Business Communication

1. Introduction to Business Communication

Note: The contents have been taken from different websites of Business Communication
What is Business Communication?
• Communication is neither transmission of message nor message
itself. It is the mutual exchange of understanding, originating with the
receiver. Communication needs to be effective in business.
• Business Communication is goal oriented. The rules, regulations and
policies of a company have to be communicated to people within and
outside the organization.
• Business Communication is regulated by certain rules and norms. In
early times, business communication was limited to paper-work,
telephone calls etc
Communication types:

• Oral Communication - An oral communication can be formal or

informal. Generally business communication is a formal means of
communication, like : meetings, interviews, group discussion,
speeches etc. An example of Informal business communication would
be - Grapevine.
• Written Communication - Written means of business communication
includes - agenda, reports, manuals etc.
• Non Verbal Communication - It is communication of feelings,
emotions, attitudes, and thoughts through body movements /
gestures / eye contact, etc.
Advantages of Oral Communication

• There is high level of understanding and transparency in oral communication as it is interpersonal.

• There is no element of rigidity in oral communication. There is flexibility for allowing changes in
the decisions previously taken.
• The feedback is spontaneous in case of oral communication. Thus, decisions can be made quickly
without any delay.
• Oral communication is not only time saving, but it also saves upon money and efforts.
• Oral communication is best in case of problem resolution. The conflicts, disputes and many
issues/differences can be put to an end by talking them over.
• Oral communication is an essential for teamwork and group energy.
• Oral communication promotes a receptive and encouraging morale among organizational
employees.
• Oral communication can be best used to transfer private and confidential information/matter
Disadvantages/Limitations of Oral Communication

• Relying only on oral communication may not be sufficient as business communication is

formal and very organized.
• Oral communication is less authentic than written communication as they are informal and
not as organized as written communication.
• Oral communication is time-saving as far as daily interactions are concerned, but in case of
meetings, long speeches consume lot of time and are unproductive at times.
• Oral communications are not easy to maintain and thus they are unsteady.
• There may be misunderstandings as the information is not complete and may lack essentials.
• It requires attentiveness and great receptivity on part of the receivers/audience.
• Oral communication (such as speeches) is not frequently used as legal records except in
investigation work.
• 
Advantages of Written Communication

• Written communication helps in laying down apparent principles,

policies and rules for running of an organization.
• It assists in proper delegation of responsibilities. While in case of oral
communication, it is impossible to fix and delegate responsibilities on
the grounds of speech as it can be taken back by the speaker or he
may refuse to acknowledge.
• Effective written communication develops and enhances an
organization’s image.
Disadvantages of Written Communication

• Written communication does not save upon the costs. It costs huge in
terms of stationery and the manpower employed in writing/typing
and delivering letters.
• Also, if the receivers of the written message are separated by distance
and if they need to clear their doubts, the response is not
spontaneous.
• Written communication is time-consuming as the feedback is not
immediate. The encoding and sending of message takes time.
Importance of Communication in an Organization

• Effective Communication is significant for managers in the

organizations so as to perform the basic functions of management,
i.e., Planning, Organizing, Leading and Controlling.
• Communication helps managers to perform their jobs and
responsibilities.
• Communication serves as a foundation for planning. All the essential
information must be communicated to the managers who in-turn
must communicate the plans so as to implement them.
• Communication promotes motivation by informing and clarifying the employees about
the task to be done, the manner they are performing the task, and how to improve their
performance if it is not up to the mark.
• Communication is a source of information to the organizational members for decision-
making process as it helps identifying and assessing alternative course of actions.
• Communication also plays a crucial role in altering individual’s attitudes, i.e., a well
informed individual will have better attitude than a less-informed individual.
Organizational magazines, journals, meetings and various other forms of oral and written
communication help in moulding employee’s attitudes.
• Communication also helps in socializing. In todays life the only presence of another
individual fosters communication. It is also said that one cannot survive without
communication.
• As discussed earlier, communication also assists in controlling process. It helps controlling
organizational member’s behaviour in various ways. There are various levels of hierarchy
and certain principles and guidelines that employees must follow in an organization. They
must comply with organizational policies, perform their job role efficiently and
communicate any work problem and grievance to their superiors. Thus, communication
helps in controlling function of management.
Components of Communication Process

• Communication is a process of exchanging verbal and non verbal

messages. It is a continuous process. Pre-requisite of communication
is a message. This message must be conveyed through some medium
to the recipient. It is essential that this message must be understood
by the recipient in same terms as intended by the sender. He must
respond within a time frame. Thus, communication is a two way
process and is incomplete without a feedback from the recipient to
the sender on how well the message is understood by him.
The main components of communication process are:

• Context - Communication is affected by the context in which it takes place. This context may
be physical, social, chronological or cultural. Every communication proceeds with context. The
sender chooses the message to communicate within a context.
• Sender / Encoder - Sender / Encoder is a person who sends the message. A sender makes use
of symbols (words or graphic or visual aids) to convey the message and produce the required
response. For instance - a training manager conducting training for new batch of employees.
Sender may be an individual or a group or an organization. The views, background, approach,
skills, competencies, and knowledge of the sender have a great impact on the message. The
verbal and non verbal symbols chosen are essential in ascertaining interpretation of the
message by the recipient in the same terms as intended by the sender.
• Message - Message is a key idea that the sender wants to communicate. It is a sign that elicits
the response of recipient. Communication process begins with deciding about the message to
be conveyed. It must be ensured that the main objective of the message is clear.
• Medium - Medium is a means used to exchange / transmit the message. The sender
must choose an appropriate medium for transmitting the message else the message
might not be conveyed to the desired recipients. The choice of appropriate medium of
communication is essential for making the message effective and correctly interpreted by
the recipient. This choice of communication medium varies depending upon the features
of communication. For instance - Written medium is chosen when a message has to be
conveyed to a small group of people, while an oral medium is chosen when spontaneous
feedback is required from the recipient as misunderstandings are cleared then and there.
• Recipient / Decoder - Recipient / Decoder is a person for whom the message is
intended / aimed / targeted. The degree to which the decoder understands the message
is dependent upon various factors such as knowledge of recipient, their responsiveness
to the message, and the reliance of encoder on decoder.
• Feedback - Feedback is the main component of communication process as it permits the
sender to analyze the efficacy of the message. It helps the sender in confirming the
correct interpretation of message by the decoder. Feedback may be verbal (through
words) or non-verbal (in form of smiles, sighs, etc.). It may take written form also in form
of memos, reports, etc.
Communication Flows in an Organization

• Downward
• Upward
• Lateral
• Diagonal
• External
Downward Flow of Communication: 
• Communication that flows from a higher level in an organization to a
lower level is a downward communication. In other words,
communication from superiors to subordinates in a chain of
command is a downward communication. This communication flow is
used by the managers to transmit work-related information to the
employees at lower levels. Employees require this information for
performing their jobs and for meeting the expectations of their
managers.
Upward Flow of Communication:
•  Communication that flows to a higher level in an organization is
called upward communication. It provides feedback on how well the
organization is functioning. The subordinates use upward
communication to convey their problems and performances to their
superiors.
Lateral / Horizontal Communication: 
• Communication that takes place at same levels of hierarchy in an
organization is called lateral communication, i.e., communication
between peers, between managers at same levels or between any
horizontally equivalent organizational member.
Diagonal Communication:
•  Communication that takes place between a manager and employees
of other workgroups is called diagonal communication. It generally
does not appear on organizational chart. For instance - To design a
training module a training manager interacts with an Operations
personnel to enquire about the way they perform their task.
External Communication:
•  Communication that takes place between a manager and external
groups such as - suppliers, vendors, banks, financial institutes etc. For
instance - To raise capital the Managing director would interact with
the Bank Manager.
Functional Structure of Organization
Product Based Structure
Geographical based Structure
Process Based structure
Significance of the Communication
Conflict Management Techniques

Conflict situations are an important aspect of the workplace. A conflict is a

situation when the interests, needs, goals or values of involved parties
interfere with one another. 

http://www.personalityexplorer.com/freeresources/conflictmanagementtech
niques.aspx
What Animal Are You?
Conflict Resolution Strategies

• Forcing
• Win Win
• Compromising
• Withdrawing
• Smoothing
Communication Barriers
• Communication is a process beginning with a sender who encodes the
message and passes it through some channel to the receiver who
decodes the message.
• Communication is fruitful if and only if the messages sent by the
sender is interpreted with same meaning by the receiver. If any kind
of disturbance blocks any step of communication, the message will be
destroyed.
• Perceptual and Language Differences: Perception is generally how
each individual interprets the world around him. All generally want to
receive messages which are significant to them. But any message
which is against their values is not accepted. A same event may be
taken differently by different individuals.
• The linguistic differences also lead to communication breakdown.
Same word may mean different to different individuals. For example:
consider a word “value”.
• Information Overload: Managers are surrounded with a pool of
information. It is essential to control this information flow else the
information is likely to be misinterpreted or forgotten or overlooked.
As a result communication is less effective.
• Inattention: At times we just not listen, but only hear. For example a
traveler may pay attention to one “NO PARKING” sign, but if such sign
is put all over the city, he no longer listens to it. Thus, repetitive
messages should be ignored for effective communication. Similarly if
a superior is engrossed in his paper work and his subordinate
explains him his problem, the superior may not get what he is saying
and it leads to disappointment of subordinate.
• Time Pressures: Often in organization the targets have to be achieved
within a specified time period, the failure of which has adverse
consequences. In a haste to meet deadlines, the formal channels of
communication are shortened, or messages are partially given, i.e., not
completely transferred. Thus sufficient time should be given for effective
communication.
• Distraction/Noise: Communication is also affected a lot by noise to
distractions. Physical distractions are also there such as, poor lightning,
uncomfortable sitting, unhygienic room also affects communication in a
meeting. Similarly use of loud speakers interferes with communication.
• Emotions: Emotional state at a particular point of time also affects
communication. If the receiver feels that communicator is angry he
interprets that the information being sent is very bad. While he takes it
differently if the communicator is happy and jovial (in that case the
message is interpreted to be good and interesting).
• Complexity in Organizational Structure: Greater the hierarchy in an
organization (i.e. more the number of managerial levels), more is the
chances of communication getting destroyed. Only the people at the
top level can see the overall picture while the people at low level just
have knowledge about their own area and a little knowledge about
other areas.
• Poor retention: Human memory cannot function beyond a limit. One
cant always retain what is being told specially if he is not interested or
not attentive. This leads to communication breakdown.
Overcoming Communication Barriers

• Eliminating differences in perception: The organization should ensure that it is

recruiting right individuals on the job. It’s the responsibility of the interviewer
to ensure that the interviewee has command over the written and spoken
language. There should be proper Induction program so that the policies of the
company are clear to all the employees. There should be proper trainings
conducted for required employees (for eg: Voice and Accent training).
• Use of Simple Language: Use of simple and clear words should be emphasized.
Use of ambiguous words and jargons should be avoided.
• Reduction and elimination of noise levels: Noise is the main communication
barrier which must be overcome on priority basis. It is essential to identify the
source of noise and then eliminate that source.
• Active Listening: Listen attentively and carefully. There is a difference
between “listening” and “hearing”. Active listening means hearing with
proper understanding of the message that is heard. By asking questions the
speaker can ensure whether his/her message is understood or not by the
receiver in the same terms as intended by the speaker.
• Emotional State: During communication one should make effective use of
body language. He/she should not show their emotions while
communication as the receiver might misinterpret the message being
delivered. For example, if the conveyer of the message is in a bad mood then
the receiver might think that the information being delivered is not good.
• Simple Organizational Structure: The organizational structure should not be
complex. The number of hierarchical levels should be optimum. There should
be a ideal span of control within the organization. Simpler the organizational
structure, more effective will be the communication.
• Avoid Information Overload: The managers should know how to prioritize their
work. They should not overload themselves with the work. They should spend
quality time with their subordinates and should listen to their problems and
feedbacks actively.
• Give Constructive Feedback: Avoid giving negative feedback. The contents of the
feedback might be negative, but it should be delivered constructively. Constructive
feedback will lead to effective communication between the superior and
subordinate.
• Proper Media Selection: The managers should properly select the medium of
communication. Simple messages should be conveyed orally, like: face to face
interaction or meetings. Use of written means of communication should be
encouraged for delivering complex messages. For significant messages reminders can
be given by using written means of communication such as : Memos, Notices etc.
• Flexibility in meeting the targets: For effective communication in an organization the
managers should ensure that the individuals are meeting their targets timely without
skipping the formal channels of communication. There should not be much pressure
on employees to meet their targets.
Seven C’s of Effective Communication

• Completeness - The communication must be complete. It should convey all

facts required by the audience. The sender of the message must take into
consideration the receiver’s mind set and convey the message accordingly. A
complete communication has following features:
• Complete communication develops and enhances reputation of an organization.
• Moreover, they are cost saving as no crucial information is missing and no additional
cost is incurred in conveying extra message if the communication is complete.
• A complete communication always gives additional information wherever required. It
leaves no questions in the mind of receiver.
• Complete communication helps in better decision-making by the
audience/readers/receivers of message as they get all desired and crucial information.
• It persuades the audience.
• Conciseness - Conciseness means wordiness, i.e, communicating what
you want to convey in least possible words without forgoing the other
C’s of communication. Conciseness is a necessity for effective
communication. Concise communication has following features:
• It is both time-saving as well as cost-saving.
• It underlines and highlights the main message as it avoids using excessive and
needless words.
• Concise communication provides short and essential message in limited
words to the audience.
• Concise message is more appealing and comprehensible to the audience.
• Concise message is non-repetitive in nature.
• Consideration - Consideration implies “stepping into the shoes of
others”. Effective communication must take the audience into
consideration, i.e, the audience’s view points, background, mind-set,
education level, etc. Make an attempt to envisage your audience, their
requirements, emotions as well as problems. Ensure that the self-
respect of the audience is maintained and their emotions are not at
harm. Modify your words in message to suit the audience’s needs
while making your message complete. Features of considerate
communication are as follows:
• Emphasize on “you” approach.
• Empathize with the audience and exhibit interest in the audience. This will
stimulate a positive reaction from the audience.
• Show optimism towards your audience. Emphasize on “what is possible”
rather than “what is impossible”. Lay stress on positive words such as jovial,
committed, thanks, warm, healthy, help, etc.
• Clarity - Clarity implies emphasizing on a specific message or goal at a
time, rather than trying to achieve too much at once. Clarity in
communication has following features:
• It makes understanding easier.
• Complete clarity of thoughts and ideas enhances the meaning of message.
• Clear message makes use of exact, appropriate and concrete words.
• Concreteness - Concrete communication implies being particular and
clear rather than fuzzy and general. Concreteness strengthens the
confidence. Concrete message has following features:
• It is supported with specific facts and figures.
• It makes use of words that are clear and that build the reputation.
• Concrete messages are not misinterpreted.
• Courtesy - Courtesy in message implies the message should show the sender’s
expression as well as should respect the receiver. The sender of the message
should be sincerely polite, judicious, reflective and enthusiastic. Courteous
message has following features:
• Courtesy implies taking into consideration both viewpoints as well as feelings of the
receiver of the message.
• Courteous message is positive and focused at the audience.
• It makes use of terms showing respect for the receiver of message.
• It is not at all biased.
• Correctness - Correctness in communication implies that there are no
grammatical errors in communication. Correct communication has following
features:
• The message is exact, correct and well-timed.
• If the communication is correct, it boosts up the confidence level.
• Correct message has greater impact on the audience/readers.
• It checks for the precision and accurateness of facts and figures used in the message.
• It makes use of appropriate and correct language in the message.
Story of Silva Raker
• She is working in Nature Company of USA
• They sell earings
• She believes that:
o you need to be polite and genuine
o Keep every one informed
o Treating people well is part of every day example
She has an idea for christams

• She wants to order silver lizard earings

From an artist who hand cast them in his
Basement
• She needs 10,000 this time instead of
1,000
Her message was:
You really have to establish a rapport people and trust
You have got something great here. Here is the response we are getting
How many earings can you producein a week? Tell me about your setup
and staff – What are the limiting factors? Is there a component that you
can’t get enough of?

Challenge or Imposible task?

How to write Business message/Requestj
• Direct Statement of the Request or main idea
• Polite request in question form
• Question that is part of a request
• Justification, Explaination, and Details
Communication at Steinway & Sons
Their communication with their Piano players
Their strategy of communication..
• They believe that “Steinway is the only piano on which the pianist can
do everything he/she wants and everything he/she dreams”
• They support their customers by advertising their concerts, attending
their concerts and sending them feedback.
• Goodrich says “I try to emphasize the positive,” “There are a lot of
different ways that you can be very positive and supportive and
enthusiastic without being dishonest.”
Routine messages of Good will & Good
News
• Focus on what is the single most important message you have for the
audience.
• Write direct and precise opening sentence.
• Provide necessary details, answer questions in the order they were
asked.
• Courteous close – Your message is most likely to succeed if your
audience is left with the feeling that you have their personal welfare
in mind
Check list of positive replies
• Avoid obvious statements (I am pleased to)
• Express your interest
• Indicate what you have done and what will you do
• Avoid clichés (“Please feel free to”)
• Make the reader's action easy
• Direct a request to the reader
Assignment Guidelines
• On one key point
• Keep it short
• Tell the readers upfront why they should care
• Offer specific recommendations
• Make your op-ed timely check the newspaper’s print guidelines
• Keep it brief and to the point
• Make your letter timely
• Localize your letter
• Use “levels of thought” as a method for organizing your letter
• Use “levels of thought” as a method for organizing your letter
• Write about good news, not just bad
• Include your name, title, address and daytime phone number
• Consider other newspapers for publication
• Focus your message
• Review the opinion pages
Importance of Intercultural BC
• Communication with diverse work force
• Communication with cultures abroad
Basics of Intercultural Business
Communication
• Understanding
• Recognizing the differences
• Dealing with barriers
Few tips
• Learning about cultures
• Developing intercultural communication
• Negotiating across cultures
• Handling written and oral communication