Course Meeting Times
Lectures: 2 sessions / week, 1.5 hours / session
Description
Management Communication is intended to help you think strategically about communication and aid you in improving your writing, presentation, and interpersonal communication skills as a future manager. We will look at a set of “best practices” or guidelines that have been derived from both research and experience, give you the opportunity to put those guidelines into practice, and provide you with feedback on your work to help you strengthen your abilities. More often than not, we will be using a workshop format that will rely heavily on discussion and in-class exercises.
Objectives
Good communication is one of the keys to a successful career no matter what field you choose, and many different skills contribute to a professional’s capacity to communicate well. By the time you complete this course, you should be able to:
- Formulate an effective communication strategy for any message, in any medium, and in any situation
- Write clearly, concisely, and convincingly
- Create impressive presentations that are delivered with confidence and poise
- Give and receive feedback that will improve yours and others’ communication
- Listen for understanding
- Work effectively with others in small groups or teams
- Identify and negotiate the difference in communication between yourself and people who are not from your culture
Improving communication is a continuous process of learning, doing, critiquing, evaluating, and doing again. It is a process that we hope will continue for you even after you complete this course.
Expectations
Because so much of the class will be “hands-on” and because feedback (ours, the TAs, and the feedback you give each other) is so important to improving writing and speaking, our expectations about our work together this semester are:
- You are committed to improving your professional effectiveness as a communicator.
- You are willing to share your opinions and ideas on topics presented in class.
- You will provide each other with clear, honest, concrete, and sensitive feedback on work that is done.
- Any concept that is unclear or confusing will be challenged and examined.
- There are no stupid questions or comments.
Grading
| ACTIVITIES | PERCENTAGES |
|---|---|
| Baseline Self-Evaluation Memo | 5% |
| Presentation with Q&A | 10% |
| Problem Sets 1–5 | 10% |
| Meeting Maker Case Memo | 10% |
| Cover Letter | 5% |
| Interactive Presentation | 10% |
| Team Report | 20% |
| Team Report Presentation | 15% |
| Final Self-Evaluation Memo | 5% |
| In-Class Exercises and Class Participation | 10% |
