Managing Information and Communication Flashcards
What are the principles of good information handling.
The company should comply with the GDPR
• Information should not be retained for any longer than is necessary
• Held securely to prevent unauthorised access
• Information should be obtained fairly and lawfully
• Information should only be processed for limited purposes
• Information should be processed in accordance with individual’s rights
• Information should up-to-date and accurate, the latest information available (max one mark available for this principle)
• Information should be adequate, relevant and not excessive (max one mark available for this principle)
• Information should not be passed to a third party without permission
Organisational procedures
• Information should be backed-up
• Passwords necessary to access e-files
• Procedure for passwords to be changed on regular basis
• Organisation should have appropriate file management systems in place
• Information should be stored securely eg paper files locked away
What is Secondary information
This is information which already exists – information is gathered from published sources – there is a vast amount of possible secondary sources – eg internet, newspapers etc - can save time and money by using secondary information – may be difficult to determine the author – unreliable …
What is External information
This is information which is obtained from outside the organisation - External information may be available from a range of sources - eg government reports, trade journals, market research companies, newspaper articles and the financial press
What is Qualitative information
This type of information is descriptive, expressed in words and text - is concerned with opinions, attitudes and value judgements - eg where customers are required to rate the service offered by a firm as being ‘very good’, ‘good’, ‘poor’ or ‘very poor’ – used to give meaning to quantitative information
Justify the expense to an organisation of introducing an intranet.
- Can store data so that all staff can access it
- Information is always up to date
- Files can be accessed simultaneously
- Enhances internal communications within an organisation
- Increase in employees’ productivity ie increase in the volume of information which can be accessed, processed and transmitted
- Increase in the speed and ease with which information can be accessed, processed and transmitted
- Increased opportunities to standardise the collection, processing and transmission of information within the organisation
- Allows the organisation to quality control the information available
- Can save money on printing files/document as staff can view online
What are the positive effects of using e-mail in an organisation (12)
- Fast way of sending information therefore speeds up communication
- Information does not have to be printed out therefore saving printing and material costs
- Facilitates the sending of information through attachments
- Can keep a record of who has been contacted and when
- Out of office messages/forward to another
- Can be accessed anywhere with an internet connection eg homeworkers
- Same message can be sent to many people through the use of mailing lists
- Delivered and read receipts can be used as proof
- Links with ediary - inserting appointments automatically
- Flagging of emails to show follow-up – colour coding system can be used
- Good when working across time zones – allows 24/7 communication
- Electronic storage does not take up as much space
What are the negative effects of using e-mail in an organisation (10)
- System issues – not sending/receiving – size of inbox
- Sending external emails can be complicated/time consuming
- Security issues
- Sending to wrong person
- Personal emails can be a time stealer and can reduce productivity
- Large amounts of junk mail – difficult to determine what is important
- Volume of emails – difficult to process – may not read all emails
- Possible introduction of viruses to the computer system
- Lack of social interaction
- Misconstrued messages – no awareness of etiquette
What are the features of presentation software (9)
- Creation of a variety of layouts/slides
- Master slide allows global changes to be made to the presentation
- Creating and printing notes, handouts
- Speaker notes can help the presenter when delivering presentation
- Setting up hyperlink to different media
- Action buttons can be used to aid navigation between slides/sections
- Animation features allow text and graphics to be introduced in an interesting way
- Sound/audio can be added/embedded for emphasis
- Graphs animated to ease understanding
Compare written and verbal methods of communication (4)
- Written communication allows for a permanent record to be referred to later whereas verbal communication provides instant information with no lasting record
- Both written and verbal communication can convey large amounts of detailed information
- Written communication provides a specific and fixed amount of detail whereas checking of details and asking for additional information can be done instantly with verbal communication
- Verbal communication allows for immediate feedback whereas there can be a time delay in response to written communication
Discuss the impact of poor communication between an administrative assistant and their line manager.
- Employees may become demotivated leading to higher rates of absenteeism/ which means additional staff are hired/ or leads to stress for those who have to pick up the work/
- Employees may not understand the task and therefore waste time/low productivity/lower quality of work.
- Deadlines may be missed which could result in reduced sales/profits.
- Employees may wrongly inform customers which leads to an increase in complaints./ Poor customer service can damage the image of the firm.
- Breakdown in relationships between manager and staff causing negativity in the workplace / high staff turnover leading to increased costs in recruitment and training /
- impact on customers
Why use a presentation software for communicating to an audience? (7)
Use of animation/graphics/embedded sound and video can hold attention – make more interesting
Displaying information can aid understanding, eg chart or film clip or links to other files
Use of SmartArt/bullet points/designs/tables can avoid information overload
Ability to print slides in hand-out form for distribution/can have space for audience to write additional notes
Notes space on slides can aid speaker
Can be e-mailed/uploaded for reference
Slides can be timed/automated to avoid a presentation overrunning.
An organisation has changed its fire evacuation policy. Discuss the methods of communication that could be used to inform employees.
Electronic Communication
Intranet - Company policy and procedure documentation could be issued by this method ensuring all employees have instant access to the same information
Information and presentations stored online for staff to access when it suits them – organisation can monitor when staff have viewed the information
E-mail – all staff can be contacted at once. Attachments can give additional details. Organisation can have proof that e-mail has been read
Written Communication
Notice Boards/Posters – could be used to display information which can be referred to as and when needed. Acts as a constant reminder.
Diagrams can be displayed
Memos – could be sent out to employees giving detailed policy/ procedural information which can be referred back to Face-to-Face/Oral Communication
Meetings – these could be used to communicate detailed information on company policies and procedures to employees - allows instant feedback on information given – Presentation software used to enhance points – printout of slides can be issued
Discuss possible barriers to communication.
• Noise; when the full message is not able to be heard due to a number of potential factors
o o external noise – this could be work going on outside
o o people talking when a message is being delivered
• Technical issues; there may be instances when connection errors mean that you cannot communicate the message you were looking for – the systems lose Internet connectivity so you cannot show the YouTube clip you had in mind – or the Internet is operating so slowly you give up waiting for it to show – mobile signal is intermittent
• Jargon; this is when there are too many complicated technical terms used in communication and listeners begin to switch off as they have a lack of understanding of what is being communicated
• Language; has a strong accent it can be hard to understand the message in its entirety, or limited common language
• Information overload; giving an audience too much information at the one time can result in them switching off
• Too little information; causing confusion
• Emotional barriers; allowing personal feelings about a topic or person to stand in the way of successful communication
• Time and distance; time zones, shifts, work patterns
• Cultural differences;
• Delivery by the presenter/vocal . . .
• Audience don’t engage with the topic/presenter (lack of interest)
Describe the consequences of possible communication barriers during a training session
The session may need to be stopped/adjourned
o This wastes time for the organisation to set another date
o Inconveniences the employees so they may not return
o Additional travel and accommodation costs/arrangements
Cultural/language barriers could result in the employees not fully understanding the training
o Legal action could be taken
o Could damage the company reputation
Difficult to encourage staff to attend future training
Technical faults/loss of signal during a presentation could limit the success of the training
o May not make the best decisions
Interruptions/distractions/background noise could agitate attendees
Attendees and/or trainers with bias/selective hearing/who are easily bored may not benefit from the training
Attendees may not be able to understand the accent of the presenter
Discuss the methods that could be used by an organisation to inform staff of any changes to workplace legislation.
E-mail
Time saved as all staff can be contacted at once through a group e-mail
Files can be attached to provide additional details
Organisation can have proof that e-mail has been read via read receipts
Absent staff will be kept in the loop when they return
Can mark the e-mail as urgent/important to gain the attention of staff
No guarantee staff have familiarised themselves with the e-mail or attachments
Intranet
Organisations can set up an area dedicated to workplace legislation
All employees are accessing the most current policies
Can be referred to at any time by all employees
Saves costs of having to give everyone a paper copy
May have a search function which allows employees to find information quickly
Notice Board/Posters
These can provide information, procedures and warnings to staff in an eye-catching manner
They are constantly on display to staff for reference purposes
May be ignored/not seen by staff
Need to be regularly updated to ensure the latest version of information is on display
Information likely to be missed by those who work remotely
Staff meetings
Could be used to explain detailed information on company policies and procedures to employees
Allows instant feedback on information given
Questions can be asked for clarification purposes’ presentation software could be used to enhance points’ printout of slides can be issued to staff for reference at a later date
Guest speakers or demonstration/role-play could be used to help get point across
Could be time-consuming
Virtual learning
Staff can access training materials in a time that suits
Can be interactive to aid understanding
Staff may be required to take a quiz/test to check understanding
Management can check staff have completed training
Pathway through training can be tailored for individuals depending on their job/role
Leaflet Can be issued to all staff Can show graphics/diagrams as well as text Can highlight most important points Can be retained
