Introduction: Communication is neither transmission of message nor message itself.

It is the mutual exchange of understanding, originating with the receiver. Communication needs to be effective in business. Communication is essence of management. The basic functions of management (Planning, Organizing, Staffing, Directing and Controlling) cannot be performed well without effective communication. Business communication involves constant flow of information. Feedback is integral part of business communication. Organizations these days are verily large. It involves number of people. There are various levels of hierarchy in an organization. Business Communication is goal oriented. The rules, regulations and policies of a company have to be communicated to people within and outside the organization. Business Communication is regulated by certain rules and norms. In early times, business communication was limited to paper-work, telephone calls etc. But now with advent of technology, we have cell phones, video conferencing, emails, satellite communication to support business communication. Effective business communication helps in building goodwill of an organization. Business Communication can be of two types: 1. Oral Communication - An oral communication can be formal or informal. Generally business communication is a formal means of communication, like : meetings, interviews, group discussion, speeches etc. An example of Informal business communication would be - Grapevine. Written Communication - Written means of business communication includes - agenda, reports, manuals etc.

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Recent Trends: Anyone who has owned or worked for a business knows that the continual advancement of

technology goes hand in hand with the advancement of business communication. In the last ten years alone, the tremendous technological advancements that have taken place in communication have changed they way we do business so drastically that we view the communication trends of pre-2000 as vintage. So in a conversation about current trends, be aware that in a few days they will be old trends. Cloud computing is the latest trend to hit business communication. The most simple way to describe cloud computing is by comparing it to an electricity grid. A cloud of shared servers provides resources such as software and data to a host of other computers all on demand. In reality cloud computing is the natural evolution of the web-based world of communication. It takes the management of the technological infrastructure out of the hands of the IT professionals, who can now focus on their areas of expertise such as development. The use of cloud computing from a business communication standpoint brings in the discussion of finance. Small to medium size businesses no longer have need to purchase, set up and maintain their own server. Capital expenditure budgets are reduced, possibly entailing a conversion of those dollars to the operations expenditure side of the ledger. Another huge benefit to cloud computing in business is how it lowers the barriers of entry into the market. New businesses can simply supply themselves with the appropriate equipment to manufacture their product, a computer and an internet connection, and be ready to communicate to their customers. The book reader is one of the latest trends to appear on the business communication horizon, but it is not clear if purveyors of commerce have fully appreciated its potential. The book reader has the ability to scan printed material, recognize the characters and using text-to-speech software, play it on the users computer or mobile audio player. In other words, you could listen to this article on your ipod. Most business people receive their email on their phone and check, now large volume documents, contracts, training manuals and other printed matter could be downloaded to any device. The affect on business communication is potentially quite significant, but the software is not widely tested or used as yet. Social media networking has officially crossed over from only being used socially to an important and viable method of customer relationship management (CRM). Using tools like Facebook, blogs, public forums and wiki sites, business can better know how to attract and keep their customers. CRM begins with acquiring new customers through contact management, sales and customer satisfaction. Enhancing CRM occurs

through excellent business communication and the use of customer service tools such as product experts and ease of purchasing. Retaining customers occurs through loyalty and reward. CRM software or databases can notify the business owner of long term clients and create the ability to recognize them through promotional measures. Streamlining every phase of business communication will always be a trend in business. Making it easier for your client to send and receive materials or communication from you is increasingly important. Many companies are choosing to create interactive websites whereby the client can attain a report, invoice or product information whenever they feel the need. This creates a whole new level of service quality, as well as opening up the field of business communication. No longer does the client have to wait for 9 am Monday morning. PowerPoint presentations have been around for over a decade, but they are still a valuable audiovisual tool in business communication. Dynamic presentations aimed at teaching the client about the product or service are full of impact and have a much clearer result than a one-dimensional oral presentation. Even telephones are being used in a more purposeful way in business communication, and not always for talking. Email, text messaging and internet are readily available and highly useful tools for any business person. Plus book readers (as previously mentioned) will soon allow business related documents to be read on a cell phone. Technology will continue to advance and new communication devices will emerge. The trick to successful business communication is in keeping up with trends and learning how they can make your business better.

Communication Trend #1: Organizations Will Embrace Social Media

As your probably know, social media is transforming the way companies communicate. Even if companies, small business owners, and individuals have chosen NOT to participate in social media up to now, this year they will. Organizations are going to embrace (or perhaps be forced to embrace) social media as a tool to get business done. Sales professionals will want to use social media to attract and interact with prospects. Marketing professionals will use it to engage customers, monitor, and strengthen their brand. Customer service will want to be more proactive and available for customers. Human resource professionals will want to recruit the best talent and grow innovative cultures. Training will want to use social media for just-in-time delivery of instructional content and for innovative peer-to-peer training. Ive been waiting for this to happen. In the past, many companies simply banned the use of social medial. But according to Forrester Research, "A lot of businesses, small and large, are moving away from the more restrictive model of blocking social media to a more liberal access model." With increased competition and tough economic times, we need to do things differently. It seems that the successful companies are moving away from a transaction-oriented view of business to a relationship view. What I think weve seen over the past few years is the early adopters figuring it out--people like Gary Vaynerchuk, Chris Brogan, and Mignon Fogarty, and organizations like Zappos, IBM, Comcast, Bigelow Tea, and Blendtec have been busy creating their playbooks.

Communication Trend #2: More Social Media Tools

As these organizations and individuals have success, they begin to recognize what works for them and what doesnt. In fact, the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth Center for Marketing Research recently released the results of a study showing that though the most commonly used tools use in 2010 were Facebook, Twitter, and blogs, the most successful tools were message/bulletin boards, podcasts, and blogs.

Whats ahead in the coming year? More testing and more tools. When Chris and I talked he mentioned he believes well see an increase in mobile technologies--which means well see more location-based social media popping up. He also thinks the expansion of 4G technology is going to lead to more video. I agree with him. Over the past few years, I have heard people say, This is the year of the video. This year, I believe, really will be the year of the video.

Communication Trend #3: More Meaningful Interactions

However, Chris and I also talked about a shift. For example, he used to consider himself a social media expert, but now has been moving away from that term to use something that is broader and more comprehensive. What happens is that after the social technology questions arise (what should we use?), the biggerand definitely more importantquestions begin to surface. How will we use these social technologies to better communicate, to connect more deeply, and to strengthen collaborations?

Many businesses (including my own) have spent the last several years trying to work that out. What exactly does it mean to conduct business in a social fashion? First, how do you interact and engage? Then, once youve earned some attention, what do you do next to build the relationship? How can you increase the perceived value of your offering? What goals do you set? How do you track and measure to see if you are moving in the right direction? How do you create social products? How do you earn the right to offer products in a way that honors the trust that you built? The bottom line for me is that businesses this year (if they havent already) will make a mindset shift. Social media is no longer a tool to tinker with. Smart businesses will make the connection that business was and always will be primarily SOCIAL. We buy from people we trust. Social media tools help us to build trust in ways that wasnt possible in the past.

Communication Trend #4: More Collaborative Sophistication

Not only do the social media tools help us in the area of trust, they also help us with collaboration. I suspect this coming year will see a similar increase in collaborative sophistication. Last year we saw significant problems with organizational communication when the automated foreclosure processes broke down. We need to better blend human and technology collaboration to improve decisions and responses. I think well see some innovative solutions that improve collaborative communication processes. In addition, I think well see more and more collaborations. Well see more successful attempts at coopetition.

Trends in the Workplace

Trends in business communication are changing rapidly within companies. Within my firm, thetrends that I have seen being used are technology, focus on quality and customers needs, teamwork,and diversity. Through technology, our firm has implemented new software and hardware programs tohelp with navigation and communication techniques. The new programs have helped us with compilingour information more accurately, quickly, and easily. This is all allowing for better communication andcustomer service. Other technologies used within the firm are blackberries for management and the ITdepartment, and telepresence for videoconferencing with other offices and clients. Through thesetechnology changes, it allows for us to have better customer service. We are a team that pridesourselves on customer service not only to the people we offer service to but also to our co-workers andmanagement team. Through the customer service to our co-workers we develop a great sense of teamwork.

Working together as a team to reach our monthly, quarterly, and yearly goals is veryimportant to the success of our company. We also value how diverse of firm we are and how wecommit to working with people with different backgrounds and learning how to effectivelycommunicate with being educated on those differences. We have training programs and seminars thatemphasize the importance of being diverse and well rounded. With having these trends within the firm,we are an organization in which business communication has been successful in the many years of operation Current and previous workplaces. The role that business communication plays in my day-today activities at work are sometimes challenging we have so many different ways to communicate which can be verbal, non- verbal and written. There are many tools that are used to communication with co-works throughout the day from Email, Microsoft office communicator, Phone, Work orders and faxes. Modern day technology trends help with scheduling communicating better with each other wither you are on the field or in the office all day. It helps me to keep my daily work activities up to date by making sure that I get reminders regarding appointments or if I have staff meeting by a click away. Communication also helps functioning of the organization by the staffing; planning, reporting, servicing and the functions are done through communication. An important position in my day-today activites at operates. At the first fifteen minutes of my perform day, I have probable communicated verbally, non-verbally, by way of telephone, fax, and email. Once an email is started, an easy reply is essential to proceed communication. The phone is a helpful for my day today communication dealing with customers, and other company to company with the work flow in our office. Business trends are generally local and standardized. When technologies are released, most organization entities adapt. You can use PDA cellular gadgets and laptop personal computers for revenue representative in most industries. For the much smaller organization, fax machines are turning into optional with the capacity and rising demand for scanners and email attachments. The trends in my workplace we use email and also instant messaging to communicate with each other rather waiting for a co-worker to come back into the office. E-mailing is convenient for us due that there are many different locations that we have in the City of Albuquerque; it is an everyday occurrence that we have to get a hold of someone at a different location to run the daily functions. I would think that this trend of emails or instant messaging will stay for a while because of the cell phones that are out now you can receive them at the palm of your hand, you can stay concreted with the your employer if you are in the office or out of the office. With the technology that we have today it is much easy to stay connected and communication more effected. The messages types result from these trends are details in a luxury organization communication are to deal with communication, spoken communication electronically transmitted by telephone, email, and fax or by mail. The trends that are our now are only getting better with communication. As for a business it is much easier to trace documentation by email, fax, or by an office communicator. Communication is very important to keep the business running and to be on the same page of the employees. Communication is how company transpires. Effective management occurs when management and their subordinates run within productive communication relationships that produce a desired or exceeded outcome.