What makes a good blog?

A good blog is something that can contribute to a creative society by creative means. Creativity comes in a variety of forms through visuals, form of expression, layout and physical design, and subject matter, not to mention delivery of subject matter. If one was to creatively present a blog about organic coffee, it should expressively pull the audience into the aromatic world of the bean, intoxicatingly reeling in people through its presence and aesthetics. The idea of creatively presenting a more academic topic comes at greater challenge. Academics can still be presented in an interesting manner. In this course we accumulate the knowledge gained throughout the communications major and formulate a blog to deliver a specified set of information. The communications major prepares the individual to understand technical writing to properly understand how a platform, and technological medium as blogging can be utilized to reach an audience appropriately. In regarding three fellow classmates’ blogs I was able to acquire more, practical knowledge regarding the creative use of blogs in reaching an audience, through their own design and in comparison of my own crafted blog.

The first blog I reviewed was created by Deneishreon Washington, found at http://communicationjourney2013.blogspot.com/2013/06/delivering-bad-news-tactfully-and.html. This blog takes more of an academic approach to presenting the blog posts. She borders the centered text with a wallpaper picturing shelved library books, which brings a whimsical look to the subject matter. Dee, choose a very neat look for the layout, centering the text on an eggshell colored background, and plain black text. Her header is simple with the title of the present course, Communication 480, in eggshell, on a taupe background. The color scheme suits the book border well, and equally the subject theme.

Dee’s blog is easy to read by aesthetics alone, but it could stand a bit more of a splash of color. Perhaps some images, not necessarily pictures, but graphics could parallel well with her theme while complementing the subject matter. It could also use some warm touches like a pic of herself, or some icon to represent the person attached to the text. The ideas presented in the text are cohesive and present a good working knowledge of practicing communications. However, the articles could use some further editing and proofing.

The following blog considered was created by Jeannie Swint, http://thereshouldbea12stepprogramforthis.blogspot.com/. This blog is of great contrast to the previous, using many visuals throughout the blog. Each post is accompanied by a complementary graphic or picture to visualize what the text is presenting. The colors are set in a unique scheme: a charcoal gray geometric background pulls the reader’s eyes toward the text. The text is centered on a plain charcoal background with white text, which makes it easy to read through, as well as visually interesting. The visuals sometimes carry the text; indeed, often I find myself looking at the pictures only to realize I had not been reading the text.

The text itself is full of creative thought and ties together well to suit one audience, whether that audience fits the classmates of a communications course, or people plainly interested in commentary on human interaction. The blog is strong with its level of visuals and its blogger profile and picture in the margin, yet the posts still require some proofing and editing. The post “Be careful: your faux pas is showing…” (June 27, 2013) still needs some formatting assistance to group text together. This blog is a great reference point for visuals absolutely.

The third blog was put together at http://coffeewithcolette.blogspot.com/, by Tracy (Colette) Tennant. This blog captures more of a heartfelt presence in its text rich posts. The blog posts featured are lengthier than others reviewed, employing an approach to the heart. They tell stories and use dynamic text to give imaginative and real events to allow readers to comprehend the communications principles included. The posts provide great insight into what it means to use a proper understanding of communications in daily life. Together they create a cohesive blog to reach any mom-blogger, the individual studying such a subject, or the single girl. The name says it all in its truest of personal approaches using: coffeewithcolette.blogspot.com.  The layout, lastly, makes reading though the text clean and clear, with proper line and paragraph breaks, text size, and use of bulleting to break up monotony. The wallpaper is subtle and whimsical, while allowing the audience to concentrate on the readings.

All of these blogs are invariably different, using different color schemes to enhance the visual display of the text, employing visuals, and through a functional or whimsical use of text. Each of these blogs brings something creative to blogging. For the use of my own blog they show me the ability of versatility even when our posts parallel in topics, they are altered in usage and presentation. I see for myself, I can choose to maintain my blog, but be sure to continually tie in my own creative touches; I feel in these considerations of each blog that what makes a good blog is ingenuity and creativity. People enjoy being a part of things that are new, whether that means how I introduce visuals or how I creatively write my post material, I need to carve that freshness for myself.   

           

 

References:

Swint, Jeannie. (27 June, 2013). http://thereshouldbea12stepprogramforthis.blogspot.com/. Retrieved 8 July, 2013.

Tennant, Tracy. (1 July, 2013). http://coffeewithcolette.blogspot.com/. Retrieved 8 July, 2013.

Washington, Deneishreon. (6 July, 2013). http://communicationjourney2013.blogspot.com/2013/06/delivering-bad-news-tactfully-and.html. Retrieved 8 July, 2013.

Considering a scenario of employee communication

Employee communication

            In communication with people it is necessary to understand ones purpose beforehand. Understanding ones purpose can prepare oneself for the confrontation when needing to deliver negative information especially. Should I be in the position of managing a team of employees that would require me to present negative information it would be required of me to present myself well, with confidence and preparedness. Bad news can open doors for miscommunication, anger, and generally poor reception in listening skills. If it came to my needing to present an employee with negative information I would need to get all of my ducks in a row in order to present the information with the upmost consideration for that individual, his feelings, culture, and understanding of the situation.

            In considering of the scenario that I should be the manager of a mid-sized company and an employee had become confrontational there may be many plausible ways by which the situation could be managed. I can before approaching the employee try to assess his behavior as of late. Perhaps there is a reason for the change in behavior. It occurs that in stress people can become angered and feel an inability to cope with the surmounting pressure. It can also occur that in the absence of stimulation at work boredom can produce a substandard level of work. People who feel unchallenged sometimes meet a point at which they feel that their efforts are without reward and may begin to withdraw from performing well at work because of the lack (Cahn, 2007). If it was discovered that part of the belligerent employee’s problem met the criteria for either of these stress related issues, measures could be met in order to try to rectify the problem. In the lack of stimulation the employee could be placed on certain projects that would be catered to his skills, if available, or even be given special assignment to learn a new skill within the company. Something a change of scenery can do wonders. In the case of being overworked, some smaller tasks could be reallocated to other employees to balance the workload.

            There does come a point however, when employees run their course in the company and need the chance to consider for themselves if this is the case. Approaching the employee should come in the upmost care. “Effective conflict management occurs when our communication behavior produces desirable results for all the parties concerned” (Cahn, 2007, p.8) I would ask him to my office. Upon arrival I would sit near to the employee not separated by the desk in order to try to create some trust away from the position of authority. It would be my hope that in so doing I would gain better ground for conversation and reason. In conversation I would be direct, establishing the problem as a matter of effect on the business and increased difficulty of organizational efficiency because of the employee’s behavior and actions. By illustrating the effect I am allowing the employee to take note of the responsibility and accountability he holds to the organization and its people. After I deliver this information I would alert the employee to his options in rectifying the error, increase his standing in the company or face dismissal.

            It would be my hope that he would come to terms with the information I presented and want to fix the problem for the sake of his job. It may come to this though, that he would no longer find attachment to the position and want to be let go, perhaps even put in his notice. There of course lies the option that he would feel the information to be unjustified and become aggravated. Perhaps he would feel wronged by the company, hence “causing” his recent mood, and this news would only feel like salt in the wound. In this case, should the employee become greatly confrontational it would be healthiest for the organization to discontinue employee.

 

Cahn, D.D., & Abigail, R.A. (2007). Managing conflict through communication (4th ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc. ISBN: 978-0-205-68556-1