MODULE 1

BY Kasturi Bose

1.1. What is Business Communication ?

Communication is the mutual exchange of understanding, originating with the reciever. Communication needs to be effective in business. Communication is essence of management. The basic functions of management (Planning, Organizing, Staffing, Directing and Controlling) cannot be performed well without effective communication. Business communication involves constant flow of information. Feedback is integral part of business communication. Organizations these days are very large. It involves number of people. There are various levels of hierarchy in an organization. Greater the number of levels, the more difficult is the job of managing the organization. Communication here plays a very important role in process of directing and controlling the people in the organization. Immediate feedback can be obtained and misunderstandings if any can be avoided. There should be effective communication between superiors and subordinates in an organization, between organization and society at large(for example between management and trade unions). It is essential for success and growth of an organization. Communication gaps should not occur in any organization.

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. But now with advent of technology, we have cell phones, video conferencing, emails, satellite communication to support business communication. Effective business communication helps in building goodwill of an organization. Business Communication can be of two 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

Organizational communication is the ability of

an individual or group within a collective establishment to transmit and receive information within that collective establishment. Usually organizational communication is premised on common set goals that the collective establishment attempts to execute. Basically organizational communication flows in three directions; upward, downward and lateral. Upward implies from those who are the bulk of the organizations workforce up to the management and upper hierarchy. Downward implies from the upper ranks down to the workforce and lateral means communication back and forth almost as a simultaneous process.

 As with all forms of communication, organizational

communication has problems at times too. Some of the problems are as follows. The main problem management often illustrates is the assumption because they and a few staffers may have some information at their disposal that the rest of the organization has it as well. Usually the workforce of an organization is not aware of information unless the management or leaders make it available to them in the first place. Some organizations try so hard not to be bureaucratic that they bombard the work force with written instead of verbal communications. A lot of the workforce may not even bother to read what is written or dont have the time to do so, so they may miss important information as a result. has told something of importance to and it gets lost for that reason. One must be aware of what is being said and to whom it is said to. This is crucial to avoid major miscommunications. With that in mind often a leader or manager may say something that was not understood correctly and misinterpreted because of it. In organizational communication it is very important that when communicating things that they are made extremely clear.

Sometimes an organizational leader may forget whom he

Another problem is data versus information and opinion.

If you are executing information that is communicated it should be based on factual data rather than assumptive opinions. This can quickly alienate the population of the organization because of your lack of credibility.

When communicating downwards the hierarchy,

everyone down the chain of command should receive a copy of the organizations mission, values, and strategies and how these goals will be met. This way everyone in the organization has the same goals in mind set for the organizations progress. Make sure that everyone down the line has all the up to date rules and regulations of the organization. There should be a routine of basic tasks procedures to follow. Individual job descriptions and procedures for individuals working in the organization should also be specified. You should hold management and staff meetings on a regular basis even if there is nothing to communicate to keep the channels of communication opened.

In upward communication the staff should

feel comfortable with meeting those up the organizational ladder. Staff workers should be able to meet with organizational leaders to discuss their concerns and be heard. Leaders should solicit feed back from the staff and make notes to improve any situations of contention. When upward and downward communication runs smoothly in an organization lateral or horizontal communication back and forth develops between the staff and management making for a more efficient goal directive organization.

Grapevine Communication (Informal Business Communication) Grapevine is an informal channel of business communication. It is called so because it stretches throughout the organization in all directions irrespective of the authority levels. Man as we know is a social animal. Despite existence of formal channels in an organization, the informal channels tend to develop when he interacts with other people in organization. It exists more at lower levels of organization. Grapevine generally develops due to various reasons. One of them is that when an organization is facing recession, the employees sense uncertainty. Also, at times employees do not have self- confidence due to which they form unions. Sometimes the managers show preferential treatment and favour some employees giving a segregated feeling to other employees. Thus, when employees sense a need to exchange their views ,they go for grapevine network as they cannot use the formal channel of communication in that case. Generally during breaks in cafeteria,the subordinates talk about their superiors attitude and behaviour and exchange views with their peers. They discuss rumours about promotion and transfer of other employees. Thus, grapevine spreads like fire and it is not easy to trace the cause of such communication at times.

Examples of Grapevine Network of Communication Suppose the profit amount of a company is known. Rumour is spread that this much profit is there and on that basis bonus is declared. CEO may be in relation to the Production Manager. They may have friendly relations with each other. Pros and Cons of Grapevine Communication Advantages of Grapevine Communication Grapevine channels carry information rapidly. As soon as an employee gets to know some confidential information, he becomes inquisitive and passes the details then to his closest friend who in turn passes it to other. Thus, it spreads hastily. The managers get to know the reactions of their subordinates on their policies. Thus, the feedback obtained is quick compared to formal channel of communication. The grapevine creates a sense of unity among the employees who share and discuss their views with each other. Thus, grapevine helps in developing group cohesiveness. The grapevine serves as an emotional supportive value. The grapevine is a supplement in those cases where formal communication does not work.

Disadvantages of Grapevine Communication The grapevine carries partial information at times as it is more based on rumours. Thus, it does not clearly depicts the complete state of affairs. The grapevine is not trustworthy always as it does not follows official path of communication and is spread more by gossips and unconfirmed report. The productivity of employees may be hampered as they spend more time talking rather than working. The grapevine leads to making hostility against the executives. The grapevine may hamper the goodwill of the organization as it may carry false negative information about the high level people of the organization.
A smart manager should take care of all the disadvantages

of the grapevine and try to minimize them. At the same time, he should make best possible use of advantages of grapevine.

1.2. Internal and External Communication

Communication may be broadly classified into 2 types. They are 1) Internal Communication 2) External Communication Internal Communication- It may be defined as an exchange facts, ideas, opinions that individuals or departments of an organisation relating to purely inside matters. Information transmission of various pieces concerning what happens within an organisation rather than its relationship with the others outside an organisation. This implies the concept of internal communication. Thus internal or inside communication is concerned which implies transmission and reception of information clearly, accurately and speedily. As generally used inside communication meant giving and receiving information by all hierarchical levels. It includes vertical communication covering downward, upward and horizontal communication. It includes communication flowing at any intermediate level as well at operating level, or top management level, because internal communication is indeed required by all who work together in an organisation to accomplish common goal.

 Internal Communication may either be oral or written. Oral or verbal

communication may be face to face conversion; telephones, meetings, conferences, group discussions, personal instructions, lecturers, interviews; counselling, public address system, grapevine, gossip, social affairs, etc. Written internal communication may be through orders, memos, letters, house organs, bulletin boards, posters, information, racks, manuals, handbooks, annual reports, grievance, union publications. External Communication- In addition to the internal communication every organisation irrespective of its nature of functioning has to have communication links or network outside the organisation structure. The bigger the enterprise is, the more elaborate the external communication system must be in such organisations. It would not be out of way to emphasise that the above channels of communication work within the organisation. But in real world situation, every organisation is also linked with the outside parties in the form of suppliers, customers, government, departments, financial institutions, holding and, subsidiary companies , creditors, debenture holders, registrar of companies and other body corporates etc.

 Under all circumstances, it should be kept in mind that for

the effective running of the organisation an uninterrupted communication channel external to the organisation be maintained to keep the organisation alive and active. External communication is equally imporant as internal communication to provide a link between the employees and the shareholders and other third parties. As a matter of fact, external communication is considered as lifeblood of the modern business. External communication can be arranged by oral or verbal communication as well as through written media. Television, telephone, tele- printer, transmitters, STD, ISD, and other modern sophisticated communication technologies can be used for external communication. Written media like letters, circulars, memis, notices, legal notices, newspapers, magazines, manuals, periodical reports, pamphlets etc., are also used towards external communication. External correspondence is mostly in written form except in extraordinary cirucmstances resorting to telecommunication services.