[SOUND] Hi good to see you again. Now in the last lesson, we looked at the various modes of communication, as well as their pros and cons. In this lesson, we're going to look at how to go about deciding which one to use, examining other factors. Basically, the choice of a mode depends on the interplay of a few factors, namely purpose, content, urgency, and audience. First of all, purpose, now why do you need to communicate? Are you trying to inform someone something or to pass on some information? In which a case, text message or an email may suffice. Or do you need to discuss and persuade, which may then make more sense for you to call for a face to face meeting or arrange for a video conference. What do you hope to get out of this? Next, content, now what is it that you need to convey? Do you have a lot of details to share? In which case, an email would be helpful. Or is it just to let the other party know where to meet? And for that, you may actually need to go on to consider whom this person is and how urgent this information needs to be passed on. The urgency of the communication is a factor to consider because generally speaking, if you need a quick answer, a phone call is about the best option. Because you're not subjected to the delays that may come with the person missing your email, or not receiving your text message due to a lagging network. Then, of course, it is crucial for you to consider whom you're communicating with, and that is your audience. This is an important one because at times considering whom your audience is may actually require a recalibration of your assessment of the situation. Let's look at this more closely. For a start, one of the things you want to think about is the number of people involved. Let's imagine you have some information to pass on to the other party. Now this table may give you a rough idea which mode works in each situation. For instance, if you need to communicate with three or more people, and if it is informal and you don't have a lot of details to share, then a text message to the chat group may work. And if you do have more details, perhaps an email may be helpful if you do not need a discussion. But if you do need a discussion, then a face to face meeting may be more practical. Apart from this, we also need to consider some other factors. For instance, we want to think about our relationship with this person. Is this person our co-worker and is he or she a subordinate, a peer, or a superior? And how familiar are we with this person? This is crucial because our relationship and familiarity with this person will help determine the tone to use, as well as the way we express what we need to convey. Generally, the tone gets more formal when the relationship is less close and when we are not as familiar with this person. Then we also need to consider the culture the person comes from. There are some who would prefer to have their discussion face to face, regardless of the purpose, while others are open to an email discussion. In line with the aspect of culture, there is also the issue of power distance which we have discussed in module one. The degree of formality is also subjected to such a consideration. Now, if you could, just ask and find out more about the person you are communicating with. Bear in mind that if you're trying to strengthen the relationship, and if you need the other party's patronage, for instance, to continue to buy from you, or to supply you with the materials for a company's production, you need to make sure that a cordial relationship is maintained. Now you may read up more about characteristics of different cultures, but I do want to caution you against generalizing. While it is good to read up some studies to find out more, it is at times dangerous in that we may end up stereotyping a certain culture. We want to be mindful of the dynamic nature of cultural behaviors. And how different people from the same culture may actually behave differently because of the different exposure and experience each has. One example of how we may go about choosing the right mode or channel to use may go like this. Now let's imagine that you need to communicate something to the other party. Do you have lots of information to convey? If the answer is a yes, do you need a quick response? If you don't, you can just drop the person an email. But if you do need a quick response, consider if you need to do a back-and-forth kind of a conversation, much like a discussion. If you don't, then drop the person an email and perhaps follow up with a call just to get a response that you need. Now, if you do need a discussion, then a meeting may be in order. What you may wish to do is to send the other party the necessary documents before the meeting. So that he can do his preparations beforehand and you won't have to waste precious time reading and processing the information during the meeting itself. What if you do not have a lot of information to convey? Now, that next thing you want to check is the degree of the formality of the communication and the familiarity with this person. If you are familiar with him or her and it is a rather informal matter, you may email, call, or even just text. But if you are not very familiar with this person and it is a rather formal matter, the question is whether you need a quick response. If you don't, fine, just drop an email. But if you do need a quick response, is a discussion needed? If so, you may want to drop a person an email and then call for a meeting if necessary. If not, you can just drop the person an email and give him a call. If you could, just go ahead and find out more about the person that you are communicating with. Now bear in mind that if you want to strengthen that relationship, and if you want to continue to enjoy the person's patronage, for instance for the person to continue to buy from you or for him to continue to supply the materials for your company's production, now then, you have to work at maintaining that cordial relationship. You may also go ahead and read up on the various characteristics of the different cultures. But I do want to caution you against generalizing. While it is good to read up more and find out more from different research papers about the different cultures. Now it is dangerous,n that sometimes we may actually end up stereotyping a certain culture. We do want to be mindful of the dynamic nature of cultural behaviors. Bearing in mind that different people from the same culture may actually think and behave differently, simply because of the different experience and exposure each has. All right, let us now do a quick recap of what has been covered in this lesson. We have looked at the four different modes or channels of communication, namely, ace-to-face, video, audio, and text. Then we examined the pros and cons of each of these. And looked at the four factors that we need to consider in deciding on the right mode to use. And they are purpose, content, urgency, and audience. Were audience is concerned, we talked about the importance of the number of people, the relationship and familiarity, the culture the person is from, as well as the power distance involved. I hope that has been useful in helping you choose the right mode of communication. Now whichever mode you choose, some general principles apply, and by these I am referring to the 7Cs of effective communication. Join me in the next lesson, and we shall see how to communicate effectively using these principles with a special focus on email writing. I'm Sarah Chong and this has been a lesson on the second module of the course Strengthening Your Widening Network. Thank you and see you soon.
