with customers. Please use current examples (AC 2.2)
c) An assessment of the impact of relationships found in organisations
on effective communications (AC 3.1)
d) An assessment of the impact of non-verbal communication on oral
communications (AC 3.2)
For a Distinction you must:
Adapt your presentation materials to provide a summary to the Senior
Management team – members need to know your key messages and the
implications for the business. (AC4D1)
Task 3
Using appropriate technology, please deliver your presentation to staff at
SHDE Holdings represented (AC 4.2).
For a Distinction you must:
Please deliver your adapted presentation to the Senior Management Team in
the form of a paper for their next meeting (AC5D1)