Business Communication

Foundation & Principles Of Business Communication
The most important thing in communication is to hear what isn't being said…

AN OVERVIEW

BUSINESS COMMUNICATION

“Use of effective language for conveying a commercial or industrial message to achieve a predetermined purpose.”
Business communication is a specialized branch of general communication that is concerned with commercial acts. Communication used to promote a product, service, or organization; relay information within the business; or deal with legal and similar issues. It is also a means of relying between a supply chain, for example the consumer and manufacturer.

COMPONENTS OF COMMUNICATION

Communication is a two way process and includes six basic components: 1. Context – Context is a broad field that includes country, culture, organization, and external or internal stimuli. 2. Sender (Encoder) – When we send a message, we are the “encoder”.. 3. Message – the message is the core idea we wish to communicate. 4. Medium – Oral or written media 5. Receiver (decoder) – The message receiver is our reader or listener. 6. Feedback – It can be an oral or written.

EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION

Communication is said to be effective when the receiver understands the same meaning that the sender intended to convey.

IMPORTANCE

Communication is one of the basic functions of management in any organization and its importance can hardly be overemphasized. It is a process of transmitting information, ideas, thoughts, opinions and plans between various parts of an organization. Communication is an essential aspect of business life. Everyday, business persons have to communicate with people at different levels of the organization or with people external to the organization.
And in this globalized environment they also have to communicate with people from different countries, with different cultural backgrounds.
Poor or inaccurate communication can lead to conflict and negativity in the workplace. It could even lead to the cancellation of a deal or the loss of customer goodwill.

Effective communication is required at various levels and for various aspects in an organization such as:

Management – Employee relations
The manager cannot get the work done from employees unless they are communicated effectively of what he wants to be done. Chances of misunderstanding and misrepresentation can be minimized with proper communication system.

Motivation:
Inappropriate or faulty communication among employees or between manager and his subordinates is the major cause of conflict and low morale at work.

Productivity:
With effective communication, you can maintain a good human relation in the organization and by encouraging ideas or suggestions from employees or workers and implementing them whenever possible, you can also increase production at low cost.

Employee Satisfaction:
It is through the communication that employees submit their work reports, comments, grievances and suggestions to their seniors or management.

PRINCIPLES

In order to understand and attain ‘Effective Communication’ one needs to understand the principles of effective communication. These principles briefly state how the information can become effective for the target group. They also tell about the style and importance of messages. These principles are commonly known as the 7 C’s of Effective Communication.

THE 7 C’S OF EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION

The 7 c’s of effective communication are the principles to compose effective written or oral messages.
These principles provide guidelines for choice of content and style of presentation, adapted to the purpose and receiver of our message.

➢ COMPLETENESS: Message is complete when it contain all the facts the reader or the listener need for the reaction that is desired.

➢ CONCISENESS: Developing a message that is short and to the point and speaks only of relevant matter. ➢ CONSIDERATION: Putting you in the receivers place. Understanding and respecting their emotions, ideology and sentiments. ➢ CONCRETENESS: Having a specific, definite and vivid message rather than a vague one. ➢ CLARITY: Full awareness of idea/thought to be conveyed to the receiver and to communicate it in a manner that is familiar to them.

➢ COURTESY: Being aware not only of the perspective of others, but also their feeling.To have a friendly and polite attitude. ➢ CORRECTNESS: Message that keeps a check on grammatical and language errors as well as errors in facts and figures.

COMPLETENESS

“A message should be such that it answers all questions even when they exist unasked.”

A message must be complete in every respect. A message is complete when it contains all the facts the reader or listener needs for the reaction you desire. Both the senders and the receivers differ in their mental filters. They are influenced by their backgrounds, needs, experiences, viewpoints, attitudes, status and emotions. Therefore the senders need to assess that their message include all the relevant information.

Application: • Provide all necessary information : Answer the 5 W’s (and 1 H) – Who ,What , When , Where , Why and How. • Give something extra if desirable : Use your good judgment in offering additional material if it may prove useful.

Benefits : • Helps in achieving desired result without adding expenses on further messages. • Helps in attaining time efficiency. • They can help avoiding expensive lawsuits that may result if important information is missing.

Conclusion : An incomplete message may lead to a confusion in the mind of the reader. Incomplete messages lead to assumptions which may require further clarification. An incomplete message may lead to a delay in the execution of the planned process.

CONCISENESS

Conciseness is saying what you want to say in the fewest possible words without sacrificing the other 7 C’s. A concise message is complete without being wordy.

Conciseness, in a business message, can be achieved by avoiding wordy expressions and repetition. Using brief and to the point sentences, including relevant material makes the message concise. Achieving conciseness does not mean to lose completeness of message.
Eg: WORDY – We want to let you know that our company is pleased with the confidence that you have shown in us. CONCISE – We appreciate your confidence in us.

Application : • Eliminate wordy expressions. • Include only relevant material. • Avoid unnecessary repetition

Benefits : • Helps save time of sender and receiver. • Message appears more presentable and formal. • Makes idea simpler to understand. • Keeps hold of the interest of receiver.

Conclusion : A good message is always to the point and states only what is relevant. A concise message saves time and makes the message easier to understand and interpret, and hence ensures faster and easier implementation.

CONSIDERATION

Consideration is putting yourself in the receivers shoes. It is focusing on the ‘You’ instead of the ‘I’.

Consideration means preparing every message keeping the message receiver in mind; Being considerate means you don’t lose your temper, you do not accuse or charge them without facts, in other sense consideration covers other six C’s of effective communication.
Eg: INCONSIDERATE - We don’t refund if the returned item is soiled or not resalable. CONSIDERATE - We refund when the returned item is clean and resalable .

Application : • Focusing on “you” instead of “I” and “we” : Focus more on how the message will influence the receiver. • Showing audience benefits : Receiver will be more likely to react favorably and do what do you suggest if you show that benefits are worth the effort and cost you are asking them • Emphasize positive, pleasant facts : Stressing what can be done instead of what cannot be done.

Benefits : • Improves sender-receiver relations. • Maintains healthy work environment within. • Avoids offending the receiver.

Conclusion : Consideration basically means adopting a soft and understanding approach towards the receiver. It emphasizes on the importance to understand the emotions of the receiver. It is important to be considerate so as to not offend the receiver.

CONCRETNESS

Implies that all information should be specific, definite and vivid.
Eg: VAGUE – Her performance Being definite, vivid and specific rather than vague, obscure and general leads to concreteness of the message.

A vague and general message is a reason for the creation of misunderstandings and confusion. Concreteness of message has improved. VIVID - Her sales have risen from 132 in 2008 to 193 in 2009.

Application : • Using specific facts and figures : Whenever possible use specific, exact, precise statement or figure instead of general. • Put Action in your verbs : Use of verbs especially the active verbs make your sentence more Specific, Personal and Concise. • Selection of more vivid and image-building words: Use of language or words which are capable of creating an atmosphere in the mind of the reader so that he imagines himself.

Benefits : • Aids understanding and interpretation. • Aids faster execution. • Lay emphasis on the actual facts.

Conclusion: A concrete message puts information across in precise terms so that message is interpreted in the right manner. Such messages can be understood easily and have desired effect on receiver. This allows action to be taken immediately and effectively.

CLARITY

Clarity demands the use of simple language and easy sentence structure in composing the message.

Messages that have been written clearly help to avoid doubts and minimize the chance of misunderstandings. For giving a precise and clear message it becomes important that there is clarity and thought in the mind of the sender.

Eg : Although it is appropriate to use technical terms and business jargon's in professional institutions but they need to be avoided when communicating with a person who is not acquainted with the terminology.

Application : • Selection of precise, concrete and clear words : Clarity is achieved in part through a balance between precise words and familiar words. • Constructing effective sentences and paragraphs: Generally short sentences are preferred because long sentences may cause lack of concentration. • Coherence : Coherence in sentences means the words should be correctly placed or arranged so that ideas clearly reflect the intended meaning.

Benefits : • Makes comprehension easier.

Conclusion : Clarity implies that the sender should be fully aware of the idea/thought that he wishes to convey and must then find the appropriate channel to communicate it in such a way so as to facilitate the understanding of the receiver. Accuracy is the purpose of Clarity.

COURTESY

True courtesy involves being aware not only of the perspective of others but also their feelings. It is merely politeness and mechanical insertions of “please” and “thank-you”.

Courteousness basically implies having a friendly and polite attitude, not only towards the people working in one’s own department but towards everybody in general.

Application : • Being sincerely tactful, thoughtful and appreciative : Being tactful avoids any cause of discourtesy and avoiding any negative feedback from the sender. • Use expressions showing respect : Care should be taken to not even unintentionally disrespect someone. • Choose nondiscriminatory expressions : Another requirement for courtesy is the use of nondiscriminatory language that reflects equal treatment of people regardless of their gender, race, age and physical features.

Benefits : • Builds Goodwill. • Courtesy strengthens sender-receiver relations.

Conclusion :
In business, almost everything starts and ends in courtesy. Courtesy means not only thinking about receiver but also valuing his feelings. Much can be achieved by using polite words and gestures, being appreciative, thoughtful, tactful, and showing respect to the receiver.

CORRECTNESS

At the core of the correctness is the proper use of grammar, punctuations and spelling. A message may be perfect grammatically and mechanically but still insult or lose a customer.

Incorrect language, spellings and pronunciation may create a wrong impression and may lead to misunderstandings. Care must be taken to present the message in the right format which is according to the purpose it is required to fulfill.

Application : • Checking accuracy of figures, facts, and words : Information should be based on facts and figures. All data must be double-checked. Guessing should be avoided. • Maintaining acceptable writing mechanics : Along with facts and figures the spellings, grammar and language should also be checked.

Benefits : • Facilitates accurate planning as information is based on facts. • Reduces scope of error of judgment. • Statistical data if present, makes understanding easier.

Conclusion :Good communication requires that the message being put forward should be accurate and based on facts.In certain circumstances important decisions have to be taken based on the information of the message and thus this information must be correct. An incorrect message conveyed may create a great deal of trouble for the sender as well as the receiver.

You can't not communicate. Everything you say and do or don't say and don't do sends a message to others Knowing the 7 c’s , and using them , will help us become a better communicator; the principles for these seven criteria for good communication are essential for any successful communicator.