Hello, and welcome to the first
instructional video of English for Management and Leadership. You have just gotten to know
a little bit about Elizabeth. She's been given the responsibility to
put together a team for her new project. How would you make staffing
decisions if you were Elizabeth? What style would you use? In this lesson, we will be following
Elizabeth's thought process as we learn differences between direct and
indirect approaches. You will also be given example situations
of how to use these approaches. Direct approaches are used
when you're almost certain you will receive an interested,
positive, or neutral response. The approach is focused and specific. Direct approaches give ordinary
information or good news up front. In contrast,
indirect approaches are used when you think your audience may reply with
disappointment, annoyance, or defensiveness, or maybe you're not even
sure how they will react to your idea. In the indirect approach, you start
by giving reasons or evidence for your plan before giving your proposal or
goal. You want your audience to be open to
the ideas that are being presented. Let's take a look at one
of Elizabeth's emails. As you watch the clip again,
consider, does she use a direct, or an indirect approach? In her email, she writes. >> Hi Gary, as we discussed, I'm
building my team for the BioDent launch. I'm interested in Jake Bright for the Marketing role and
Catherine Roland for Finance. What's the procedure for
talking to them about these roles? I'm out of the office today,
but checking my messages. Anxious to get started. Thanks for the help! Elizabeth. >> What style of approach
does Elizabeth use? Did you say direct? If you did, you're right. Elizabeth states her request directly,
because it contains a neutral message. It's neutral because she
is giving information. And Gary is not likely to be upset or
bothered by her question. Gary, on the other hand,
uses an indirect approach. >> Elizabeth,
I'm happy to help you with this. Let's talk to both of their managers
before mentioning these opportunities to Catherine and Jake. Here's how we should proceed. I'll talk to Catherine Roland's boss for
you. In the past, she's not been
open to losing Catherine and has requested that Catherine not be
considered for other opportunities. I think she may be open to this change
now because the timing is good and Catherine has expressed her
interest in making a change. Why don't you go ahead and
talk to Jake's boss. I think he well be open
to this conversation, so go ahead and approach him. I'll be in my office at 1:00. Stop by if you have questions. I'm here to help. Gary. >> He doesn't have an answer for Elizabeth
and can't guarantee her a yes answer. So using the indirect approach
is more acceptable here. Gary gives Elizabeth reasons, and builds up his evidence first,
before giving her an answer. When talking about Catherine's boss, he writes that she's not been
opening to losing Catherine and has requested that Catherine not be
considered for other opportunities. Did you hear Gary's reasons
in those sentences? She's not been open to losing Catherine. And she doesn't want her considered for
other opportunities. Now here comes Gary's response. I think she may be open to this change. Because the timing is good and Catherine has expressed her
interest in making a change. So you see,
Gary gives Elizabeth some news. It's neither good or bad news, but
he's not sure how Elizabeth will take it. So that's why he's chosen
an indirect approach. Elizabeth may feel hope by
the message because she has a chance at getting Catherine on her team! Or she may feel frustration because
Catherine's boss won't let her go. When you're not sure how your message will
be received, use an indirect approach. For the rest of this video,
let's turn out focus to direct approaches. Though they are easy to create, you will
still want to follow a simple pattern when asking for something or
stating information directly. First, give your news or make a request. Ask for it concisely. What is the most important
idea in your message? Be confident in your delivery. Remember this is something your
colleague or boss wants to hear. Next, add details or explanation. And finally,
conclude with a friendly comment or a simple statement of action
that may need to be taken. Here are some examples of
the direct approach being used. You've made the A11 marketing team. That's great news! Work begins May 27th. Your office is located in 243. Those are the details. Contact your supervisor Kent for
more information. Is the conclusion a request for action. Let's look at another example,
taken from an email this time. Mr. Roberts,
your order is being shipped today. It will arrive to your
offices by Thursday. We appreciate your business and
know you'll be pleased with your product. Both these message examples have
positive or neutral intentions. Now you try. Write a direct approach using the formula. One, start with the message. Two, add details. And three, conclude. Here is your direct message. The project will be completed in one week. With both types of approaches it
is crucial to know your audience. Audience here means your listener or
your reader. Even when using a direct approach
to someone in a superior position, there is still an extra amount
of politeness to be used. Sometimes this may require adding a few
more words leading into your statement. For example, if you want to tell your
boss that a client agreed to open a new account, you would not immediately yell,
I got the McArhens account. But you might use a friendlier,
still direct message. Mr. Lloyd, good news. We got the McArhens account. Different cultures also
have different styles. Before choosing the direct approach,
make sure your audience is used to it. The more familiar you are with someone,
the more direct you can be. So let's review the take
away's from this lesson. Direct approaches are straight forward,
concise, and give positive or neutral news. Indirect approaches are used when
your message may cause doubt, resistance, or
you don't know how it will be received. Consider your audience when
deciding indirect or direct. Follow this format for direct approaches. One, start with the news. Two, add details or explanation. And three, conclude. Stay tuned for the next lesson where we explore
the indirect approach in much more detail. Thanks for watching English for
Management and Leadership.
