BBM III Business Communication Unit: 2

UNIT: 2-Business Communication

2.1 Define Business Communication: Information sharing within and outside of a firm is referred to as business communication. For instance, a director will often oversee internal communication and write messages to the company's staff about the annual general meeting. The goals of the organization are affected by management through effective business communication. Its goal is to make organizational procedures better and cut down on mistakes. Human communication, according to Quintanilla and Wahl, is the act of comprehending our own experiences as well as those of others through the use of verbal and nonverbal cues. People gradually come to realize that communication is the crucial procedure and ability that aids them in making sense of things in both personal and professional contexts.

2.2  Nature of Business Communication: Goal-oriented, precise, continuous, dynamic, contextual, response-seeking, transactional, and persuasive are some characteristics of business communication.

2.3  Purpose of Business Communication: The goals of business communication are to inform and obtain information, persuade, organize, govern, educate, create and market an image, and solve problems.

2.4  Functions of Business Communication: The benefits of business communications include boosting employee efficiency, fostering business partnerships, facilitating innovations, achieving goals, resolving issues or problems, facilitating decision-making, maintaining positive workplace relations, promoting brands and products/services, lowering the likelihood of conflicts, and increasing employee satisfaction levels, among other things.

2.5  Importance of Business Communication: Business communication is important for workplace effectiveness, planning, and decision-making, improving managerial skills and leadership, solving problems and resolving conflicts, developing human relations, adapting to the external environment, fostering public relations, and enhancing corporate image.

2.6  Components of Business Communication:

a.      Environment: A specific environment is required for the exchange of every business message. When a message is sent or received, the environment determines the atmosphere.

b.      Source or sender: The sender starts the conversation. Having a concept or an observation to share comes first in the process. The message on a particular subject is created (encoded) by the sender.

c.       Context: Every communication takes place in a specific setting. According to McLean (2005), the setting, situation, and expectations of the parties engaged make up the context of the communication engagement.

d.      Message: The message component includes the actual information that both the sender and the recipient must receive. Effective communications are purposeful, clear, and succinct. The sender always has a goal in mind whether the communication is written or spoken.

e.       Medium/channel: A sender delivers a message using a medium to do so.

f.        Recipient: The recipient receives the communication from the sender and decodes (analyses) it. Both planned and unexpected messages from the source can be decoded by the recipient.

g.      Feedback: Recipients respond to the communication by giving feedback after message decoding. Feedback to the sender includes both planned and unintended responses to the communication. The sender can determine whether the message was accurately understood by the recipient by asking for feedback.

h.      Interference/noise: Interference, often known as noise, can happen at any point during communication. Anything that prevents or modifies the message's intended meaning from the source is considered interference.

2.7 Types of Business Communication: Communication at the organizational level are mainly two types: Internal and External. 

Internal Business Communication: Internal business communication means communication that occurs among the members of the organization.

1. Downward Communication:  Here under Manage, there are branch managers. Under the branch manager, there is  an operating manager, finance manager, etc
2. Upward flow of communication: this type of business communication, it goes from bottom to top like in a college there is a guard at the gate, then a receptionist, then teachers, then a coordinator, then a principal, etc.
3. Lateral/horizontal communication:  it goes horizontally like the purchase manager is linked to the quality control manager, the production manager is connected with a sales manager, all finally interconnected.
4. Diagonal or crosswise communication:  All the staff is interconnected to make the company better in this type of communication.

External Business Communication: Communication with the people or organization outside a particular organization is known as external business communication like media, customers, vendors, shareholders, lawyers, tax departments, etc are needed in a company.

2.7  Principles of Effective Communications:

1.             1. Clarity: A message should be clear in every way possible. The message of the sender should be understood in the same sense and context in which it is transmitted. 

           2. Conciseness: The message should be fairly brief: neither too much nor too little. Except for formal proposals and reports, most of business messages are short

        3. Completeness: Communication must be complete. Incomplete communication creates confusion in the mind of the receiver. Incomplete communication leads to assumptions and guesses, and consequently, the understanding of the message is delayed.

       4. Correctness/credibility: Correctness in communication is more than following the correct format, being grammatically correct, and being factual. The message should sound credible/reliable, coming from an authentic source to the readers. Concreteness means being specific, definite, and vivid in communication. Concrete communication is particular, specific, and clear rather than fuzzy and general. A message should give a clear picture and an overview of the content. 

       5. Consideration: Consideration suggests looking at the subject matter from another's point of view. In other words, it implies “stepping into the shoes of others”. Effective communication must take the audience into consideration: the audience’s viewpoints, needs and preferences, background, mindset, education level, etc.

       6. Courtesy: Courtesy in a message implies being respectful, unbiased, polite, and judicious toward the receiver. A courteous communicator takes into consideration the viewpoints as well as the feelings of the receiver.

      2.8. Management Style and Communication: An organization's management style depends on the specific goals of the organization and the people involved. One of the best ways to ensure systematic leadership or management is to identify the goals and objectives of an organization, the traits of the managers and their temperament, and the types of employees the organization has. For effective and impactful leadership and management, the type of communication style the managers adopt is crucial.

      2.9 Types of Management Styles:

1. Authoritative: An authoritative manager follows a top-down approach to leading. In this style, managers make decisions almost entirely alone. They set clear and specific policies that everyone must follow, and they typically don’t request feedback from employees.
2. Consultative: Consultative managers ask employees for feedback consistently and take employees' concerns seriously. They often have an open-door policy that encourages employees to share what is and isn’t working in the organization. While managers will consult with employees, they ultimately retain sole decision-making power.
3. Democratic or participative: A democratic or participative manager’s decision-making process is heavily influenced by their employees. This style includes effective communication and openness through all levels of the organization, and employees and managers work together to reach the goals of their vision. A democratic management style is especially effective when it comes to making long-term decisions that impact the whole company.
4. Laissez-faire: In this style, managers are more like mentors than leaders. They’re available when employees need guidance, but they often let employees make decisions on their own about how to move forward with projects. In this management style, managers monitor what’s happening with employees, but don’t become too involved with the day-to-day tasks or projects.
5. Persuasive: Persuasive managers take control of decision-making but work to help employees understand why decisions made by management are best for the company. They share an honest rationale behind decision-making policies that can foster an inclusive and trusting environment. When an organization is successful, employees generally accept top-down decisions and work hard to implement them.
6. Transformational: A transformational management style focuses on creating an environment that supports innovation and change. Leaders with this style often push their employees to set and reach goals even if it makes them slightly uncomfortable. These managers collaborate with and inspire direct reports to reach beyond their full potential and aim for professional growth.
7. Collaborative: Collaborative leaders work closely with their team members and believe that when people feel personally and professionally fulfilled, they’re more effective and more likely to produce great work regularly. Because of their emphasis on employee satisfaction and teamwork, they tend to achieve higher levels of respect. A nonprofit product manager hosts monthly one-on-one coffee meetings with everyone that has concerns, questions, or thoughts about improving or using the product                                                                                                                           2.10 Communication Styles

1. The Assertive Style: Assertive communicators can express their honest thoughts politely and respectfully that considering other peoples’ opinions and feelings. They directly, honestly, and appropriately state their thoughts, feelings, needs, or wants.

2. The Aggressive Style: Persons using this style believe in winning everything, often at someone else's expense. They behave as if their needs are the most important, have more rights, and have more to contribute than other people. Hence, aggressive communication is characterized by being controlling, demanding, and sometimes hostile.
3. Passive Communication: It is a style in which individuals avoid expressing their opinions or feelings, protecting their rights, and identifying and meeting their needs. The passive communication style is often used by those who want to come off as indifferent about the topic at hand.
4. The Passive-Aggressive Style: This is a style in which people appear passive on the surface, but are actually acting out their anger indirectly or behind the scenes. Prisoners, for example, often act in passive-aggressive ways. People who behave in this manner usually feel powerless and resentful, and express their feelings by undermining the object (real or imagined) of their resentments.
5. The Submissive Style: This style is about pleasing other people and avoiding conflict. A submissive person behaves as if other people's needs are more important, and other people have more rights and more to contribute. Submissive communicators are people who avoid conflict at all costs.
6. The Manipulative Style: Manipulative communicators are skilled at doing whatever it takes to gain a personal advantage in any given situation. Manipulative communicators are skilled at influencing or controlling others to their own advantage.                                             2.11.  Challenges for Business Communication:  Business communication’s challenges are globalization and workplace diversity, evolving organizational structures, increasing value of teamwork and collaboration, increasing value of business information, the inevitability of communication technology, increased cybersecurity and protection of privacy, etc.