What makes a good blog? First lets define what a Blog is, a blog is an website in which one can post personal reflections, that are typically updated on a daily bases. However, the key to creating a great blog is its readability. Good blogs are informative, informal and frequently updated (Marsh, Guth & Short, 2009). Having the right content in a blog also makes it easy to read.  Using the correct font size makes it easier on your eyes, as well as the color of the background, is also what brings out the page. You should also use sufficient line spacing, so that the reader can move easily throughout your blog. Most blog pages have no distracting graphics, buttons or links that allow readers to easily navigate to other areas of the organization’s Web site (Marsh, Guth & Short, 2009). Being that the content in your blog is the most important part within your blog, having the right content is what helps your blog to attract the right audience. Capturing the right audience is major when it comes to blogs, having the attention of audience keeps your audience coming back to your blog. For this week’s discussion question we were asked to observe three of our class mates blogs, as I have observed these different blogs I have learned that a blog must be pleasing to the eye, must allow target audience to interact with the site, as well as having quality content of interest.
          The first blog which I reviewed was Terrance Banks with the web address of http://www.tbankscomm.com/. Terrance blog had really good design content; however the background is a little busy. Although you are still able to read the content posted on it, some may find it difficult to read. Furthermore, there were no pictures to enhance his blog. I suggest that he added a couple of pictures to bring his blog out. Nevertheless, visually his blog did a lot for me as a viewer, the blog somewhat was lacking in content and it did prevent from interaction besides the leaving of comments.  With a little more fine tuning, I can see this blog being a great blog.
             The second blog I viewed was titled Moore in the Evenings which was created by Shuan Moore with a web address of http://moorentheevenings.blogspot.com/. Shuan blog has a good design content, that utilize colors that seem to work really well together. The blog is so bright and welcoming.  You can tell that Shuan had his visitors in mind. There is such a great usage of photos that really enhances his blog. His blog had more content then the other blogs I have reviewed, giving viewers much more to read and enjoy. The only revision I saw was that he needs to make sure that all of his pictures come through. Overall this is the best blog I have reviewed so far.
                The last blog in which I reviewed was Amy McDonald with a web address of http://ammcdocommunicationsblog.blogspot.com/. After reviewing Amy’s blog, it seems as if she is off to a very good start.  Amy lacked the usage of images inside her blog to break up the lengthy amount of words. Moreover, with this simple change your blog would look more professional. Her blog somewhat lacks content and a very strong visual preferences.
                 After I had reviewed the three blogs of my classmates, I have come to the decision that I need to make several changes to my own blog. My first change will be my font type; I want to make it more attractive visually. Also I am going to add a new tab that will give you an introduction to my blog. Nevertheless, the audience I am trying to capture is those in who is interested in communication theory. The last change I am considering is moving some of my content around to make more room on the blog.

            Within these last four weeks of this course, I have created a blog that is actually starting to look like a real blog, like the ones I frequently visit. What I have learned is that creating an effective blog is a process. According to Marsh et al., reading other blogs. You’ll not only learn more about blogging and particular issues for your own posts; you’ll also discover blogs to which you may wish to link. (2009). I do have to admit that I have learned a lot from my classmate’s blogs. Nevertheless, what I believe that separates blogs from other online sites is that type of visitors that blogs attract.

Reference

Marsh, C., Guth, D.M. & Short, P. (2009). Strategic writing, multimedia writing for public relations, advertising and more. Boston: Pearson

“Delivering Bad New Tactfully and effectively”

Having to approach an employee in regards to their job performance is never easy when you are a manager, especially when the news is bad news. After reviewing this case study on “Delivering Bad New Tactfully and effectively” my approach to this employee would be to request a meeting to discuss the complaints that have been made against them.  During this particular meeting I would make it known to this employee that I have received several complaints from customers and co-workers in a very warm and inviting voice. I want to make the employee feel comfortable and relaxed while in this meeting as we discuss this important matter.

Explain how you would approach this employee.
I would get straight to the point with this employee making them aware that we are here to discuss his or her work performance lately. However, I would not make mention of those that actually made the complaints against this particular employee. By this approach it will assure the employee that we are only here to discuss their performance only. Then I would go into the facts in relation to the complaints regarding the confrontational behavior that has cause such a hostile work environment for the department. I would make it known at this point that if there are not improvements then you are subject to dismissal.
Anticipate the employee’s response
When discussing an employee performance and behavior issues can sometimes cause an employee to get upset and become hostile. Assertive communication behavior gives others a chance, which is a good idea when a relationship is important to you” (Abigail & Cahn, 2011, p. 57). With this being said, I would not make light of the situation, I would be on alert of some type of anticipation of this employee possibly become confrontational, I will try my best to make the atmosphere less unpleasant as possible. However, would be as honest as well as optimistic within my communication with this employee.  By recognizing the different dynamics occurring at each stage of a conflict, one can appreciate that the strategies and tactics for participants and interveners differ depending on the phase of the conflict (2003, September). I myself would remain focused on the facts in which I was given, while still respecting the employee’s right to disagree with the facts given. On the other hand I would not be forceful towards the employee to make them be compliant. I will allow the employee to ask question and will give them to time to answer the questions. Moreover, to defuse the situation, I will give the employee time to take in all what has been said during this meeting.

Analyze which conflict resolution techniques you would use.
Know that the possible of dismissal will only upset the employee; I would therefore keep clam with the same tone, that I used from the very start of the meeting. Giving the employee and opportunity to express his or her own emotions; I would not verbally lead on as if it is the employee’s fault, however, I would make known that the issue must be resolved.

Instead of using a linear model of communication, endorsing the goals of only one side of the conflict, I will use of the transactional model of communication which offers a positive approach to resolve the conflict (Abigail & Cahn, 2011). Being that using more of a collaboration and compromise as examples of communication style can possible lead to what is consider a more productive and positive outcome of all parties involved. However through my effective communication, I will encourage a change in this particular employee behavior, consequently with him keeping his job and giving the best outcome for all parties involved. 

Reference:

Abigail, A., & Cahn, D.. (2011). Managing conflict through communication (4th ed.). Boston: Pearson Education, Inc.

Beyond Intractability. (2003, September). Conflict Stages. Retrieved from http://www.beyondintractability.org/essay/conflict_stages/

Communication Strategies for effective Business meetings

Being that meetings are where communication takes place attendees exchange information whereas speakers disperse information. In order to have successful meeting, the speaker must demonstrate communication strategies that will help promote the flow of information. Meeting without structure and the proper leadership will not be a meeting that will get anything accomplished. In order to have effective meeting you need to put in a great deal of planning and preparation as well as having strong leaders. Being that once you have everything in place your meeting will be a great one.

Having the Right Facilitator

Facilitators are the one that keeps the group participations, plan and design the meetings, they are the ones that create and develop the agenda and make grounds rules before the meeting starts. Actually before a meeting starts all of the logistic information should be planned out and any problems that could come about should be worked out before the meeting. Most of the logistical items would be things like when and where to host the meeting, the particular layout is the best for the meeting, and whether there should be food and beverage and what types of materials would be need or required. Basically it is up to the facilitator to take upon the responsibility to create the best and most effective meeting possible.

Meeting Preparation

The key to having a great meeting is preparation. When meetings are prepared then everything can run smoothly and will free up more time to get other things done. For one you must understand the elements in which your meeting needs. Having an understanding of each element helps the plan in having an effective meeting. Below you will find five steps in which you should use in preparation for your business meeting.
 

·         What is the purpose and the outcome in which you are seeking after
·         Create boundaries for the business meeting.
·         Establish the meeting objectives
·         Who will be responsible for what
·         What are the agenda points and their objectives
·         Is your information for the meeting in order
·         What are the necessary tools need to used
·         Take Responsibility
·         Determine the time frame from the meeting
·         Roles, Who Role is Who’s and Who will play these roles
·         Determine ahead of time your logistical needs
·         Organized and place materials together
·         Give follow up Evaluation for attendees to complete at the end of meeting

What types of structure?

Once you have decided on the type of facilitate stick with it? If the meeting is going to be an informal meeting is sure that the remainder of the meetings is not informal. Having a proper agenda will cause you to structure and mandate things to stay on topic. It also keeps and organizational stand point, being one those things that need to get addressed will get addressed. Given the agenda ahead of time so that attendees can be prepared. Also the agenda should be conveying clearly what the meeting purpose will be as well as the other topics that will be discussed during the meeting. Having a detail length for each speaker with their specific times slots is great to have as well.

                                                                Give me a Break

Giving breaks throughout your meeting really depends upon the length of your meeting. If your meeting should be less than an hour then a break is not normally needed. Furthermore, if your meeting goes pass and hour you should offer your attendees a break every hour or hour and a half. Meeting breaks should be no longer then 10-15 minute break. Your goal is the to keep your group focused, however you can lose people they are tried, so that having a break gives them time to re-group and go back into the meeting to an have the ability to finish the meeting. Allowing your attendees to have breaks will avoid your attendee getting up and just walking around, it is much less disruptive and this way no one will not miss things well take an unscheduled break. Having foods and beverages available as well during these breaks, food items in which can be eaten in a short period of time would be the best option if you should decide to offer food during breaks. Making your attendees comfortable will help you to achieve effectiveness from your meeting.

                                                                         Ground Rules

Having ground rules in place before the meeting start; so that all of your participants understand them and is ;fully aware of them. It these ground rules are not made aware of before hands the meeting can actually fall apart. The very first rule should be that there should only be one speaker at time, people that need to speak should raise their hand or step up to the area where questions are being taken. There are some really simple things that could actually make a big difference in how a meeting is conducted as well as its effectiveness. Ground rules should include things as such:

  
                                    Behavior of the Facilitator

· Make plan of specific information about the behavior of attendees
· Determine how subjects will be introduced
· Determine who should present the agenda items
· Determine when the meeting will start and when it will end
· Make it known that the facilitator is in charge

Nevertheless, it is important to not put to many rules in place at one time. Having too many rules can become overwhelming and make you feel like a dictatorship to the attendees. You want to come across to your attendees that you create rules to maintain order not to become a burden on anyone. Rules are intended to keep the meeting on track and cause the meeting to be more effective.


Reference

Caruth, D., & Caruth, G. (2012, November/December). Three prongs to manage meetings. Industrial Management .

Duffy, J. (2013, October ). Make Meetings More Productive. Digtal Life / Get Organized . PC Magazine Digital Edition .

Romano, N., & Nunamaker, J. (2001). Meeting Analysis: Findings from Research and Practic. Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences, 1-13.

Selland, J. (n.d.). Business Meetings: How to Run productive and Effective Business Meetings . Retrieved January 23, 2015, from Business Know How : www.businessknowhow.com

Wake up Sisters HIV/AIDS is destroying our African American Women

 With the alarming number of African American Women being infected by HIV/AIDS we as African American women need to wake up. HIV/AIDS is taking a toll on the African American women. It has been said that the leading death among African American women between the ages of 24-45 is HIV/AIDS. Furthermore, 1 in 30 African American women will be diagnosed with HIV during some part of their life. With the growing number of African American women infected, majority of them are not even aware that they are infected. This is why it is important to know your status. African American women are known to having the highest rate of STD cases, then other races. Also many   African American women has slept with a man that has been incarcerated at some time another throughout their lives, which increase their chances of being infected.  The African American men within a lot of our communities are known for going in and out of the prison system, leaving them at higher risk for given HIV to African American women. Then you have these African American men that do not consider themselves of being gay but “on the down low” meaning that they sleep with men and women. Being that these men does not consider themselves of being gay it is hard for the African American women to determine whether or not the African American man in which she is involved with  is one of these men. “The latest HIV data from the Atlanta-based Centers for Disease Control and Prevention indicated that in 2009 black women accounted for nearly 30 percent of the estimated new HIV infections among all blacks (Forbes 2012)”.   Being that African American represent only 14 percent of the U.S. population, however, African American overall accounted for 44 percent of all new HIV infection within that same year.  

Diallo says if the United States intends to end HIV among U.S. women–and among African American women in particular–policy makers must address social determinants that make women vulnerable to infection (Forbes 2012)”.    This is a serious problem plaguing our African American communities African American women lacks the type of healthcare access that other races. Because African American Women suffer from lack of housing, lack of control over financial resources and gender sensitive care it leaves them more vulnerable to contracting HIV. “ Important, interconnected social determinants of HIV infection and STD risk for black women include poverty and complex diminished gender power caused by dramatic social changes (Sharpe et al. 2012).

What can we do as African American women, we can bring awareness to this virus making our sisters aware that this virus is still a problem among African American women. HIV/AIDS can be prevented if you take the necessary precautions. We as African American women have to remove the stigma behind HIV; we have to come together as a community of women. We have to come together to share testimonies and stories with other African American women, making them aware that even if you are infected you are not alone, we are not here to judge but support and that our main goal is to reduce the HIV rates among African American women. Just since 2010, the number of HIV infected African American women has decreased by 21% in comparison to 2008. This shows we are moving in the right direction however there is still more to be done. We have to know our status we must promote a campaign for our African American women to take the test. As well as creating support system for those already infected. Furthermore, those that have died from HIV/AIDS, like I said before are mostly African American women.  African American women are at a higher risk of STDs.  African American women, as well are as high frequency of sexual activity among there African American race. Then you have the socioeconomic factors that play a great part in HIV infected cases among African American women, poverty plays a major part in the amount of cases among African American women. Then you have either no or very limited access to healthcare with all of this factors it leaves African American women more vulnerable than any other races, wake up my sisters and take a stand that we will not lose another sister to this virus.  

Reference

Cahn, D. D., & Abigail, R. A. (2014). Managing conflict through communication (5th ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc

B, K., & C, J. (2011). Promoting African American Women and Sexual Assertiveness In Reducing HIV/AIDS: An Analytical Review of the Research Literature . Journal of Cultural Diversity , 142-149.

Jackson, C. K. (2014, December). AIDS Patients. Essence , pp. 134-135.

Sharpe, V. C., M, R., J, C., H, D., & K, F. (2012). Social Determinants of HIV/AIDS and Sexually Transmitted Dieases Among Black Women: Implications for Health Equity . Journal of Women's Health , 249-254.

Retrieved from:  http://www.forbes.com/sites/womensenews/2012/08/13/hivaids-rates-rocket-for-black-u-s-women/

 

                                                 Audience Awareness Activity

In this week’s assignment we were asked to choose three pieces of media communication and target the three different audiences in which these three pieces of media is targeting. The first piece of media communication I chose is Essence Website; Essence is a magazine as well as a website that was created for African American women with the age group of 18 and 49. The website has articles in regards to fashion, lifestyle and beauty. The tone of the website is more like a girlfriend to girlfriend. The overall goal of the website is to empower African American women. Some of the articles in which the website consist of celebrities stories, point of view addressing current events that African American communities are facing. I believe that Essence clearly states its target audience.
Second piece of media communication I chose was Atlanta Journal Constitution (AJC) news paper website. The AJC website covers the news for the metropolitan area of Atlanta, Georgia. The AJC website also comes in the form of print as a newspaper that is printed daily, twice a day the early edition and the final edition. Being that AJC website is update throughout the day and night with update news. However, the AJC not only covers news, it also so covers the weather, classified ads and store ads. The AJC is audience target is anyone that is interested in the current events of their community and as well as what is going outside of their state. I feel that AJC does a good job at the audience it which it targets. 
The Third piece of media I have chosen is Travel Impression which is a colorful brochure for travels that are interested in traveling to the Island of the Bahamas and Bermuda. This brochure is full of information in relation to hotels and all of the amenities which each property has to offer each one of its guest. This brochure has display ads from airlines as well as mps and colorful pictures so the beach. This brochure really grabs the attention of its audience actually causing them to visualize themselves at this particular location. The elements and the effectiveness of the communication display in this brochure are very effective.    
Reference:
http://www.essence.com/?xid=logobar-people
http://www.ajc.com/
http://viewer.e-digitaleditions.com/i/172239

 

 

Mediation and Arbitration are important steps to resolving conflict when a dispute arises. Within this paper I will discuss why mediation is important. What types of disputes can be utilized by mediation and arbitration. As well as the drawbacks to mediation and arbitrations; furthermore, I will explain how AAA, can be used. The first thing I would consider for resolving a dispute or conflict is through a mediator “Rather, mediators are viewed here as unbiased facilitators of communication between the parties in private setting” (Abigail & Cahn, 2014 ). With having a mediator it allows you to communicate openly allowing you to express your feelings openly. It has been said that having mediation has a better success rate; however each participant has to be willing to follow the steps, given in order to resolve a dispute. Being that it is up to the parties to try to resolve the dispute. “All too often the subject of mandatory arbitration is presented form a limited perspective and without explaining the foundation on which the perspective based (Bales, 1997).

Knowing that the mediator has several duties; for example the mediator is not to take sides they are to remain neutral. Furthermore, as I stated before mediation allows both parties involved to speak openly , being that the mediator is well aware of the dispute, and has the skills to speak with each person effectively with each party involved within this particular conflict the main focus is to promote resolution of the conflict by making parties come to some type of resolution , cooperation rather than competition. “Teams that have been trained to use conflict resolution skills and communication skills training report higher conflict resolution, goal setting, planning skills and produce higher quality decisions (Hartenian, 2003).

However, there are some draws back when it comes to mediation. For example when you are resolving dispute expect people to give you advice. Being that the mediator’s job is to listen and try to help you find ways to improve communication during a conflict not to give advice. Needless to say people having conflict cannot always find resolution through communication and some type of comprise. Then perhaps mediation may not be for them. However, some type’s of disputes cannot be done resolve by mediation where there are some that can be. For example, mediation can be utilized for marriage couples during counseling sessions. Being that the marriage couple will not receive advice in what they should do or not do, but they both can speak openly and they can get  help to resolve their problems openly. Mediator can also be used within the workplace, in regards to two employees within a company. For example, each employee can learn how to open the channels of communication however, the mediator cannot give advice. If the two employees are not willing to get alone, there is basically nothing a mediator can do to resolve their disputes in which mediation cannot be a part of such as traffic court issue in regards to and accident, being that a mediator cannot blame when a dispute arises, being that the mediator is not allowed to blame.

Being that if I  should  come into a dispute at work that needs some type of mediation and my managed was unable to help. I will seek to get help from the American Arbitration Association. The main focus of this organization is to provide mediation or arbitration to people, as well as to help conflict or disputes outside of court. However, that is not the only role of AAA, for example give administrative services within the us and select mediators, set hearing and resolve disputes.

Former federal and state judges, attorneys with exceptional subject-matter expertise, and business owners who understand the essence of the dispute are trained in a comprehensive program by the AAA to manage the dispute resolution process with fairness and skill, and an eye towards time- and cost-efficiency (AAA, 2007). The AAA is a great website it helps you learn about conflict resolution courses for training, publications, as well as election in services. There has been five new areas and division for customer on AAA. Actually being aware of this information is really important to my career. Being that it gives me several option on how to resolve disputes, if a conflict should come about.

References:

American Arbitration Association. (2007). AAA – Arbitration, mediation, and other forms of alternative dispute resolution (ADR). Retrieved from http://www.adr.org/

 Hartman, R.L., and Crume, A.L. (2007). Public forum mediation: A training exercise for conflict facilitation skills. Industrial and Commercial Training, 39(3), 137. doi: 1343646601

 

Cahn, D. D., & Abigail, R. A. (2014). Managing conflict through communication (5th ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc.

 How arbitration works, 7th ed. (2013). Reference and Research Book News, 28(2) Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/1322464401?accountid=32521

 

Welcome

Hello, and Welcome to my blog! I love to write and I am a firm believer that practice makes perfect when it comes to writing! A blog is such a great way to learn and grow as a writer. It’s an awesome way to share useful information with others and build up your own networking system. I hope that you will find the information I have posted on my blog very useful in helping  you to create a blog  as well and that you will also enjoy my writing, Happy Blogging! :)