Unit: 3 Skill and Values in Business Communication (BBM III, BBS I)

 Unit: 3   Skill and Values in Business Communication

3.1 Importance of Communication Skills

a. Respected at Work: One of the most coveted abilities in the business is communication. In fact, one of the top five abilities that bosses seek in their staff, according to a study by Harvard Business Review, is the ability to speak clearly and persuasively. This means that anyone seeking to apply for employment or advance within their existing employer will almost surely need to show strong communication abilities.

b. Career Development: Having good communication abilities also helps you advance in your work. First, corporate organizations themselves are on the lookout for individuals with strong communication abilities. Additionally, if you are a strong communicator, you can introduce yourself in your resume, during interviews, in corporate settings, or while networking.

c. Boost Staff Engagement: At all organizational levels, contemporary organizations value employee input. Employees may speak for themselves, develop their voice, and provide value to the organization while simultaneously participating in the technical process of organizational activity such as decision-making by communicating effectively.

d. Expand networking: Building and expanding personal and professional networks inside and outside of the workplace requires effective communication skills. Strong communicators are naturally interested, which enables them to pursue professional opportunities and gain in-depth knowledge of their fields quickly.

e. Negotiation Skills: strong negotiation requires strong communication abilities. The negotiation will go more smoothly if there is better communication. Any type of discussion can benefit from courteous and diplomatic communication.

f. Encourage teamwork: Collaboration and teamwork are prioritized in modern enterprises. In reality, the hiring process will include an evaluation of your ability to fit into group dynamics. Employers assess your teamwork by looking at your communication skills. You need to be a team player despite your excellent technical abilities. Additionally, effective communication is essential for working as a team.

g.Resolution of Conflict and Problems: Effective communication skills are among the most crucial abilities needed for conflict management. Effective communication must be developed for the parties to a conflict to have a friendly yet direct means of expressing their thoughts. This is necessary for conflict resolution. Conflict is frequently sparked by a lack of understanding. One can prevent misunderstandings by speaking and writing with clarity and precision.

3.2 Identifying Communication Skill Sets: Experts believe that one should be proficient in three different types of communication skills: leadership communication skills, interpersonal communication skills, and organizational communication skills.

1.      Organizational Communication Skills: In an enterprise, communication doesn't just mean conversations or conversations between and among employees. According to experts, an organization is nothing more than a process of communicating and exchanging information, such as its goals, the plans it uses to attain those goals, and its policies, rules, and laws. Strong organizational communication is necessary for every aspect of a company's operations, serving as a conduit for overall corporate operations. Communication inside a business can serve both internal and external goals. The following abilities could be useful for good business communication, whether your goal is internal or external. You must plan first, communicate with a purpose, know the ways of transferring and receiving information, eliminate generalizations and hasty accusations, facilitate feedback, enhance listening skills, build negotiating & networking skills  

2.  Interpersonal Communication Skills: The interaction and sharing of information between two or more people is referred to as interpersonal communication. This might involve both verbal and nonverbal communication, such as active listening and other verbal and nonverbal cues, as well as openness, assertiveness, courtesies, and teamwork. 

3.      Leadership Communication Skills: One of the most important aspects of professional development for both individuals and teams is effective leadership communication. To overcome obstacles, accomplish their objectives, and help their businesses develop and prosper, leaders and the teams they lead in the workplace need to have good communication skills. According to studies, the reason why employee engagement fails is that more than 44% of workers do not receive clear instructions from their superiors or leaders. They should be open and honest in their communication, listen intently, communicate in a way that will establish their trustworthiness, and congratulate others frequently. Encourage a positive outlook and an open mind, speak to groups as individuals, set an example by your words and deeds, demonstrate empathy and welcome input to establish trust, and keep strategic control and balance.

3.3 Professionalism in Business Communication: The behavior, manners, mindsets, or attributes that distinguish or mark a profession or a professional person are referred to as professionalism. Professionalism is a trait that can be acquired by expert knowledge, frequently through extensive and prolonged practice. According to Thill and Bovée, professionalism is the ability to work at the best level possible and to conduct oneself with assurance, purpose, and pride. Employees must strive for excellence, continuously improve their knowledge and skills, be dependable and accountable, exhibit a sense of business etiquette, make moral decisions, be loyal and committed, persevere in the face of adversity, and keep a positive attitude to maintain professionalism.

3.3.1. Elements of Professionalism in Communication: Aim for excellence, possess competence, demonstrate courtesy and respect, be responsible and trustworthy, exhibit emotional intelligence, and communicate with your look.

3.4 Ethical Communication at Workplace: The established standards of behavior and conduct that control how people behave and act within a system are known as ethics. Ethics makes a distinction between right and wrong. A person who practices ethical communication not only accepts responsibility for acting by the norms and guidelines of the organization in question but also considers the effects of their actions because communication is typically a public activity, ethics in communication are essential. The organization's reputation and the communicators' professional reputation are affected directly or indirectly by everything that occurs during the communication process, including the message that is conveyed, how it is conveyed, and to whom it is conveyed. In a professional setting, ethical communication is crucial for rational reasoning, making decisions, and building communities both within and across contexts, cultures, channels, and media.

3.4.1 Ethical Values in Communication: A corporation may have a policy that states that manipulating and losing a company's data is an unethical practice of communication. Ethical values refer to what is regarded as acceptable or desirable behavior. Many organizations have rules and procedures for guaranteeing ethical communications. However, many times obeying rules and regulations is more important than being guided by moral principles. For example, you might explain your accounting procedures to a new customer. Your business might not have a formal policy or rule in writing regarding this kind of engagement. However, you should consider whether it is suitable to disclose an internal method of operation to a new visitor. Some of the organization's values are implied rather than stated explicitly:

         a.       Integrity and sincerity: Honesty in communication mostly refers to carrying out the duties and tasks at hand without using justifications or evasions. Employees that uphold ethics are honest and truthful in all of their interactions, and they never purposefully mislead or deceive others through exaggeration, misrepresentation, or any other tactic. Integrity has a significant role in professionalism. It entails upholding high moral standards and being honest. For instance, when a client pays you to finish a market research study, you provide your best effort not because you are being compensated but rather because you are sincere in what you do. 

2. Obeying the law: Follow all applicable laws, rules, and regulations when conducting their business. For instance, they adhere to the guidelines and standards established by the relevant businesses when creating commercials. 
3. Promise-keeping and Reliable: People may trust ethical communicators because they fulfill their commitments. The jobs are completed as promised by them. They take all reasonable steps to ensure that the communication is carried out and their pledges and commitments are kept because they are aware of the importance of providing pertinent information and clearing up any misunderstandings.
4. Reliability or Integrity: Communicators who uphold moral principles are trustworthy and committed to people and organizations. They refrain from misusing or disclosing information—especially confidential information—during communication. By exercising sound judgment and eliminating unneeded influences and conflicts of interest, they safeguard the information. They are devoted to their organizations and coworkers.
5. Fairness: Effective communicators always act justly and fairly; they never misuse their position of authority. In the same vein, they avoid using immoral methods to gather and disseminate information.
6.  Consideration: It speaks to the quality of caring about other people. Ethical people are kind, generous, compassionate, and loving. They help those in need and work to achieve their goals in a way that does the least harm and most good.

       3.4.2 Principles of Ethical Communication

1. Honesty implies telling the truth as it is known to be, without trying to mislead or give only a partial picture of the situation.

2. Objectivity like maintaining factual information is referred to as objectivity. Additionally, it means that the information should not be changed to fit what the speaker wants the listener to believe.

3. Engaging in active listening: Hearing and listening are two distinct processes. One can avoid missing out on important details or information by actively listening to or paying close attention to what is being said. To ensure that they have fully and accurately comprehended the content, active listeners also ask the appropriate questions.

4.  Non-Judgmental: Communicating ethically and succinctly entails speaking to each recipient without passing judgment. Premature judgment, unjustified blame, and harsh remarks are frequently the causes of communication breakdowns.

5.      Avoiding a negative tone: Negative information should not always be expressed negatively. By employing tact and reserving harshness and abruptness, it is possible to communicate negative messages pleasantly. The ethical communicator understands that how you say something is just as essential as what you say.

6.      Respecting the order of command, roles, and turn-taking: Establishing a respectful, productive workplace requires that everyone be allowed the opportunity to speak. Interrupting others leads to misunderstandings, pointless disputes, a breakdown in workplace relations, and more. Respect for privacy and confidentiality, Plagiarism, omitting crucial details, selective misquoting, misrepresenting figures, distorting graphics, and violating privacy or information security are a few examples of unethical communication.

3.4.3 Promoting Ethical Communication: These include defamation, financial reporting, contracts, employment communication, intellectual property, and transparency standards.

3.5 Intercultural Communication Skills: The study and practice of communication across cultural contexts is known as intercultural communication. Both domestic cultural differences, such as those based on gender and ethnicity, and international differences, such as those based on nationality or geographic area (eastern, western), are covered by this. Intercultural communication is a method of interacting with people from diverse groups that emphasizes acknowledging and respecting cultural differences. Instead of focusing solely on assimilation, it seeks to encourage multiculturalism and mutual improvement.

3.5.1 Intercultural Sensitivities: Intercultural awareness is the same as intercultural sensitivity. To put it another way, it is the understanding, acceptance, and appreciation of various cultures and the cultural identities of others. Failure to recognize and comprehend these variations can cause communication problems for business personnel. Intercultural communication demands an understanding of varied cultural conventions, standards, social values, and cognitive patterns. The different values placed on things like time, space, relationships, power, money, and communication styles are evidence that cultural diversity still exists and is still important to people's identities. These differences must be recognized and understood in intercultural communication to prevent misunderstandings and conflicts.

3.5.2 Intercultural Communication Skills: Generally speaking, two hurdles frequently pose challenges to successfully understanding and communicating with individuals from other cultures: Ethnocentrism: In a diverse workplace, an individual could think that his or her culture is superior to others in terms of time orientation, values, beliefs, rites and rituals, and working methods. Ethnocentrism is the term for this kind of cultural superiority complex. Stereotyping: It is yet another obstacle to cross-cultural communication. Stereotyping happens when someone makes assumptions about another individual without considering their unique traits. Numerous clichés are common in the Nepali context: Brahamins are shrewd and cunning, Chhetris are courageous, and Newars are driven by business*. These attitudes might not accurately capture the traits of each person.

3.6 Oral Presentation Techniques for Multicultural Audiences: use straightforward English, Speaking clearly and slowly Use appropriate pauses and gaps when speaking. Ask for truthful criticism, Frequently verify that your audience has grasped what you have said. Observe eye signals, accept responsibility, Without interrupting, pay attention, and smile when appropriate

3.7 How to Write Effectively for Multicultural Audiences: Hire a translation, keep sentences and paragraphs brief, avoid unclear language, pay attention to citation style, and take into account regional customs and traditions.