Smart Communication: The Key to Managing Your New Age Business

Garima Bardia* The great management guru Peter Drucker once said, Business communication is all about understanding what has not been said. His statement explicitly covers the essence of communicating in an organizational setting. In business communication, it is not only important to express effectively what is known, but also what is under wraps. With growing business complexities, achieving success in todays workplace is closely tied to the ability of employees and managers to communicate effectively with each other and with people outside the organization. Communication in modern day workplace is all about being smart with your words, and organizations are constantly on the lookout for people who are masters of this art, since the value it adds to the organization is immense. The following article is an attempt to throw light on those striking issues and trends that are revolutionizing business communication for the Internet generation, the major among them being: advances in technology, globalization, an increasing culturally diverse workforce and the adoption of team-based organizational structures. The future of business communication rests on them as all these trends are here to stay for long.

Introduction
The dawn of the new millennium has ushered in a new era of development and growth for the generation. Never before has the world been looked upon as a Global Village in the real sense. Though, literally speaking, countries are still miles apart, the way in which the surge of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) has removed many of these gaps is simply staggering. This technology revolution has not only made our lives easier but has also made our workplace much better. The corporate offices of today are going paperless, green and more technology-friendly with each day. Not only this, the current workforce comprises people of varied color, creed, race and cultures, making the businesses truly global. However, every new transformation brings with it a number of risks, uncertainties and doubts. Today, the organizations are constantly on the lookout for that magic formula
* Research Scholar, Faculty of Management Studies, University of Rajasthan, Jaipur, India. and Visiting Faculty, R. A. Podar Institute of Management & Bhavans College of Communication & Management, Jaipur, India. E-mail: garima.bardia@gmail.com 2010 IUP. All Rights The Key Smart Communication:Reserved. to Managing Your New Age Business 27

that can ensure success and growth in these turbulent times. Besides monitoring the basic rules of the game, i.e., strengthening the 4 Ps, these are also vital ingredients that are to be added to this recipe for success for any organization. However, the seasoning that makes the dish stand apart from others is provided by such tools as soft skills and people skills that are often overlooked by majority. In the challenging business environment of today, communicating in an effective, yet proper manner following business decorum becomes extremely important. With the rules of business undergoing a major upheaval, the importance of smart and effective business communication is being felt more than ever before. The question that pops up in mind at this point is: Why is communication so important in business? Why cant businesses just concentrate on recruiting, developing and retaining skilled people who know how to do their job well? Well, the answer lies in the question itself. Smart communication is essential because businesses are made of people. Even when two people are working together on a common task, the outcome depends largely on how compatible they are and how well they are able to express themselves effectively to the other person. In a business organization, where so many people work together to achieve the organizational goals, the importance of communication and its effectiveness cannot be understated. As Robert Kent, former Dean of Harvard Business School, has said, In business, communication is everything. In an organizational setting, there are different kinds of communicationbetween people at the same level, between superiors-subordinates, with clients, suppliers and other external agencies, etc. Therefore, this aspect, i.e., handling so many networking requirements of a business, needs to be carefully dealt with. No business can think of sustaining in the long run if it does not ensure that the soft skills of its workforce are highly developed. However, understanding the intricacies of business communication is not so easy. While many still consider it as a means to secure employee coordination, communication at the workplace goes much beyond that. It is a link between the employees and the management and serves the purpose of channelizing and streamlining the functions of the organization in an effort to achieve the business goals. Years of research has proved that communication skills are crucial for managers. Typically, they spend around 75 to 80% of their time engaged in one or the other form of business communication. Though communication has been put in the category of soft skills, it is the axis around which the whole gamut of business functions revolves.

Why Smart Communication Is the Need of the Hour?

Communication is an art which is not mastered by all. Some are naturally gifted by this skill, while some develop it through hard work. Corporate communications is a very complicated area since it involves issues ranging from internal politics and employee resistance to designing effective communication structures and systems. While there is no magic trick to ensure perfect corporate communication, understanding its growing importance in the present day business world and molding it to suit the
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requirements of the modern environment can go a long way in determining its effectiveness. Before getting into the technicalities of business communication, it is important to emphasize on the meaning of the termSmart Communication. Effective communication is one where you are able to send and receive messages in a clear, coherent manner overcoming all the barriers. However, Smart Communication at the workplace goes much beyond that to include those skills and abilities which help a person to not only effectively communicate but also do that in the minimum time and words possible so that all the parties are satisfied and there is no loss of business goodwill and network. The new age businesses require managers to be extra vigilant and smart while communicating their ideas, views and opinions because a slight callousness on their part may lead to some serious and irrevocable losses to the organization. We are living in an era where time cannot be taken for granted and no professional relationship can be sustained purely on an emotional basis. Business partners and employees are ready to move on at the slightest opportunity available. Therefore, organizations need to ensure that they are willing to keep their network happy and satisfied always. All this relationship management requires what we have referred to as smart communication. For the Human Resource Development experts, this aspect has risen up in the priority listings, and many big firms have started making conscious efforts to polish and enhance the soft skills of their employees, with communication skills being the first to fall in this category. What becomes interesting to note here is the fact that with businesses becoming impersonal in nature, experts earlier opined that the relevance of communication may decrease over time. However, reality has presented a whole new picture before the organizations. With the onset of technological revolution, fading national boundaries and the end of traditional autocratic organizational structure, business communication has evolved as a concept into a phenomenon. Lets take a deeper look at some of the contemporary issues that reinforce the importance of smart business communication.

Globalization
With the world becoming a global village, the national boundaries are gradually losing their significance and companies are competing in a global environment. This kind of expansion in business scope, activities and functions place a heavy demand on the communication skills and systems of the organizations to ensure that messages and information reach the designated person and place in proper time. The melting down of the parameters of space and distance requires firms to work and communicate in a 24 7 environment. Besides, it requires careful planning in designing and shaping the messages such that inter-cultural differences are ruled out as far as possible.

Diverse Workforce
With domestic workforce becoming more diverse, an organization has to constantly deal with the issues pertaining to a heterogeneous workforce. The differences in employees
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range from physical abilities and gender to age, ethnic heritage and race. A work team now reflects people not only from different social and economic background but also from varied cultures and nationalities. Establishing smooth lines of communication among such varied mix of people is a big challenge. Ensuring synchronization between such heterogeneous group of people requires that the communication systems are designed in a way so as to overcome such cultural barriers.

Team-Based Organizations
The 21st century workplace is run by teams. In a recent survey of Fortune 1000 companies, 83% reported that their firms use teams; teams are all about communication. The individualized working style is slowly being replaced by a group style of functioning wherein people with diverse skill sets and specialities work together on a common task. In a team-setting, interaction among fellow team members and more importantly with the team leader is essential for long-term sustenance and coordination. It is only through effective and smart communication that these diverse skill sets can be brought together to perform as one unit.

Advances in Technology
Technology has overpowered every aspect of business functioning, and with each, passing day, new technologies and gadgets are flooding the markets making it important for the businesses to keep themselves abreast of all the new developments in the field of IT. This has again revolutionized the way communication is being handled by firms. The use of palmtops, PDAs, instant messaging, etc. makes it obligatory for the organizations to not only ensure that their employees are techno-friendly but also to provide them with adequate training in the usage of such communication technology for better reception and transmission of messages. With the advancements of technology, communication has become quicker, pervasive and impersonal.

Flatter Organizational Structure

Reduction in the number of management levels has given rise to a different kind of communication in organizationsone in which managers must communicate with many people over whom they may have no formal control. The patriarchal management model of past has been replaced by a more participative model in which there are clear, strong and conspicuous lines of communication between managers, employees and the clients. An atmosphere of trust, understanding and loyalty can be built only through this. Therefore, a leaner organization requires more systematic and hardcore communication efforts, as one person has more networks and more relationships to cater to. With all the above defining trends shaping up the modern business world, the ways of doing business and communication systems have undergone considerable changes. An apt example wherein communication technology has been used in organizations is of Canon which uses Web conferencing services to provide its dealers with software
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and hardware training. This interactive communication tool that connects trainers and dealers at widespread locations has significantly reduced the operating costs and opened up new opportunities for Canon. Between rapidly progressing globalization and continuously evolving information technology, modern business communication has become a diverse, dynamic field which has increased its relevance and significance than ever before. Strategic Human Resource Managements 2008 Job Satisfaction survey report notes that communication between employees and senior management is among the top five very important aspects of employee job satisfaction. A closer scrutiny of the overall industry scenario reveals that no organization, irrespective of its size and market position, can afford to take its position for granted. Overlooking the art of effective and smart communication can cost a firm dearly in terms of market goodwill, value and employee base. Therefore, it has become imperative for businesses of today to keep themselves abreast of all the new changes and technologies that are shaping up modern business communication.

Communication Trends of 21st Century Business Organizations

Having discussed the contemporary business issues and their effect on the style of working and communication systems of the firms, now lets take a look at those present communication trends that are defining the ways of business interaction and shaping the corporate offices of our generation. Here, it is important to emphasize that the following points identify those current and future trends that have already started to show their impact on businesses but are still in their infancy. With time, these are going to define the way businesses across the world will be conducted and the role business communication is going to play in it. Following are the important developments that have taken place in the area of business communication.

Use of IT in Communication
With the proliferation of technology and growth of telecommunications in the world, business communication has undergone a sea change. In earlier days, businesses were all about sending memos, letters, drafts and so on. Today the same is being performed through videoconferencing, e-mailing and VoIP etc. In the Internet era, there are various , social networking and media websites available that are becoming extremely popular in the corporate circles nowadays. For example, Procter & Gamble set up Your Encore to build useful social networks among its retirees to tap their talent.

Growing Significance of Cross-Cultural Communication

In todays global business environment, more and more of us are required to understand people who come from countries and cultures different from our own. Here, it is important to understand that it is not only the inter-cultural differences that are making communication difficult, but handling the intra-cultural and inter-racial communication is also becoming a tricky issue. Sometimes, people speaking the same language but
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coming from different countries have more problems in interaction than people speaking different languages, as is the case with a majority of US and UK employees.

Increasing Emphasis on Informal/Participatory Communication

The rigid, formal and structured communication pattern prevalent in the autocratic organizations of the yesteryears is no more in practice in organizations today. With employees being empowered and more and more emphasis being laid on developing bottom-up communication in line with the downwards communication channel, the communication in organizations is becoming more participatory and informal in nature. Today, bosses are friendlier than ever, and a growing need is being felt to develop employees participation in management decision-making and developing new ideas.

Communicating in Groups
More and more organizations are nowadays resorting to team-based style of functioning where work is distributed to specific teams. In such a group-centric approach, communication assumes prime importance. The degree and scope of communication in the latter case is much more than in an individualized working environment where tasks are performed by specific individuals. For developing effective teams, it is very important to ensure that the lines of communication between team members are strong and seamless. Besides, an equal amount of attention has to be paid to concerns like conflict resolution and brainstorming, all of which are a part of group communication.

Quicker and Widespread Communication

Rapid improvements in information technology have allowed us to exchange information and communicate almost everywhere, anywhere and anytime. With organizations expanding their operations across multiple countries, too much of communication to too many people must reach as quickly as possible. A good example of this is Eicher Consultancy Services which has its offices at dispersed locations. It demands a strong and high level communication network for conducting business. The company installed an effective messaging service which helps communicate the information and decisions faster at widespread locations, leading to multiple benefits in terms of efficiency and communication. Communication systems that save time and are easy to implement are highly recommended. This has made business communication in modern-day business environment assume far-reaching importance.

Conclusion
What makes business communication so much important for a modern-day business organization is its ability to ease out several of the complexities that are facing the firms nowadays. Besides ensuring increased efficiency and productivity in business by blending all the functional areas, it aids in helping the firms realize their international dreams and gain competitive supremacy. But having said all this, it should not be forgotten that implementing effective corporate communication is not a cakewalk. It takes
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a lot of practice and hard work to improve the lines of communication at the workplace especially in todays business environment which is ushered in by technology and globalization and characterized by dispersed work groups that operate away from the home office. The present day social, cultural, technological and state factors are already posing big challenges for the businesses in their endeavor to establish good business communication. Getting over these hurdles is currently on the priority of the soft skills experts in organizations. A majority of the managers today agree that one of the essential prerequisites for ensuring success in business today is how smartly, articulately and succinctly one can communicate at the workplace. General Electric is a good example of a company that has done wonders using smart communication techniques. GE is a diversified organization consisting of 14 divisions. They have implemented a system called Integrated Diversity. Under this communication system, GEs 14 separate business leaders report directly to the senior-most managers. This has helped GE streamline its functions and avoid duplication of work and information, besides ensuring faster decision-making. With increasing business complexities, the future of new age firms will depend to a large extent on their ability to use information and communicate effectively within and outside their organizational boundaries.

Bibliography
1. Birte Asmu and Jan Svennevig (2009), Meeting Talk: An Introduction, Journal of Business Communication, Vol. 46, No. 1, pp. 3-22. 2. Conrad C and Poole M (2002), Strategic Organizational Communication in a Global Economy, Wadsworth, Belmont, CA. 3. Goodall H L and Goodall S (2002), Communication in Professional Context: Skills, Ethics, and Technologies, Wadsworth, Belmont, CA. 4. Karl L, Smart and Richard Featheringham (2009), Developing Effective Interpersonal Communication and Discussion Skills, Business Communication Quarterly, Vol. 69, No. 3, pp. 276-283. 5. Lesikar R V and Flatley M E (2002), Basic Business Communication, 9th Edition, Tata McGraw Hill, New Delhi. 6. Scot Ober (2009), Contemporary Business Communication, 7th Edition, Houghton Mifflin Co.

Reference # 50J-2010-12-03-01

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