Business Communication

Effective communication is the exchange of information between people or groups with

feedback. Feedback is the response to a message by the receiver. Businesses communicate
externally with suppliers, customers, shareholders and internally with people within the
organization.
Importance of effective communication
- Staff motivation
- Speed up the decision making process
- Speed of response to market changes
- Reduces the risk of errors
- Assist in problem solving
- Effective coordination between departments
Communication methods – the media used in communicating
Communication media is the method used to communicate a message. The choice of the method
to communicate a message can have a significant effect on effectiveness.
1. Oral communication.
This can be one-to-one conservations, interviews, appraisal sessions, group meetings or team
briefings. It allows for two way communication and feedback and this should encourage good
motivation. It allows the sender or the transmitter to reinforce the message with appropriate body
language. However it can be ambiguous and can be costly in terms of time.
The strengths of oral communication include; easy to understand, direct, can be varied to suit the
needs of the receiver and can be questioned quickly. The weakness are; can be quickly forgotten,
no permanent accurate record, passive, affected by noise and need to listen carefully.
Written communication
Many managers still like everything to be in writing. They will, therefore tend to use letters,
memos, notices on boards, reports and minutes of meetings.
The strengths of written communication include, permanent record, more structured, easy to
distribute, cannot be varied and be referred again. Its weaknesses include, it is often difficult to
read, no body language, message identical to each receiver, feedback slower, no immediate
response, may be misinterpreted, costly and time consuming.
IT and web-based media (electronic media)
These have the benefit of speed and often combined with a written record. Internet and e-mail
use, intranets, fax messages, video/web-conferencing and smartphones, including the use of
social media, have all revolutionized business communication in recent years.
Its advantages include that it encourage response, great speed, interactive, messages can be sent
to many people, overcomes global boundaries and good image for external communication.
The drawbacks include that it may require staff to be trained , direct contact is lost, it can create
sense of isolation, risk of communication overload, security issues, expensive in hardware,
cannot always be received eg poor internet access and relies on receiver responding and
acknowledging.
Visual communication
This can be used to accompany and support oral, written or electronic communication. Diagrams,
pictures, charts and pages of computer images can be presented by using overhead projection,
interactive white boards, data projectors, downloads and other means.
Strengths: more interactive, demands attention, often easy to remember and create greater
interest.
Weaknesses: needs close attention, sometimes too fast, not always clear and interpretations by
receivers may differ.
Barriers to effective communication
There are three broad reasons why barriers to communication occur;
1. Failure in one of the stages of the communication process
- The media chosen might be inappropriate.
- If a receiver forgot part of the message given to them orally, then a written version would
have been more appropriate.
- A misleading or an incomplete message would result in poor understanding.
- The excessive use of technical jargon.
- If there is too much information.
- If the channel of communication is too long.
2. Poor attitudes of either the sender or the receiver.
- If the sender is not trusted
- Unmotivated or alienated workers make poor receivers.
- Intermediaries- those on the communication channel – may decide not to pass on a
message, or to change it, if they are poorly motivated.
- The sender may have such a poor opinion or perception of the receiver that no effort is
made to ensure clarity of message or to check on understanding.
3. Physical reasons
- Poor quality of the external environment can limit effective communication eg noisy
factories are not the best environment for communication.
- Geographical distance can inhibit effective communication.
Reducing communication barriers
- Ensure the message is clear and precise, but adequately detailed.
- Keep the communication channel as short as possible-+-
- Make sure that channels of communication are clear to all involved.
- Build in feedback to the communication process so that problems with the receipt or
understanding of the message can be checked quickly.
- Establish trust between senders and receivers.
- Ensure that physical conditions are appropriate for messages to be heard or received in
other ways.
Formal communication channels
These are the official communication channels and routes used within an organization.
The chain method
This is typically used in hierarchical structure such as the police, army and civil services. One
person, at the top, starts off the communication message and this passed on to the next person on
the lower level. It has a long chain of command and communication is one-way. It does not
encourage two-way communication and individuals at the end of the chain can feel isolated and
demotivated.
The vertical network
This method can be used in a small department or any situation with a narrow span of control.
The head of departmental communicating directly to the subordinates.
The wheel network
The leader is in control and can limit formal contact between others. There could be two-way
communication between the leader and each of the other parts of the wheel, but horizontal
communication is poor. This network might represent the situation of a regional communicating
to each of the branch or site managers.
The circle network
In this network each person or department can communicate with only two others. There is no
obvious leader and it might be difficult for all members of the circle to agree a new strategy
between them because of the slow rate of communicating with the whole group. These method
do not allow the receiver to question the message, to ask for further explanations or to discuss
with the sender. They no assurance that the message has been received, understood and acted
upon.
The integrated or connected network.
This allows full two-way communication between any group members. It is typical of team
meeting or brainstorming sessions. It allows a participative style of decision making and can
assist in solving complex problems where input from all group members is needed.
One-way or two-way communication
One way communication is any method of communication that do not allow for or encourage
feedback from the receiver of the message. Examples of messages using this approach include
safety notices on machinery, message pinned on noticeboards or written instructions. It do not
allow the receiver to question the message, to ask for further explanations or to discuss with the
sender. They no assurance that the message has been received, understood and acted upon.
Two-way communication allows for feedback eg meetings, team briefings and intranet links. It
prove to be much more motivating because it allows for participation. It is essential for
democratic leadership style to operate. However it is time consuming and is inappropriate for
some messages that give clear information that cannot be argued for. The links between effective
communication and motivation are explained below.
1. motivation – effective communication
well motivated staff- more likely to listen and respond positively to messages – better and
more accurate communication.
2. Effective communication – motivation
 Effective communication- staff are more likely to feel involved will receive constant
feedback- shorter communication channels reduce remoteness from the top- leads to
better motivated staff.
Horizontal communication
-It refers to contacts (formal or informal) between people at the same level within the
organization. It is coordinative in nature and usually involves sharing information, resolving
conflicts and solving problems across the organizational structure. Communication is always
better if it is two-way. The common problems of horizontal communication are:
- different departments may not understand the culture, ways of working, objectives or technical
language of the others.
- the outlook and objectives of different departments could conflict eg spending money on
advertising campaign that the finance department feels is unnecessary.
The establishment of a matrix structure could help to eliminate these problems.
Informal communication
These are unofficial channels of communication that exist between informal groups within an
organization. It sometimes referred to as grapevine. It take place in the rest room or over the
lunch table or in meetings before the official agenda begins.
Some managers think informal communication serves useful purposes:
- All information can help to create important feelings of belonging and social cohesion.
- Management can use the grapevine to test out new ideas and see what the unofficial
reaction might be.
- Can help to clarify official messages by talking them over with friends.
Some managers want to reduce informal communication as much as possible because:
- It wastes valuable time
- It spreads gossip and rumours and these can be unsettling and lead to feeling of insecurity
- It may result in informal groups binding together to resist management decisions.