Business Communication

- must possess good communication skills?

Why do advertisements say

Communicating at Work

Businesses want and need people with good communication skills.

Communication is vital to business.

Surveys have found that Written Communication Skills are at the top of business skills required for success.
Studies have concluded that skills such as writing and speaking well, displaying proper etiquette and listening attentively will probably determine career success.

The importance of Communication Skills to you

Colleges teach the one thing that is perhaps most valuable for the future employee to know. But very few students bother to learn it. This one basic skill is the ability to organize and express ideas in writing and speaking.

Peter Drucker management consultant , educator and speaker

Changes in the business environment and the need for heightened communication skills a) Heightened global competition b) Flattened management hierarchies c) Expanded team-based management d) Innovative communication technologies

Ensuring that you succeed at your workplace the need for good communication skills.

e) New work environments

f)

Increasingly diverse workforce

g) Going ahead in the Age of Knowledge

The process of communication has five steps: Idea formation Message encoding Message transmission Message decoding Feedback

Examining the Process of Communication

8. Feedback travels to sender

1. Sender has the idea 2. Sender encodes idea in message 3. Message travels over channel 4. Receiver decodes message

6. Possible additional feedback to receiver

The Communication Process

Communication is the transmission of information and meaning from one individual or group to another. The crucial element in this definition is meaning.
The process of communication is successful only when the receiver understands an idea as the sender intends the idea as the sender intended it.

Examning the process of Communication

Meanings sent are not always meanings received frames of reference. Meaning sent is in the mind bypassing. The symbols of communication are imperfect language skills. Distractions

Obstacles to good communication

Recognizing the fallibility of the process and anticipating problems Focusing on the receivers environment and frame of reference Communication is more than expressing yourself well. It is listening well. Examining your personal assumptions, biases and prejudices Effective communicators create and environment for good feedback

Overcoming the obstacles to communication

Oral Communication

Written Communication Provides a permanent record Necessary for the purpose of litigation and governmental regulations Messages can be organized and wellconsidered Convenient and can be reviewed

Best way to exchange information Face to face interaction Minimizes misunderstandings Immediate response and clarification Promotes interpersonal interaction and relationships

Basic forms of communication Advantages

Oral Communication No written record Sometimes wastes time Interrupts the work schedule Sometimes goes beyond just business

Written Communication

Requires preparation and sensitivity to the audience and its anticipated effects Words are committed to hard copy may cause embarasment Difficult to prepare

Basic forms of communication Disadvantages

Internal Operational Communication all communication that occurs in conduction work within a business. External - Operational Communication the work related communication that a business does with people and groups outside the business. Personal Communication is nonbusiness related exchanges of information and feelings among people.

Types of communication in organizations

The Formal Network the main lines of operational communication. This kind of communication includes upward, lateral and downward movements of information by report, email, records, instructions, orders and messages, presentations, advertising and publicity, through the organizations email, intranet, or portal.

Communication Network of an Organization

The Informal Network Parallel to the formal network lies the informal network, a secondary network consisting of primarily personal communication that relates to the operations of the organization. This network is known as the grapevine in management literature. The grapevine usually carries far more information on many matters and is more effective in determining the course of an organization.

Human beings have been communicating since the dawn of time, but miscommunication still occurs. This can be costly to business. We need communication skills to run businesses effectively and efficiently

90% of all business transactions may involve written messages Writing skills are important to business success Writing skills can be developed through training