2011商务英语中级口语精讲班讲义第一讲60

1.   Communication: how to achieve an effective working relationship between different departments within a company

--I think effective communication links are also quite vital.  For example, different departments can set up special email account or use intranet service to provide a platform for the exchange of information.  Some departments in certain firms have already gone a step further.  They hold joint forums on a wide variety of topics, in order to achieve better synergistic effects.

2.   Communication: how to ensure that e-mail is used appropriately by staff for internal and external communications

--To begin with, awareness is key.  And in order to promote awareness for appropriate email use, the company needs to put it high on the training and staff development agenda. The HR department, say, can sponsor some workshops or seminars on this, or even invite some external experts for this purpose. 

--Once these procedures are in place, the company then needs to spell out an official code of email usage and ensure that all employees have access to it and can understand it easily.  The company then needs to implement an effective and anonymous system of reporting any breaches of this code. Some companies even benchmark their ethical practices against those of industry leaders and see how they’re doing.

--I suppose it’s also vital that companies ensure that their senior managers set a good example, ‘walk and talk’ so to speak. If they always use company email for personal purposes why can’t staff?

3.   Communication: how to ensure appropriate levels of confidentiality over the long-term staffing plans of a company

--To start off, I reckon that a non-disclosure agreement is essential in this case.  If the senior management is grooming certain middle manager for future promotion, the two parties should sign such an agreement and specify the penalty for breaching it, in order to prevent any abuse.

--The next thing I think should be done is to limit staff involvement. The few people know about this, the better chance confidentiality will be maintained. 

--Beyond those, keeping relevant documents as classified might also be necessary. This is an extra preventive measure.  It may well prove to be worth the effort.