Communication

Posted: October 17th, 2013

Communication

Name:

Course:

Date:

Communication

            Communication refers to the art of transmitting information from one individual to another. Transmission may occur by speech, signals, writing, visuals and behavior. Communication is important because it enables people to share their beliefs and opinions pertaining to various subjects with each other. In addition to this, communication enables people to strengthen the relationships that thy have with other members of their family or even their friends. Communication may occur between the sender and one recipient or with several people who act as recipients. The sender is the person who is the origin of the message while the recipient is the person on the receiving end. An instance whereby communication is between one sender and several recipients is in the case of a speech. This is because the speaker is addressing several people who are receiving the message that he is passing to them. In the past, communication encountered many limitations like distance and the speed with which the message was received.

For this reason, their methods of communication were ineffective to some extent. However, several developments have occurred in the field of communication. Such developments have rectified all the problems that the prior methods of communication had. For example, the invention of the telephone was a great development since it enabled people in different areas to communicate. The telephone also remarkably quickened communication since it took only a few minutes as opposed to the use of letter, which took days to arrive to the recipient. Communication has become an integral part of our communication today. This is because without communication, very many disagreements may arise. In the work place, communication is very essential. This is because the employees need to speak to one another in order to work properly. In addition to this, the employer is also expected to address the employees while instructing them on the tasks that they are required to do in the company. 1. Effective communication between the employer and his or her employees is a vital component for a successful business. This is because; every person will know exactly what to do meaning there will be minimal disruptions. For this reason, productivity and efficiency of the employees in question expected to increase significantly. During summer, I got a chance to work as an intern in one of the event-organizing firms in my locality. I was very excited because it was an opportunity that several students really wanted. The company was medium sized with approximately twenty employees excluding the interns who were only five. The employees were separated based on their areas of proficiency. For instance, those who specialized in planning weddings were in one department while those good at planning birthday parties were in a separate department. In total, there were five interns whom I had frequent interaction as well as communication. Additionally there were the head of departments in various sections where we were rotated.

Our job description as interns was not clearly defined and we were to take turns in each department throughout the summer. The reason why they needed us to take turns was that to ensure that all five of us are exposed to all the departments in the company. This would be very important because from the experience, it would be very simple to decide which aspect of event planning we would eventually specialize. However, even if we were required to rotate in all the departments, each of us had permanent tasks that we were expected to perform. One of the other interns called James and I were in charge of the paperwork in the company. My role entailed ensuring that all the documents in the office were updated and placed in their appropriate locations. I was supposed to liase with the company secretary Eva and assist her in her various duties. The tasks I was required to perform included proper filing of the paperwork and preparing documents for meetings.

The other interns had roles such as customer care duties. These included ensuring that all the customers who came into the office were comfortable and that all their questions were answered. The last intern Charlotte was the in charge of the meals that were offered in the company. She had to ensure that the caterers brought in all the meals at the right time every day. In addition to this, she was also expected to order meals in advance for any events that the company might have had. Since we were expected to take turns within the departments, we were able to interact with the other employees. Interaction enabled us to get to know the personalities of the employees. This was important because were able to know how to interact with each of them based on the knowledge of their character traits. Opportunities in which were able to interact with the other co-workers apart from the rotation in the departments included the weekly staff meetings and company events as well.

2. Supervisors in the company were in three levels, one was our immediate boss was Ms. Brown and she oversaw all our tasks. The second supervisor, Mrs. Martins was in charge of our salaries while the last supervisor, Mrs. Daniels was the head of the company whom we met only during the staff meetings. Ms. Brown was also the head of the birthday parties department and she was a very unpleasant person to say the least. She was extremely bossy and uptight not forgetting strict. She spoke to us very often but it was only to point out mistakes, which was in almost everything we did. Her attitude to the rest of her co-workers was no different as she was always cold and rude to them. In order to avoid confrontations with Ms. Brown, we always did our best in our tasks and completed them on time; this was unfortunately never enough for her. Mrs. Martins on the other hand was completely different; she was very friendly and kind to everyone in the office, especially us the interns. She always offered her help in the case of any difficulty and while correcting our mistakes, she did it nicely. This made her a favorite in the office. Mrs. Daniels was very strict but since we rarely interacted with her, it was difficult to tell any of her other traits. From the other co-workers, they said that she was only stern when she needed to be but was otherwise very friendly. From interacting with our supervisors we were able to learn a lot from them and in the case of Mrs. Martins, we were even able to make friends.

3. A typical day on the job started at eight o’ clock in the morning. During the morning hours, we were supposed to take turns in our different departments. Afternoons were set aside for our different tasks. For illustration purposes, I will use the example of the wedding department. For instance, if the department has a wedding to plan, it will hold a small departmental meeting. In this meeting, the personality and requests of the bride will be aired. From the given requests, the members of the department will share ideas that they have pertaining to the wedding. All the good ideas will be noted. This will conclude the meeting. Afterwards, the employees will divide themselves into even smaller groups in which every group works on a specific aspect of the wedding. The aspects that would be considered include the location it will take place, flowers to be used and their associated arrangements, the menu of the event, the color scheme and outfits to be worn for the occasion.

In the distinct mini-departments, further discussions will take place based on the requirements of the ride. Research especially by the use of the internet will be utilized in order to come up with the appropriate suggestions. Research will continue until the mini-department comes up with a list of locations, which fit the descriptions given by the bride. These suggestions are then presented to the bride who will settle on one of them. After they select the location, it is up to the mini-department to book the location for the event. For the afternoon, for instance in my case, I will work on the company’s documents. First, I will find out from the secretary if any meeting is scheduled to take place on the following day. If so, I will prepare any documents that will be required in the meeting based on the nature of the meeting. This is because the meeting may be a staff meeting, which will require different documents from a board meeting for example.

A staff meeting will only require paperwork from each department regarding what they have done during the week while the board meeting will need documents like financial statements of the company. After that, I will help her with anything that she may need. Communication played a major role in the activities that took place in the company. It is through communication that all our jobs were assigned to us, and that mistakes were pointed out. In the various departments, communication was imperative in order to create the most exquisite event. This is because the members of each department aired their ideas for the event in question. From all the ideas given, the department is able to narrow down that list to one that contains almost everything that the customer needs. If there were no communication in the office, it would be impossible to organize the events since so many disagreements would have arisen resulting in lower productivity. For this reason, communication was especially important in the activities that took place in the event-organizing company.

Assuming that the company would pay me a good salary, I would consider working there for a very long time. This is mainly because it is one of the most popular event-organizing firms in my locality. This means that they get many clients from both the area and neighboring states. Such a company would enable me to obtain enough experience as well as to learn from the best event organizers. I would also consider working there because the other employees were quite nice and kind. They treated each other with utmost respect and had a sense of cooperation. This enabled them to work well together since they already have a good relationship with each other. Finally, working for this company would ensure that I get to interact with other bigwigs in the same field. The company has formed several alliances with other businesses like hotels for example. Working for the firm will ensure that I interact with these people severally that would enable me to learn a lot from them, it would give my career a huge boost. In addition to this, it will be easier for me to achieve my dream of creating my own events-organizing company. Even with the presence of unkind supervisors like Ms. Brown, working for this company would be a fulfillment of my dream.