INTRODUCTION TO BUSINESS

COMMUNICATION
CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION TO BUSINESS
COMMUNICATION
What is Business Communication?
Purpose of Business Communication
Types of communication
Channel of Communication(Flow of communication)
Communication Process
Communication Barriers
 DEFINITION
Your business success depend on your ability to
communicate inside and outside your
organization
Communication is the process of sending and
receiving messages.
Process of transferring information and
meaning between senders and receivers, using
one or more written, oral, visual, or electronic
channels.
 IMPORTANCE OF COMMUNICATION

.Communication is important because it is

about how information is sent and received
within firms.
. The way information is communicated is often
governed by how firms are structured.
. Increase productivity
. Focus resources
. Improve morale
 EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION
Communication is effective only when people:
Understand the message correctly.
Respond to the message the way the sender wants to.

The benefit of effective communication:

Stronger decision making based on timely, reliable
information
Faster problem solving
Earlier warning of potential problems
Increased productivity and lower costs
Stronger business relationships
Clearer and more persuasive marketing messages
Enhanced professional images for both employers and
companies.
 Communication connects an organization
with all its stakeholders ( customers,
employees, shareholders, suppliers,
neighbours, the community and the nation).
To make your message effective, make
them
Practical : provide practical information
Factual : give facts rather than impression
Concise: clarify and condense information
Clear about expectation: state precise
responsibilities
Persuasive : persuade other and offer
recommendation
WHAT IS BUSINESS COMMUNICATION?

Forms of communication that occur within an

organization( verbal, non-verbal, formal, informal)
in order to carry out the organizational functions.
Purpose of Business Communication

It can integrates all the managerial functions of

management such as planning, leading
organizing and controlling.

Can effect changes and also influences actions

between the internal environment and external
environment.
To meet organizational needs and goals
 TYPES OF COMMUNICATION
Oral Communication

Written Communication

Nonverbal Communication

Technological Communication
 TYPES OF COMMUNICATION
Oral Communication
Allforms of spoken information; by far the most
preferred type of communication used by managers.
Written Communication
Letters,
memos, policy manuals, reports, forms, and
other documents used to share information in an
organization.
 TYPES OF COMMUNICATION
Nonverbal Communication
Kinesic behavior, or body motion, such as gestures, facial
expressions, and eye behavior.
Physical characteristics, such as body shape, physique,
posture, height, and weight.
Paralanguage, such as voice quality, speech rate, pitch, and
laughing.
Environment, such as building and room design, furniture,
light, noise, and cleanliness.
Time, such as being late or early, keeping others waiting.
Proxemics, such as the way people perceive space, seating
arrangements, and conversational distance.
 TYPES OF COMMUNICATION
Technological Communication
Telecommuting or telework
The practice of working at a remote site by using a computer
linked to a central office or other employment location.
Electronic mail (e-mail)
Sending messages through computerized text-processing and
communication networks.
Video conferencing
An umbrella term for technologies that use live video to unite
widely dispersed company operations.
The Internet
Essentially, everything can be done on the internet.
FLOWS OF COMMUNICATION
 FLOWS OF COMMUNICATION
Messages flow into, through, and out of business
organization in a variety of ways.
Internal communication takes place between people inside a
company;
External communication takes place between a company
and outside parties.
Formal communication network: Ideas and
information flow along the lines of command in the
companys organization structure.
Informal communication network: Referred to as the
grapevine, that encompassess all communication that
takes place outside the formal network.
 FLOWS OF COMMUNICATION
Downward communication
Messages sent from individuals at higher levels of the organization to
those at lower levels.
Upward communication
Messages sent up the line from subordinates to managers.
Horizontal communication
The flow of information that occurs both within and between
departments.
Effective organizations encourage horizontal communication because it
increases:
Coordination
Collaboration
Cooperation
 FLOWS OF COMMUNICATION
Grapevine
Is the various paths through which informal
communication is passed through an organization.
Grapevine patterns:
1. The single-strand grapevine
Single strand A tells B, B tells C,
C tells D and so on. This type of
grapevine is least accurate at
passing on information.
Example: MGT269 cancelled
and replaced next day
 FLOWS OF COMMUNICATION
2. The Gossip Grapevine
One person seeks out and tells
everyone the information he has
obtained. This type of grapevine
is often used when information of
an interesting but non-job related
nature is being conveyed.
 FLOWS OF COMMUNICATION
3. Probability
Individual are indifferent about
whom they offer information to.
They tell people at random, and
those people in turn tell others at
random.
 FLOWS OF COMMUNICATION
4. Cluster
Person A conveys the information to
a few selected individuals that he or
she trusts. They are most likely to pass
on information that is interesting to them
and job related. It is a dominant grapevine
pattern in organization
COMMUNICATION PROCESS
 COMMUNICATION PROCESS
Social Context
The setting in which the communication takes place.
Sender
The sender initiates the communication process by encoding
his or her meaning and sending the message through a
channel.
Encoding translates the senders ideas into a systematic set
of symbols or a language expressing the communicators
purpose.
Messages
The tangible forms of coded symbols that are intended to
give a particular meaning to the information or data.
 COMMUNICATION PROCESS
Channel
The carrier of the message or the means by which the
message is sent.
Receiver
The receiving person or group must make sense of the
information received.
Decoding the translation of received messages into
interpreted meanings.
Feedback
The process of verifying messages and the receivers
attempts to ensure that the message he or she decoded is
what the sender really meant to convey.
 COMMUNICATION PROCESS
Noise
Any internal or external interference or distraction with
the intended message that can cause distortion in the
sending and receiving of messages.
 COMMUNICATION BARRIERS
Cross-cultural diversity
Trust and credibility
Information overload
Language characteristics
Gender differences
Other factors
 COMMUNICATION BARRIERS
Cross-Cultural Diversity
Individuals
from different cultures may encode and
decode their messages differently.
They may have different behaviors, styles, and ways of
looking at things.
A common problem in cross-cultural communication is
ethnocentrism.
Ethnocentrism is the tendency to consider ones own
culture and its values as being superior to others.
 COMMUNICATION BARRIERS
Trust and Credibility
A very important barrier to effective communication is a
lack of trust between the sender and the receiver.
This lack of trust can cause the receiver to look for hidden
meanings in the senders message.
It can also cause the sender to try and manipulate the
message.
 COMMUNICATION BARRIERS
Information Overload
Managers and organizations can experience information
overload when the amount of data that can be processed
is exceeded.
Information overload can lead to:
Failing to process or ignoring some information.
Processing information incorrectly.
Delaying the processing of information until the information
overload abates.
Searching for people to help process some of the information.
Lowering the quality of information processing.
 COMMUNICATION BARRIERS
Language Characteristics
Many words and phrases in our language are imprecise.
Individuals often use different meanings or interpretations
of the same word and do not realize it.
The imprecision and multiple meanings of words are one
reason why jargon develops.
Jargon is terminology or language specific to a particular
profession or group.
 COMMUNICATION BARRIERS
Gender Differences and Other Factors
Gender Differences
Gender differences can result in breakdowns and lead to
distorted communication and misunderstandings between
men and women.
Other Factors
Timepressures may cause us to focus on information that
helps us make a choice quickly. Feedback may be impaired
or absent.
THANK YOU!!