Business Communication

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We have seen in earlier lecture that communication
originates from a Latin word that means sharing.
Effective communication is the key to the success of not
only a student’s career but also to the career of a
professional.
It is vital in every aspect of business and so business
communication is very important in today’s competitive
environment.
For the success of any company, strong communication
skill is needed as it affects employers, employees,
customers, suppliers etc. And the basic job of
communication is to provide the right information to the
right people who understand your message correctly, that
is the way you want it to be understood.
 Process of Communication
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1. Sender– The person who has something to share.

2. Encoding: The sender here not only decides what to say
but also what the form of the message would be, for
example, words, graphics or non-verbal signals like
gestures, etc.
3. Channel: The sender decides a channel like a letter, an
e-mail or a telephone to transmit the message.
4. Message:- The sender transmits the message or the
information through the decided channel or medium.
5. Receiver : The person who gets the message.
6. Decoding: The receiver decodes the message, i.e.
extracts the idea of the sender’s purpose of sending the
message and understands the purport of the message.
7. Feedback: This is the receiver’s response to the
message that helps one evaluate the effectiveness of
the message.
 Importance of Communication
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Why is effective communication a key to the success
of any business organization?
1. Globalization of business, that is business being operated
in multiple countries instead of in just one country is a
key factor in every business today. And strong
communication skills are needed for such operation.
2. Workforce diversity in terms of age, gender, education,
cultural diversity etc. is another factor. To maintain a good
balance in such diverse working atmosphere, what you
need is good communication.
3. Complicated organizational structures are very common
these days. Even within the same organization, in one
particular city, you will come across various people and
departments you need to operate with.
4. Teamwork: Gone are the days of individual brilliance. Now
most of the companies stress on team performances and
to work in a team you certainly need to communicate well.
 Types of Communication
1. In terms of Relationship 3. In terms of Flow of
• Intrapersonal Communication
• Interpersonal • Vertical
• Group • Horizontal
• Mass • Diagonal
2. In terms of Organizational 4. In terms of Medium
Structure • Verbal ( Oral or Written)
• Formal • Non Verbal (Body language
• Informal like gesture etc.
Relationship
1. In terms of relationship, the first type is intrapersonal and that
is talking to oneself or thinking within.
2. The second type is interpersonal communication i.e. talking to
another especially in a face to face communication
3. The third type is group communication as you can see in a
school, college, in a society at large.
4. And the fourth is mass media where communication with a
larger public or mass e.g. through radio or TV takes place.
 Types of Communication – Organizational Structure
The second division is visibly prominent in the
structure of an organization.
1. Formal Communication – It’s communication with your
management for example. It is based on authority,
responsibility. Official secrecy is maintained here. A kind
of rigidity is there because of the formal nature.
2 . Informal Communication– If communication doesn’t
have a rigid structure since it’s between two or more
members in one particular organization or if it doesn’t
depend on the authority or responsibility, it’s no more
formal communication. In business communication, it’s
termed as grapevine or rumor. Since the communication
here takes the shape of a gossip among the employees
at different levels, it might have an adverse effect on the
organization. The secrecy of company facts might get
jeopardized.
 Types of Communication – Flow of Comm.
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Flow integration
of Communication is dependent on the levels of
employees in an organization.
1.Vertical Communication is divided into two parts:
•Upward – There is hierarchy in every organization. When the lower
level employees or the subordinates communicate with the top level
management and sends some grievances or some reports to the top
level, it is upward flow.
•Downward– When the top level management communicates with the
lower level in the form of orders, suggestions etc. it’s downward flow.
2.In terms of flow, the second type is horizontal or lateral
communication. When employees or peer groups that is to say
employees of the same level communicate, it’s horizontal
communication. It could be communication between one departmental
head with another departmental head or that between one employee at
a lower level with his/her colleague.
3.The third type is diagonal. If the marketing head
communicates with a junior employee in another department, it’s
diagonal. Here, it’s two level communication in two sections of any
organization e.g. communication between a senior employee of one
section and a junior employee in another section.
 Medium of Communication
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1. Verbal Communication—It shouldn’t be confused with vocal
and so this communication is both oral and written.
• ORAL communication is for example, face to face, telephonic,
communication in a meeting etc. This communication is fast and it’s
easy to remove any misunderstanding then and there only. The
disadvantage is that it’s limited in size and is difficult in remote
communication.
• The advantage of WRITTEN communication like letters or resumes is
that it’s documented and is therefore, available for future reference.
The disadvantage is that it’s difficult to amend once it’s sent and
sometimes secrecy might be an issue here.
2. Non Verbal Communication:
It comes in the form of signs, symbols, gesture, posture or any other
body language. Your facial expressions , eye contact can sometimes
communicate more than through language. A teacher for example,
doesn’t have to order a student to stand up; he/she could just order
with the gesture of his/her hand. Traffic signals are great ways of
communicating to the pedestrians or drivers. Once there is the green
signal, drivers know that they have to start and once the red one is
there, they know that they have to stop.
 Barriers to Communication
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There are certain hurdles that hinder effective
communication.
1. Physical Barriers- These are some tangible items like inadequate
equipments, faulty equipments causing noise, background noise,
uncomfortable temperature in the room etc. that create obstacles in
successful communication. For example, if the microphone doesn’t
work properly, the audience will have difficulty in understanding
the speaker.
2. Attitude or emotional noise– These are mental barriers and like
physical barriers they too hamper proper objective communication.
If the speaker or the audience is not in the proper frame of mind ,
for example, if one of them is sad or angry, communication will not
be effective.
3. Language– Even if people using the same language might face
problems while communicating due to different generations or
different regions. Sometimes, professional jargons can interfere
with effective communication.
 Barriers to Communication (Contd.)
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4. Physiological barrier– Poor health, poor eyesight or hearing
problems belong to this barrier.
5. Structural problems– This can be an inherent problem in some
organization. Bad employee training, lack of proper supervision can
create problems.
6. Cultural noise– You might be prejudiced against certain cultures or
hold some stereotyped opinion about others. This will remove
objectivity in communication. Don’t assume anything before any
communication.
7. Lack of common experience– As a speaker or sender, don’t use
examples that might be unfamiliar to your reader or audience.
8. Ambiguity and overuse of abstractions– Don’t use ambiguous
expressions and avoid generalizations. Clarity is the key to effective
communication.
9. Information Overload– Too much information at one go might bore
your audience. A large quantity of information and too many details
might distract your audience.
10. Jumping to conclusion—Listen to the complete lecture or read the
complete message. You might misunderstand the sender of the
message if you jump to the conclusion before it’s complete.
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