About This Course

Effective communication is an important element of success for every organization, leader, manager, supervisor, and employee. Good communication skills are a prerequisite for advancement in most fields and are key to exercising influence both within and beyond the work group. This new edition of Interpersonal Communication Skills in the Workplace prepares readers to communicate effectively, both within their organizations and in whatever business or professional situations they encounter.

This edition retains the subject matter strengths of the previous version and augments them with content that reflects new understandings of interpersonal communications, new communication technologies, and new organizational practices that include wider spans of management control, greater employee empowerment, geographically dispersed work groups, and team-based activities. It also contains new material on persuasive communications, dialogue, and nominal group technique. New chapters on techniques for generating ideas and solutions and communicating in the multicultural workplace offer fresh perspectives on topics that have become increasingly important in today’s workplace. Throughout the course, the authors provide assessments, exercises, and Think About It sections that offer students numerous opportunities for practice and feedback.

Any person can realize the benefits of improved communication skills. Interpersonal Communication Skills in the Workplace, Second Edition, provides the insight and expertise needed to achieve this goal.

Perry McIntosh has more than twenty-five years of experience in corporate office environments. Much of that experience was gained in the publishing industry, where she began as an entry-level copyeditor and worked her way up to senior managerial and directorship positions, and to leadership positions on cross-functional teams. She currently runs her own book production service. Ms. McIntosh has an AB degree from Smith College and a certificate from the Center for Creative Leadership.

Richard Luecke has been a freelance business writer since 1992. His books have been published by Oxford University Press, John Wiley & Sons, and Harvard Business School Press. He has also written articles published by Harvard Management Update and Consulting to Management. Most of his work, however, involves collaborations with business school faculty, management consultants, and corporate executives. His recent clients include Harvard Business School Publishing, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Mercer Human Resources Consulting, Northeastern University, Babson College, and Organizational Dynamics, Inc. Mr. Luecke earned an MBA from the University of St. Thomas and a BA in History from Shimer College.

Jeffery H. Davis, author of the first edition of Interpersonal Communication Skills in the Workplace, is a Principal Leadership Development Consultant with the MITRE Corporation. Mr. Davis was the founder of Organization Renewal Associates, a management consulting and organizational training firm working primarily with hi-tech, medical, government, and non-profit institutions. His specialties include leadership development, coaching and teamwork skills, workplace communication, change management, process improvement, and meeting facilitation. Mr. Davis has written six self-study courses for the American Management Association. He holds an M.Ed. in Management from Cambridge College.