Syllabus

Course Meeting Times

Lectures: 1 session / week, 1.5 hours / session

Course Objectives

Communication for Managers is intended to help you think strategically about communication and to aid you in improving your writing, presentation, and interpersonal communication skills within a managerial setting. We will look at a range of successful practices and guidelines that have been derived from both research and experience, give you the opportunity to develop and practice your skills, and provide you with feedback to help you strengthen them. Typically, we will use a workshop format that relies heavily on discussion and in-class exercises. Because your regular attendance is critical to learning from these in-class activities, and since many exercises are designed around your team, unexcused absences in 15.280 will have a detrimental effect on your final course grade beyond the 20% class participation portion of the grade. Where possible, assignments in 15.280 build upon materials covered in the Organization Processes (15.311) team projects or in required Career Development Office activities, to help you hone your communication skills in the context of these activities. Additionally, there will be opportunities to develop and practice specific communication skills in 15.277, Special Seminar in Communication: Leadership and Personal Effectiveness Coaching. 15.280 is offered for 6 units and 15.277 provides an additional 3 units for a total of 9 units in Managerial Communication; you will receive the same grade for your accomplishments in 15.280 and 15.277.

Text and Materials

Required

Munter, Mary. Guide to Managerial Communication. 7th ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 2005. ISBN: 9780131467040.

Mini DVD+RW's for Handycam (used in presentation labs)

15.280 course reader (please bring to class)

Optional

Andrews, Deborah, and William Andrews. Management Communication: A Guide. Cincinnati, OH: South Western College Pub, 2003. ISBN: 9780618214150.

Zelazny, Gene. Say It With Presentations. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill, 2006. ISBN: 9780071472890.

Williams, Joseph. Style: Toward Clarity and Grace. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press, 1995. ISBN: 9780226899152.

Procedures for Writing Assignments

Writing assignments are due as indicated on assignment sheets and should use standard business formats (including single spacing within paragraphs and double spacing between them). Please proofread and print out final versions for submission unless otherwise indicated. To guard against losses or recording errors, keep copies of the papers you turn in and retain all the graded assignments that are returned to you throughout the semester.

All papers are expected to be handed in on time. Late assignments will be penalized. No assignments will be accepted more than one week after the due date.

Procedures for Oral Presentations

Most of your oral presentations will take place outside class time in lab sessions with a few other students and your professor or TA. You will sign up for a lab session for each of the two oral assignments. If you miss a scheduled oral presentation without advance consultation, you will receive a score of zero for that assignment.

You must bring a mini DVD+RW disk to each of your presentations. We will record your presentations on a disk for you to view later on your computer. Based on viewing your disk, you will write a formal evaluation of your first presentation (see assignments), and a final self-assessment of your progress in written and oral communication at the end of the course.

Grading of Course Assignments

Assignments worth 10% or more of your grade will be graded on a 10-point scale, while homework (HW) assignments, each of which counts 5% of your grade, will be graded on a √-/√/√+ basis. The final grade will be assigned on the basis of a curve.

The course assignments are weighted as follows: