Business communication

• Communication is fundamental to the existence and survival of humans as well as organizations
• Communication is the process of creating and sharing ideas, information, views, facts, feelings from one place, person or group to another
• Effective communication is essential for the basic functions of management (Planning, Organizing, Leading, and Controlling)
• Business communication takes place in organizations to coordinate work and inform others about products and services
• Business communication is a tool to improve employee performance, team performance, and overall organizational performance
• The word "communication" originates from "communicare" or "communis," meaning "to impart," "to participate," "to share," or "to make common"
• Various scholars define communication differently:

  • Keith Davis: Passing information and understanding
  • John Adair: Making contact and being understood
  • William Newman and Charles Summer: Exchange of ideas, facts, opinions, or emotions
  • Louis Allen: Bridge of meaning involving telling, listening, and understanding
  • Peter Little: Process of transmitting information for understanding response
  • Murphy, Hildebrandt, and Thomas: Transmitting and receiving verbal and non-verbal messages effectively
• Business communication is goal-oriented, involving communicating rules, regulations, and policies within and outside the organization
• Early business communication was limited to paper-work and telephone calls, but now includes cell phones, video conferencing, emails, and satellite communication
• Effective business communication helps in building goodwill of an organization
• A manager must possess good communication skills to effectively communicate directions to subordinates
• Features/Characteristics of Business Communication:

  1. Practical: Deals with practical aspects of information

  2. Factual: Contains facts and figures

  3. Clear and Brief: Uses simple, clear language without ambiguity

  4. Target-Oriented: Must have a specific objective

  5. Persuasive: Often plays a persuasive role
• Business communication is an integral part of the management process, involving conveying ideas, opinions, and decisions between managers and subordinates
• Communication involves two-way traffic, requiring both transmission and reception of information
• Mutual understanding is crucial in business communication to establish human relationships and accomplish goals
• Business communication is pervasive, covering a wide range of functions and moving through all levels of management
• Communication must be continuous to avoid breakdowns leading to misunderstandings, conflicts, and unfavourable attitudes
• Business communication should be specific, dealing with a single subject at a time for effectiveness
• Good communication is a result of competent management and is an essential tool for managers
• Business communication can be internal or external, covering communication within the organization and beyond
• Business communication may be of different types such as formal, informal, upward, downward, sidewise, written, oral, etc
• Feedback is essential in communication to ensure the message is understood and the desired response is achieved
• Types of communication: formal (meetings, interviews) and informal (gossip)
• Written communication includes agenda, reports, manuals; oral communication includes conversations, presentations; non-verbal communication includes body language, symbols
• Formal communication channels in organizations are predefined pathways for circulating information and data, such as minutes of meetings, scheduled time sheets
• Formal Communication:

  • Specifically designed channels for information flow in an organization
  • Included within job descriptions and standard procedures
  • Managed by the organization's management for smooth operations
  • Used for day-to-day operational activities and decision-making processes
  • More reliable and trustworthy, often in written form
  • Time-consuming due to systematic approach
• Informal Communication:

  • Free-flowing communication without set rules
  • Does not follow fixed procedures, can flow in any direction
  • Examples include peer-to-peer communication, verbal exchanges about job roles, text messages
  • Not officially used but serves social, emotional, and personal needs
  • Not reliable, may consist of rumors and gossip
  • Spreads faster, irregular in nature
• Difference between Formal and Informal Communication:

  1. Basic idea:

  • Formal: Orderly and well-structured
  • Informal: Disorderly and may flow in any direction

  2. Operational activities:

  • Formal: Directly related to operational activities
  • Informal: Not directly related to operational activities but used by employees for daily tasks

  3. Decision making:

  • Formal: Impacts management's decision-making process
  • Informal: Not relied upon for decision making

  4. Reliability:

  • Formal: More reliable than informal
  • Informal: Not reliable, may include rumors

  5. Time consuming:

  • Formal: Time-consuming and regular
  • Informal: Spreads fast and irregular
• Communication Process:

  • Involves exchanging verbal and non-verbal messages
  • Continuous process with a prerequisite of a message
  • Components include context, sender/encoder, message, medium, recipient/decoder/receiver, feedback
• Communication Flow in an Organization:

  1. Downward Flow:

  • From higher to lower levels in the organization
  • Used for providing feedback, job instructions, organizational vision
  • Examples: organizational publications, circulars, group meetings

  2. Upward Flow:

  • From lower to higher levels in the organization
  • Provides feedback on organization's functioning
  • Allows subordinates to convey problems, share views, and participate in decision-making
  • Examples: performance reports, employee attitude surveys, letters from employees

  3. Lateral/Horizontal Communication:

  • Takes place at the same levels of hierarchy
  • Facilitates coordination and problem-solving among peers
• Lateral/Horizontal Communication:

  • Communication at the same levels of hierarchy in an organization
  • Between peers, managers at the same level, or horizontally equivalent organizational members

  Advantages:

  • Time-saving
  • Facilitates task coordination
  • Promotes cooperation among team members
  • Provides emotional and social assistance
  • Helps in problem-solving
  • Means of information sharing
  • Resolving conflicts within or between departments
• Diagonal/Crosswise Communication:

  • Information flows between persons at different levels with no direct reporting relationship
  • Occurs in emergencies

  Example: Subordinates of one department reporting to the supervisor of another department
• External Communication:

  • Between a manager and external groups like suppliers, vendors, banks
  • Important for activities like raising capital
• Importance/Advantages of Effective Communication:

  1. Mitigated conflict

  2. Increased employee engagement

  3. Improved productivity

  4. Improved client relations

  5. Healthy workplace culture

  6. Improved direction for employees

  7. Boosted employee job satisfaction

  8. Increased innovation

  9. Strengthened team building

  10. Improved public impression
• Factors Contributing to the Importance of Communication:

  • Big size of organizations
  • Growing importance of human relations
  • Public relations
  • Advances in behavioural sciences
  • Technological advances
  • Growth of trade unions
  • Consumerism
  • Distance education
• Communication Models:

  • Simplified representations of the communication process
  • Describe verbal and non-verbal communication
  • Frameworks defining how people interact to achieve goals
  • Denis McQuail's book defines models as selective representations of the dynamic process of mass communication
• Models of communication provide a visual representation of different aspects of a communication situation
• Communication models help in simplifying the understanding of the complex process of communication
• Understanding communication models can help in thinking about communication situations more deliberately, learning from previous experiences, and better preparing for future communication situations
• There are 8 major models of communication, divided into 3 categories: linear, interactive, and transactional