In the wake of several incidences of racially motivated violence, many companies, such as General Motors, Salesforce, Asana, Banner Health, and Slack, have pledged to be more intentional about improving their efforts for inclusion and diversity. Increasing . inclusion and diversity is good for society and also good for business. Companies pursuing inclusion and diversity initiatives have written policies that are accessible to all employees as well as customers, and employees may be required to attend trainings to improve their communication skills with coworkers and customers with respect to diversity and inclusion. Which of the following describes how a salesperson working for a large company could show a commitment to diversity and inclusion and thereby reduce risks in communication with customers? a. Provide a copy of the company's diversity and inclusion policy for the customer to read over to ensure them that you will be understanding of their background. b. Provide information about products and services that confirms what customers already know so that they are more willing to trust you as a source of information. c. Consider the best-case scenario when speaking with a customer who is very different from you and work toward that outcome.
d. Consider the customers' point of view including cultural nuances, sensitivity to specific words or terms, and level of education in order to avoid blind spots in communications with them. On December 8, 1941, the New York Times reported that Pearl Harbor had been attacked the day before. The first sentence in the article read, "Sudden and unexpected attacks on Pearl Harbor, Honolulu, and other United States possessions in the Pacific early yesterday by the Japanese air force and navy plunged and Japan into active war." The rest of the article added details about the incident, then provided background information about the war.
Imagine that you are a parent in 1941 relating this information to your 12-year-old son. How might you structure the information so that it will be most effective for your audience? a. Read him the newspaper article from start to finish, because the inverted pyramid style of communication was intended for articles to be read in entirety. b. Provide your son with the crucial information first and then gauge his interest in the rest of the details before continuing, mirroring the inverted pyramid structure in the article. c. List off the who, what, when, where, and why of the events, then invite your son to read the first few paragraphs of the article himself so he can understand the background information on his own.
d. Start with background information about the war, then recite the details of the incident, then finish with the crucial facts about Pearl Harbor. On November 3, 1948, the Chicago Daily Tribune infamously and erroneously reported on their front-page banner "Dewey Defeats Truman," indicating that incumbent president Harry S. Truman had been defeated by Republican challenger Thomas E. Dewey. The error occurred because the printing process used by the newspaper required the paper to go to press before the final results of the election were tabulated. Two days later, President Truman was handed a copy of the Tribune's first edition (they corrected it after running about 150,000 copies). Grinning, he held the paper high for photographers to get a picture and said, "That ain't the way I heard it!" Imagine that you were texting a friend about the results of a local election, based on what you had read on social media. Just as in the election of President Truman, some people had posted too soon and missed the actual outcome of the election. Your friend counters with information based on several different sources that contradicts what you have read, and it turns out that your friend was right. Why is it important to verify the information you use in your written communication with others? a. Providing information that is inaccurate labels the individual or organization who provides it as incompetent at best or dishonest at worst.
b. Making sure information is accurate helps prevent individuals and organizations from wasting money and time on inaccurate reporting. c. Verifying facts ensures that the other person will be persuaded to see your point of view.
d. Verifying facts is necessary in order to make written communications grammatically correct and appealing.