Business Communication

Lifeline of any business which exists on the planet wouldn’t deny the need for the excellent and effective communication. Growth of any organization has a direct correlation with how good the communication model it has. Expressing and organizing ideas through writing and speaking is essential part of the daily business communications its effectiveness determines growth of a overall growth of the an organization. There can be several objectives of business communication like conveying messages, expectations, information, motivation, rising moral, order and instruction and education and training.

Running a business is like running an acrobatic group activity and it’s impossible without effective communication within that group. Communication is the means to connect the people together in an organization to achieve the common goal and purpose. Since the communication so important to the organizations, they want and need people with excellent communication skills. One of the studies conducted on communication and career success says that good writing and speaking skills, along the proper etiquettes and listening skills – determines the career success and same applies to any organization.

Psychological and cultural dimensions of business communication

As per Moslow most people will responds positively to the massages that will meet their particular needs at times. To be successful communicator in the business of business you have to understand the need to of the people to whom you are communicating. Human need theory goes here again. But here in communication customer is ultimate entity we need to understand the needs. In most of the global businesses it becomes little complex and needs more sophisticated methods for successful execution of the business objectives. Cultural differences are biggest communication challenges for virtual teams and in almost all international businesses. In low-context culture expectations are expressed through words or verbalization, instead of context. People from this culture generally prefer explicit statements and directness is desirable. And in high context culture there is high tendency of use of indirect way of communication, most of the things left unsaid and meaning relies on cultural influence and parameters. Group of people with same expectations and experiences cater to this culture. Directness is considered to be rude here.

Communication, organizations and their network

Need for flowing information faster is immensely important today because of the globalization of the business territories and the competition. Not bulk of information but the relevant information is equally important to maximize the usefulness. The information received on different ends would be used for decision making and that might have very significant impact on the business growth. There are two types of communication networks in organizations i.e. formal and informal.The formal communication network is operational communication and has three main type

Downward communication

Communication flows from people at higher level to those at lower level in the hierarchy of the organization. This implies the authoritarian structure of an organization. One of the main concerns of this type of communication is lost or distorted information. And differences in the communication priorities of top management and workers are another problem. Performance feedback is one of the examples.

Upward communication

For making smart business decision management must learn what is happening in the organization. The reason they can’t be everywhere at the same time. This type of the communication helps a lot in providing new ideas and information on the work. Generally this type is found in the participative and democratic organizational environment. Techniques for upward communication – besides chi of command – are suggestion system, appeal, complaint system, counseling sessions, open door policy, and attitude survey. Here the information flow is horizontal and diagonal. This is very effective model and it speed up the information flow, understanding and coordination. Oral communication is one of the examples of this.Information communication network and relations between communicating entities are very complex to comprehend. Formal organization can’t stop people from talking to each other. And it makes really hard to understand since this group of network are continuously changing, so no clue to interlink them. It’s called as “grapevine” effect, since grapevine has no certain path of growth. Smart management will use this network effectively to spread good will among people in the organization but it’s very unpredictable type.

Better business communication

Last week I was reading Peter Drucker in his book “The Daily Drucker” and he said in one the chapters its recipient who communicates and without the listening its only noise and it’s not a communication. Active listening and reading plays as significant role in the communication. Where communication is perception, and information is logic such information is purely formal and has no meaning. It can be improved by asking recipient to initiate an information exchange. Better the communication model company has better the growth it has. Organization needs introspection, reflection and research to refine its communication model. Message is central to the all communication. Below, are some important parameters in this process should be considered to make message and model itself effective.

• Clear purpose of business message

Dealing with intra-organization communication is less complex that inter- organization communication. Hence, the business messages that are sent to the external agencies need to be carefully well thought, planned and crafted. And it should result in the good will, favorable impression of an organization.

• Organizing business message

Composing message and presenting the message should be done very carefully. Message should be understandable to focused audience; it should be acceptable, should save their time and should not be distracting. Human brain has tremendous capacity to store messages but only messages those are sequential and correlated only will make the impression in the audience’s mind.

• Integrity of the message

The proof of the sincerity and seriousness are the uncompromised aspects of the business message. That help and organization or a presenter create a trust in the audience of that message.

Growing businesses, them becoming global has increased the challenges for all organizations. And to meet challenges and breaking new grounds in this competition, organization needs effective communication models and people with excellent communication skills. The demand is mounting every quarter.

References

Books –

J. V. Thill and C. L. Bovee, Excellence in Business Communication, New York, McGraw Hill, Inc. 1991

J. M. Penrose, R. W. Rasberry, and R. J. Myers, Advanced Business Communication Singapore: Thompson Asia Pte Ltd. 2002

Peter F. Drucker, The Daily Drucker, New York, HarperCollins Publishers, Inc. 2004

Websites –

http://www.wikipedia.org/

http://en.thinkexist.com/