Lumapas, Mathew Emanuel V. BSA-1A English 100 - Ethical Listening
Lumapas, Mathew Emanuel V. BSA-1A English 100 - Ethical Listening
Lumapas, Mathew Emanuel V. BSA-1A English 100 - Ethical Listening
BSA-1A
ENGLISH 100 – ETHICAL LISTENING
HONESTY IS KEY
One of the most important ethical qualities in business is honesty. Honesty can
occur in the relationship between employees, such as when one admits a key mistake
instead of trying to blame it on another. Honesty means that employees refrain from
stealing company property, cheating on an expense report, or abusing sick days or
lunch breaks. Honesty can also take place in the customer relationship, such as when a
salesperson discovers he overcharged the customer for service and ensures a refund or
credit is issued.
HAVING INTEGRITY
Truthfulness & honesty is the most core principle of ethical communication. This
means that speaking 99 percent of the truth in a matter - while leaving out one percent
of the facts - is not ethical communication, as omitting any detail (intentionally) changes
the way that a listener will perceive an event. Thus, being 100 percent open and
transparent, and hiding nothing, is key in order for all business relationships - whether
within a business between its members, or with business and their partners, or even
customers - to succeed in the short term and long term.
LANGUAGE USE
Obviously, ethical communication dictates that speakers utilize the language that
listeners understand. It would make little sense to present a business presentation in
English to a non-English speaking Chinese audience. Taking this example further, it
would also be unethical to communicate the information mostly in Chinese, with a
certain section in English, presenting only parts of the data to the Chinese audience.
ACCESSIBILITY TO TECHNOLOGY
In this digital age, some take accessibility to advanced technology for granted.
For instance, while smartphones are readily available, and translation apps are
abundant, not everyone is able to access such applications or platforms. If a business
wanted to present certain pieces of information to an audience while expecting the
audience to translate it into their native language via an application, there may be
confusion. Thus, the ability to access certain technology - and the know-how on how to
use certain applications - may be a roadblock when it comes to ethically communicate
to a particular audience.
VERACITY
ACTIVE LISTENING
You risk losing an audience if you use a communication channel that is not
preferred by your intended receiver. To effectively communicate with your listeners, use
the most preferred communication channel, whether that be face-to-face, email,
conference call, phone call, messenger app, etc. Also, when presenting data to a
business audience, be aware of the preferred method of presentation for that business,
whether it be graphs, slides, PowerPoint presentations, etc. Additionally, since body
language is very important, it is often preferred to meet business clients face-to-face.
STRIVE TO UNDERSTAND
Ethically communicating assumes the speaker will avoid rudeness, be polite and
professional, and have tact. The ethical communicator knows that it’s not only important
what you say, but how you say it. Tone is one of the most critical facets of
communication. A listener may miss the meaning altogether if the tone is wrong, which
can lead to unnecessary confrontations that decrease business productivity.
Controlling one’s tone goes along with self-control, a soft skill that allows one to
know how they wish to reply to a terse business message (for instance) versus the most
effective manner for replying. Essentially, keeping the tone positive or neutral is best, as
the tone of a written message - or of one’s voice - is always picked up by the receiver,
and can alter how the message is received and/or understood.
Allowing others to speak is important for the creation of a civil, effective working
environment. Interrupting others results in misunderstandings and unnecessary conflicts
and a breakdown in workplace communications, which only hinders corporate progress
and creates problems. Interrupting others not only shows a lack of respect, but does not
allow the listener to fully grasp what is being said, which often results in incorrect
assumptions being made. Interrupting others means that your are poor in listening habit
it is to say that by interrupting others is the factor that you are not interested. But not all
interruptions are bad because others interrupt because they want to ask questions. We
should be aware that there is a time for questioning and answering.
RESPECT PRIVACY AND CONFIDENTIALITY
Most businesses should include a clause in their code of ethics defining what is
appropriate when it comes to honoring client and employee confidentiality and privacy.
This can have a wide range of implications, including minimizing workplace gossip, and
mitigating toxic conversations about the private lives of clients and/or personnel.
ACCEPT RESPONSIBILITY
As noted before, a core tenant within any ethical communication framework is taking
responsibility for the actions that result from one’s words, whether it be good or bad.
This includes both short term and long term consequences of one’s communications.
Owning one’s words reinforces the importance of being conscientious about ethical
communication.
HONESTY
CONFIDENTIALITY
Protecting the confidences and privacy rights or employees and customers is the
duty of professional communicators. We should always remember that each one of us
has a privacy to protect and it should always instill to us that when we hear a
confidential things especially in the company we should remember to keep this in your
own because if it is leaked it may bring damage to the company or the person who
gives his/her privacy.
COURTESY
Sensitivity to cultural values and beliefs are crucial for the professional
communicator. It is important to understand your audience and encourage mutual
understanding. Having awareness and knowledge on values will help us to be a ethical
communicator because we observe respect towards others we attain openness to the
point that we should always think before we say.
RESPECTFUL