Business Communication

Introduction:
The sharing of information between people within an enterprise that is performed for the
commercial benefit of the organization. In addition, business communication can also refer to
how a company shares information to promote its product or services to potential consumers.

The process of communication:

Sender or source
Encoding: message creation
Channel or medium
Decoding
Receiver
Feedback
Noise or interference

Sender or source
In the communication process, the sender is the individual who initiates a message and is also
called the communicator or source of communication. The sender might be a speaker, a writer, or
someone who merely gestures. The individual or the group of individuals who responds to the
sender is called the receiver or audience.

1
Encoding: message creation
In basic terms, humans communicate through a process of encoding and decoding. The encoder
is the person who develops and sends the message. As represented in Figure below, the encoder
must determine how the message will be received by the audience, and make adjustments
so the message is received the way they want it to be received

Channel or medium
A communication channel is the medium, mean, manner or method through which a message is
sent to its intended receiver. The basic channels are written (hard copy print or digital formats),
oral or spoken, and electronic and multimedia. Within those channels, business communications
can be formal, informal, or unofficial. Finally, communications can be rich or lean.

Decoding
Decoding is the process of turning communication into thoughts. For example, you may realize
you’re hungry and encode the following message to send to your roommate: “I’m hungry. Do
you want to get pizza tonight?” As your roommate receives the message, they decode your
communication and turn it back into thoughts to make meaning.

Receiver
In the communication process, the "receiver" is the listener, reader, or observer that is,
the individual (or the group of individuals) to whom a message is directed. The receiver is also
called the "audience" or decoder

2
Feedback
Feedback is your audience’s response; it enables you to evaluate the effectiveness of your
message. If your audience doesn’t understand what you mean, you can tell by the response and
then refine the message accordingly.

Noise or interference
Within business, noise refers to a barrier that slows down or reduces the efficacy
of communication. Noise can be on the sender's end, affecting how they are able to transmit the
message to the receiver

3
The objectives of communication:
To be received (heard or read)
To be understood
To be accepted
To get action (change of behavior or attitude)

When we fail to achieve any one of these, we have failed to communicate. This can often lead to
frustration and resentment expressed in phrases like ‘ don’t you understand plain English?’

But what is plain English? English after all is only a code which we use to express the thoughts
in our head, and a code can only be understood if both parties give the same meaning to the
symbols that are used.

Words are only symbols that represent things and ideas, and we attach slightly different
meanings to the words that we hear and use. The meanings that we give to the results from the
way we each interpret the world around use. The meanings that we give to words results from the
way we each interpret the world around use, and for each of us that world is seen and understood
differently.

It is therefore our individuality that is the main barrier to effective communication. The
connection between the word and the thing it represents is whatever association a particular
group or people have chosen to make

Whatever communication task you are undertaking, asking these six simple questions before you
start will give your communication a better chance of success and make the task easier

 Why?
 Who?
 Where?
 When?
 What?
 How?

4
 Why?
Why am I communicating? What is my reason for writing or speaking? What am I hoping to
achieve, Change of attitude, Change of opinion? What do I want the receiver(s) to do as a result
of my communication, What is my purpose, To inform, To persuade, To influence, To educate,
To sympathize? To entertain, To advise, To explain, To provoke, To stimulate thought?

Who?
(Receiver)
Who exactly is my audience, what sort of people are they, Personality, Education age, Status,
What do they know already about the subject of my message? A lot not much Nothing Less/more
than I do?

Where and when?

(Place and context)
Where will they be when they receive my message? In their office close to other relevant
material or isolated from the problem so that I may need to remind them of the facts? At what
point in the total matter does my message come? Am I replying to something they have raised?
or will my message represent the first they have heard about the problem/ topic/ issue? What is
my relationship with the receiver? Is the subject of my message the cause of controversy
between us? Is the atmosphere strained or cordial? Answers to these questions will help you to
find answers to the next set of questions more easily than if you had jumped straight in.

What?
(Subject)
What exactly do I want to say, What do I need to say, What do they need to know, What
information can I omit, What information must I include in order to be

The six C’s of effective communication

 Clear
 Concise
 Courteous
 Constructive
 Correct
 Complete
Conclusion:
5
6