Communicating Effectively in the Workforce

Glossary of Business Management and Personal Development Terms

Ability

An individual’s existing capacity to perform the various tasks needed for a given job.

Aptitude

The capability to learn something.

Arbitration

The use of a neutral third party to act as a judge with the power to issue a decision binding on all parties.

Attitude

The predisposition to respond to someone or something in one’s environment in a positive or negative way.

Authoritarianism

The tendency to adhere rigidly to conventional values and to obey recognized authority.

Beliefs

Ideas about someone or something and the conclusions that people draw about them.

Body language

Nonverbal communication conveyed by posture and movement, eye contact, facial expressions, and gestures.

Brainstorming

The generation of ideas through a “freewheeling” discussion without criticism.

Career planning

Creating long-term congruence between individual goals and organizational career opportunities.

Career stages

Different levels of work responsibility and personal achievement through which individuals pass during the course of their working lives.

Causality

The assumption that a change in an independent variable has caused a change in a dependent variable.

Centralization

The degree to which the authority and responsibility for making decisions is restricted to higher levels of management.

Change agents

Individuals who take action to change the behavior of other individuals and of systems.

Channels

The pathways through which messages are communicated. ...