communication

Communication Techniques Used In the Business World

Communication is one of the most important tools in business, necessary to success and advancement. According to the University of Wisconsin Business Alumni Update and the National Commission on Writing, individuals who cannot write and communicate effectively in other ways are not likely to be hired, and, if they are, will not last for promotion. To be hired, successful and eventually advance in business, you must be an effective communicator--verbally, non-verbally, and digitally--and be able to integrate communication types in different settings.
Verbal Communication
Businessmen interact verbally with a variety of people every day--equals, subordinates, supervisors, men and women alike. Verbal communication in business often involves expressing opinions, emotions, giving orders and winning over clients. When doing any of these things, it's important that you maintain a level head, ask questions and back up any opinions you give with hard evidence. A good business verbal communicator is delicate but confident.
For example, you wouldn't say, "Our economic climate has gone right down the drain in the past three years," without backing up the statement with facts, figures and sources. In addition, unless it's essential to winning over a client, controversial opinions like this one should be left out of the workplace. Your personal opinions, if unrelated to daily operations of the business, might isolate your clients and offend people around you. You must always back up any statement you make in a business setting, avoiding controversy but exuding confidence.
In addition, keep a steady, positive tone of voice; ask lots of questions during meetings--have a list of questions written out before the meeting; answer the phone confidently and professionally; and when telling someone to do something, ask them politely and tactfully.
Forms of verbal communication in business include conference calls, video conferences, staff meetings, presentations and daily interactions in the workplace. During in-person interactions, verbal communication is used alongside nonverbal communication--a priceless pairing.
Nonverbal Communication
According to Management for the Rest of Us, nonverbal communication--or body language--makes up 93 percent of our daily communication in the workplace. Everything about you works together to create your physical image. Certain elements are unchangeable, such as age, gender and ethnicity, so it's important to pay extra attention to the elements you can control in the workplace.
Build a professional image. Wear appropriate and aesthetically pleasing clothes to work, maintain a business-appropriate haircut, shave your face, do not wear revealing clothing. All of these elements come together to form your image, so it's important to get all of them right in the business world.
Make eye contact when talking or listening to someone. Fiddling with your phone, computer or documents is offensive to many and overall bad business. Also involved in this technique is posture. If sitting down, do not slouch in your chair. Lean forward attentively. When standing up, keep an approachable posture--don't slouch, keep an overall inviting visage.
What you say is important, but so is what you don't say. Your appearance--from your clothes and hair to your posture and attentiveness--can make or break your business image, rendering you approachable or unapproachable.
Electronic Communication
Electronic communication has bumped the business world into a new era of communication. Serving as a helpful and time-efficient tool, email has allowed people to send quick messages and often longer messages to replace business letters. Despite its value, email communication is a learned skill that can portray you positively or get you in trouble.
Be careful what you say. One of the most commonly made mistakes in electronic communication is sending sensitive material into cyberspace. Anything you email can be shown to others or misconstrued, so gauge the importance of the email before writing it. If its contents are sensitive and difficult to portray--opinions, concerns, controversial--just call.
Pretend you are writing a business letter. People often mistake email for a casual, trivial form of communication, but you must carry the same rubric of grammar, punctuation, content and structure when writing a business email. State your purpose early, be concise, proofread your writing--all of these elements will help you draft business-worthy emails.
Business Team Communication Techniques
Business, regardless the industry is based around effective communication. If business team members cannot communicate among themselves, they will not effectively communicate with clients and outside entities. Educators in the U.S., according to the University of California Irvine website, recognize more and more the major role communication has among business teams worldwide and serve to prepare young businesspeople for communication-based careers through courses related to business writing, presenting, group unity, group facilitation and negotiation. Effective business team communication techniques exist to improve business relationships and, in turn, increase productivity and revenue.
Avoid Vagueness
Businesspeople appreciate a straight shooter, confident in his opinions and tactful with his delivery. Vagueness promotes unsureness and timidity, two unappealing business traits. Straightforwardness can be applied in several different outlets within your business team and will contribute positively to the dynamic of the group.
Write like you talk. This applies to emails, business letters, memos and notes. State the reason for the letter in the first paragraph. Your team members probably don't have time to sift through several paragraphs to figure out the purpose of the email. State a purpose, then use the body of the letter to answer any additional questions.
Openness will keep a meeting moving. If you have ever been in a room with people scared to share their opinion, you know the frustration involved in accomplishing a task with these people. Tactfully state your opinion when asked so there is no confusion and so the meeting can move forward.
When you call someone, you are in control of the conversation because you initiated the discussion. As soon as the person answers, tell hom/her who you are and why are you calling. Deliver your message concisely and clearly and leave them time to ask questions between each point.
Facilitate Democratically
Every contributing member of a business team must facilitate meetings from time to time. With proper preparation and group tactics, you can facilitate a business team meeting seamlessly and efficiently, even if you're not a manager.
Come prepared. Before the meeting, map out the agenda for the entire meeting. Make an outline of points of discussion, questions, concerns and strategies in a well-organized document. Memorize certain points and practice delivering them.
Control the direction of the meeting without dominating conversation. A good meeting facilitator will bring the group from point to point while asking questions and inspiring others to speak up. If the group gets off topic, subtly bring them back to where they need to be.
Seek definite answers. Once everyone has chimed in on each topic, come to a resolution, repeating back to the group what was decided. Doing this will avoid confusion and surprises later.
Represent Team
Regardless of how you feel about a certain issue, it is essential that you convey to clients and outside affiliates the decisions made by your team--nothing more, nothing less. If you disagree with certain ideas, it is inappropriate to tell clients. Telling clients that your team decided one way but you disagree represents to clients disunity and inconsistency within your team. They will see this as a sign of weakness and it could hurt your relationship with them in the long run.
Always portray your group as unified and on the same page, even if you think it's best to state your own opinion. A unified front is more important than agreeing with a client at a business lunch.
Executive Communication Techniques
Executive communication techniques require attention to details and a thorough understanding the target market and their needs. Executives are busy, so choosing the right tools to deliver key messages is critical. Often, executives must communicate many times in many different ways to ensure that their messages are able to cut through the increasing communication clutter that defines the communication environment of the 21st century. A step-to-step approach including the development of key messages, delivery of those manages and, most important, measurement of communication impact is critical.
Step 1
Understand the audience. Executive communication requires a clear understanding of the audience being targeted with a communication message. Depending on the goal of the communication, executives must consider what the audiences' perspective of the issue is, what barriers or objections they may have and what key information they may be missing. The better the understanding of the audience, the more successful executive communication will be in terms of meeting needs and overcoming objections.
Step 2
Identify communication preferences. Individuals differ in terms of their communication preferences. In a technologically driven world, it can be easy to rely too heavily on electronic communication when face-to-face or interpersonal communication may generate better results. It is not about the preferences of the sender of the communication, but the intended receiver that should take precedence.
Step 3
Develop key messages. Based on the communication goal, the intended audience and the communication channel being selected, executives must develop key messages designed to connect and compel the audience to some desired action. Frame messages from the audiences' point of view and deliver clear, compelling information that is accurate, to the point and persuasive.
Step 4
Choose delivery methods. Convey messages in a variety of ways: in-person, one on one, in group settings, online, etc. Choosing a variety of delivery methods and coordinating those methods to deliver a message multiple times helps to strengthen and reinforce the points being made.
Step 5
Consider timing. The timing of executive communications is critical. Timing involves considerations that are both business-related and socially driven. For instance, communicating during the hectic holiday season can be challenging, because executives' minds may be on other things. Similarly, communicating even good news during a stressful time in the work setting may not be a wise choice. Plan communication timing in terms of who receives the message first. Senior management should receive information before employees, for example, so they are prepared to respond accurately and appropriately to any questions they may receive.