BUSINESS COMMUNICATION IN LEGAL PRACTICE

1. Business communication and its types

2. Features of a business conversation

3. Counseling as a specific form of business communication in legal practice

4. Interaction with the media

1. Business communication and its types

Business communication is a complex multi-faceted process of developing contacts between people in the service sector. Its participants act in official statuses and are focused on achieving the goal, specific tasks. A specific feature of this process is that it is regulated, that is, it is subject to the established restrictions, which are determined by national and cultural traditions and professional ethical principles. Known "written" and "unwritten" norms of behavior in a given situation of official contact. The accepted procedure and form of doing service is called business etiquette . Its main function is the formation of rules that promote mutual understanding of people. The second is the convenience function, i.e., expediency and practicality. Modern domestic service etiquette has international characteristics, because its foundations were actually laid by the “General Regulations” of Peter 1 (1720), in which foreign ideas were borrowed.

Business etiquette includes two groups of rules: 1) norms in force in the sphere of communication between peers in status, members of the same team (horizontal); 2) the establishment that determines the nature of the contact of the head and subordinate (vertical).

The general requirement is considered to be a friendly and helpful attitude to all colleagues, partners, regardless of personal likes and dislikes.

The regulation of business interaction is also expressed in the attention to speech. The main means of official communication is the Russian literary language. It is obligatory to observe speech etiquette - norms of language behavior developed by the society, typical ready-made “formulas” that allow organizing etiquette situations of greetings, requests, thanks, etc. (for example, “hello”, “be kind”, “allow me to apologize”, “ happy to meet you ”). These sustainable structures are selected taking into account social, age, psychological characteristics.

Service contacts should be based on partnership, based on mutual requests and needs, on the interests of the cause. Undoubtedly, such cooperation increases labor and creative activity, is an important factor in the technological process of production, business.

Oral types of business communication are divided into monologue and dialogical. To monologue include:

-greeting speech;

trade speech (advertising);

- information speech;

- report (at the meeting, meeting).

The dialogue-based genres are:

-conversation;

- conversations;

-interview;

-conversation;

-discussion;

- meeting (meeting);

-press conference.

Written types of business communication are numerous official documents: a business letter, protocol, report, certificate, report and explanatory note, act, statement, contract, articles of association, regulation, instruction, decision, order, instruction, order, power of attorney, and others.

Features of the business conversation

Business conversation is understood to be verbal communication between interlocutors who have the necessary authority from their organizations and firms to establish business relations, resolve business problems or develop a constructive approach to solving them.

The main purpose of a business conversation is to convince the partner to accept your specific proposals. The objectives of the conversation are the obtaining of official information, the mutual communication of workers in the same sphere, the joint search, the advancement and operational development of working ideas and ideas, the control and coordination of the activities initiated, the stimulation of labor activity.

By the nature of the situation in which certain issues are discussed, business conversations are formal and informal , that is, with and without observance of certain rules and formalities. Business conversations can be held in the office, in the workplace, in the dining room, in the restaurant, during a walk, a friendly feast, etc.

By the nature of the issues discussed , the following types of business conversations are considered to be the most common: staffing (recruitment, dismissal, relocation); disciplinary , related to violation of labor discipline, evasion from the performance of official duties, etc .; organizational , determining the technology of the assignment; creative , dedicated to the development of the concept of a project, tasks, etc. Especially it is necessary to highlight business conversations during the reception of visitors.

Let us consider in more detail some of these types of business conversations.

Personnel conversations. Correct selection and placement of personnel has a decisive impact on the performance of any organizational structure. An important place in the solution of personnel issues is given to business conversations. which allow a manager to better understand and evaluate an employee or applicant for a position, help to form an opinion about him, to reveal his weak and strengths, to form his own position for decision making.

Of particular importance are these conversations when applying for a job. They are usually called job interviews. There are certain techniques for conducting such interviews. So, for example, A. A. Romanov in the book “The Grammar of Business Conversations” writes: “In essence, any interview in hiring is reduced to eight basic (core, basic) questions and the corresponding answers.” The author names and describes the following questions:

1. What kind of person are you?

The head-interviewer asks the applicant to tell about himself, he wants to know about the candidate as much as possible.

2. Why are you looking for a job?

For a manager it is important to understand the reasons for finding a new job, the logic of their justification.

3. How can you be helpful?

The manager finds out how much he is informed about the affairs of the organization in which he wants to work.

4. What are your strengths?

It is necessary that the applicant confirmed the presence of these qualities by examples from his practical activity, daily life. It is advisable to invite him to describe his behavior in one of the conflict situations in your organization.

5. What are your weaknesses?

This question allows us to find out how openly, sincere, psychologically balanced a candidate for a vacant position is, and whether she is able to draw lessons from her mistakes.

6. What, in your opinion, should be the head?

Care should be taken to the answers in which the applicant seeks to show his dignity, conflict-free.

7. What are your strongest achievements?

If a candidate is not able to name at least one significant success, then he is hardly ready for serious and responsible work.

8. What salary can you expect?

If the applicant underestimates the amount of his remuneration, then this often indicates his insecurity in his qualifications. The high level of payment offered by the applicant can speak of his high self-esteem, lack of a sense of reality. A serious candidate, as a rule, calls the lower and upper bounds of payment.

The listed questions essentially do not concern the content of the future work, therefore, ending the conversation with the applicant, it is advisable to ask him something like this: “Would you like to discuss something that you and I did not mention in the conversation?” . The answer to this question will show the attitude of the candidate to the future work. As A. A. Romanov writes, “a serious candidate cannot but wonder about the content of his work, about what is expected of him in this particular area of ​​work and what is expected of him in general for this position.”

When preparing for business communication, special attention should be paid to the beginning of the conversation, the first phrase, in order to give your opponent a positive reaction, interest him or neutralize him, soften his intentions. We give two examples.

1. A research institute must send an employee for an internship to a Canadian institute. According to the conditions, the age of the person being sent is no more than 35 years. The best candidate is a woman of 36 years. She was offered to take the documents to the ministry herself. Moscow. Cabinet Deputy Minister. N is included. She is offered to sit down.

- Listen to you.

- There is an opinion that 13 is an unlucky number. Today is March 13th. So I decided to check: for me it is also unlucky? It all depends on you.

On the face of the official bewilderment.

- What is the matter?

- I was offered to go to Canada for an internship. I brought the documents. You must sign them.

There is a smile on the face of the Deputy Minister.

“Can I not sign them ?!”

- But the fact is that the candidate for the trip should be no older than 35 years, and I am already 36.

- Make an exception. Internship. Good luck and success! Documents have been signed.

2. Employee N made a serious miscalculation in his work. He is called by the director of the enterprise. N understands the reason for the invitation. But a few days earlier, they had a conversation about creating a new development project. It was proposed to involve in the drafting of project S. This situation was used by N.

Director's office. N enters, looks around the office and says with surprise:

- Where is S? He has not come yet?

- Why should he come? - the director asks with no less surprise.

- Didn't you call me to discuss a new project? I thought you wanted to know what S and I have already done.

Thus, N showed his concern with the business, with the fulfillment of the assignment and assumed that it was of interest to the director. Indeed, the conversation went about the project of new developments, on which the fate of the enterprise depended.

During a business conversation, the director was convinced how much N had done, how he was trying to atone for his guilt with excellent work. Therefore, at the end of the conversation, reminding N of his misconduct, the director confined himself to a friendly suggestion, although he intended to take a severe reprimand.

Should think and how to complete the conversation . Usually, these are words of gratitude for the help and support, interesting suggestions, wishes of success and success in further cooperation, the successful resolution of all problems, etc.

Sometimes it is necessary to make it clear to the interlocutor that the conversation is over and its continuation does not make sense. There are tricks that are used to shorten the lingering conversation. Their choice depends on the importance of the conversation and the interviewer.

1. Warn the visitor before the conversation or before its completion that your time is limited and other visitors are waiting for you.

2. Agree with your secretary to interrupt the conversation and remind you about the next meeting.

3. Look at the wristwatch.

4. Make a summary of comments, summarize the conversation.

During the conversation, its participants often make various kinds of mistakes . Let's name the most typical of them:

- show authoritarianism, do not reckon with the opinion of others;

- ignore the status of the interlocutor;

- do not take into account the motives of the interlocutor;

- do not show interest in the problem of the interlocutor;

- do not listen to the interlocutor;

- interrupt the speakers;

- they say, not being sure whether they are being listened to;

- speak for a long time;

- limited to one sentence (do not use the entire bank of ideas).

The key to success in interpersonal relationships is to adhere to the rules of effective listening :

1. Try to understand, deeply realize the position of the speaker, make an analysis, conclusions. Learn to find the most valuable information in the information received.

2. Try to “catch” his true motives, emotional state, inner world behind the words of the interlocutor.

3. Maintain sustained attention to speech, do not let the side thoughts. The latter arise from the fact that the speed of thinking is 4 times faster than the speed of speaking, and the listener has “free time”.

4. Disconnect from external "interference" distracting you, do not try to listen and at the same time do another 2 - 3 cases.

5. Do not pretend that you understood, if in fact it is not. Perhaps the communicator did not leave the necessary pauses between the phrases. Optimal for listeners is the pace of their own speaking. To change a difficult situation will help reflexive listening techniques.

6. Logically plan the hearing process. The “mental advance” of the speech of the interlocutor or the speaker is one of the means of tuning to the same wavelength with him and a good method of memorizing speech.

7. Establish eye contact with the speaker. Your gestures, facial expressions should reflect the state of the interested listener who delves into speech.

8. Try to empathize with the speaker, look at things with his eyes, try to stand in his place.

9. Be patient. Always listen to the other person to the end.

10. Do not succumb to feelings of irritation or anger, if you have a negative attitude towards your communication partner or if you have heard “critical” words for you that take you out of balance, for example, “rising prices”, “dismissal”, “restriction wages. "

11. Do not be distracted by the specifics of the speaker (accent, etc.).

12. Be sure to repeat orders and instructions to yourself.

13. Make appropriate notes on paper when listening.

14. Do not make the most common mistake of novice managers, merchants: do not try to talk too much yourself, but listen to others.

There are also 2 ways of hearing:

1. Non-reflective (passive) consists in the ability not to interfere in the speech of the speaker with his remarks, in the ability to carefully remain silent. This method requires significant physical and psychological stress, a certain discipline. A non-reflexive hearing is usually used in such situations when one of the interlocutors is deeply agitated, wants to express his attitude to this or that event.

2. Reflexive (active) consists in active feedback, assisting in the expression of thoughts. This method is especially appropriate if the communication partner is waiting for support, approval, if it is necessary to understand the information deeply and accurately.

The main techniques of reflexive listening are:

1) Clarification , i.e. appeal to the interlocutor for clarification in order to obtain additional facts, judgments. (For example, "I did not understand you. Do not repeat it again?", "What do you mean?").

2) Paraphrasing is the “transfer” of someone else’s just-said statement in a different form (“As I understand you ...”, “In your opinion ...”, “In other words, you think ...”).

3) Summarizing - summing up what was heard ("If you summarize what you said, then ...", "Your main ideas, as I understand it, are ...".

4) Confirmation of contact - an invitation to speak freely and naturally. In this case, the speech is accompanied by remarks like “This is interesting,” “Yes,” “I understand you,” “It is good to hear that.”

PSYCHOLOGICAL TYPES OF INTERLOCATORS

P. Mitsic in the book “How to conduct business conversations” (M., 1983) gives a classification of possible types of interlocutors and the corresponding behaviors.

If you are able to quickly and correctly determine the psychological type of your interlocutor, then it will not be difficult for you to establish a trusting relationship and successfully interact with him. Knowing the features of each psychological type, you will be able to control the course of the conversation, reduce the risk of a conflict situation.

A POSITIVE PERSON. This is the most pleasant person, good-natured and hardworking person. The conversation with him is calm and businesslike. You will not have the hassle of communicating with representatives of this psychological type; in a conflict situation, they should seek support.

During a business meeting in which a “positive person” participates, make sure that all other interlocutors agree with his positive attitude.

SECONDARY MAN. This is an impatient, unrestrained and excited interlocutor. A characteristic feature of the "absurd person" is also the fact that he often deviates from the topic of conversation. Tactics of conducting business conversation should be such:

• if even before meeting with the “foolish man” you know that your opinions do not coincide on some issues, it is better to discuss these controversial issues with him in advance, before the beginning of the conversation

• maintain exposure, do not let yourself provoke;

• if someone else participates in a business meeting, provide refutation of the arguments of the “absurd person” to this third party;

• try to attract him to your side;

• strive to ensure that its proposals are taken into account when making a decision (if possible);

• use breaks and pauses in a business meeting to find out from the "absurd person" the reasons for his negative attitude;

• If the atmosphere of negotiations is heating up to a dangerous limit, strongly suggest a break.

ALL-KNOWN. He is sure that he knows everything about everything. On any issue, he has his own opinion, which he certainly wants to express, therefore he always demands a word. In dealing with him, it is recommended to adhere to this tactic:

• give him the opportunity to formulate interim conclusions;

• Try to put him closer to a “positive person” or to an authoritative person;

• when the “talker” begins to talk about something that is not related to the subject of discussion, tactfully interrupt him and ask him what he sees the connection with the subject of the conversation.

TRUSHING. A representative of this type is characterized by uncertainty in public speaking. He believes that it is better to remain silent than to say something that, in his opinion, can be regarded as nonsense. Communicating with him, it is necessary to observe tact and adhere to the following rules:

• resolutely stop any attempt by the audience to be ironic about his statements;

• help him formulate thoughts;

• ask him simple informative questions;

• Encourage the "little guy" for being active in the conversation: especially thank him for any more or less valuable statement, but not deliberately.

COOL-BLOOD NON-ACCESSIBLE INTERLOCATOR.

This person is withdrawn and often very distracted. The topic and situation of the conversation seem to him something far away, unworthy of his attention and efforts. In relation to him should behave this way:

• Ask a question like this: “It seems that you do not fully agree with the proposal that has just been made. We would all be very interested to know why? ”;

• In the breaks and pauses of the conversation, try to find out the reasons for his passive behavior.

UNLESS INTERLOCATED. The topic of conversation does not interest him at all. Therefore, it is necessary to make efforts to stir up such an interlocutor. Recommended:

• ask him informative questions;

• find out his personal interests and give the conversation

WHYWELD constantly asks questions about and for no reason. You can protect yourself from the hail of his questions as follows:

• redirect everything related to the topic of the conversation to the other participants, and if you are negotiating one on one, then to him;

• if you can’t give the “why” the right answer, immediately recognize that he is right.