Business Communication

Effective communication 

• The exchange of information and instructions between groups or people, with feedback. 

• Fey features –

  • Sender

  • Clear message

  • Appropriate medium 

  • Receiver 

  • Feedback 

• Internal communication is between different people or groups within the organisation

• External communication is when the communication occurs with outside parties – suppliers, government, customers, suppliers

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Why is effective communication important?

• Higher staff motivation, labour productivity

• Improve in the number and quality of ideas generated by the staff

• Speeder decision making 

• Quicker response to market changes 

• Reduced risks of errors 

• Effective coordination between departments

Communication methods – the media used in communicating 

Oral communication 

• One-on-one conversations, interviews, meetings

• Allows two-way communication and feedback 

• Improves worker motivation 

• Message can be reinforced with body language 

• Maybe ambiguous

• No written record 

• Costly, time taking 

Written communication 

• Letters, memos, notices 

• Can be referred to whenever needed 

• Allows detailed data to be shared

• No immediate feedback 

IT and web-based media 

• Emails, fax

• Quick 

• Written record 

• Need workers to be trained 

• Reduces social contact, interpersonal contact is lost 

• Security issues 

• Information overload 

Visual communication 

• Accompany oral or written 

• Diagrams, pictures, whiteboards 

• Increased impact, colour and movements

• Useful during training, marketing

Communication methods – the media used in communicating 

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Factors influencing choice of appropriate media 

• Importance of written record 

• Cost

• Advantages to be gained from staff input 

• Speed

• Quantity of data to be communicated 

• Whether or not more than 1 method id necessary 

• Size and geographical spread

Barriers to effective communication 

Failure in one of the stages of the communication process

• Inappropriate medium 

• Receiver forgot a part of the long message 

• Misleading or incomplete message 

• Excessive use of technical language, jargon 

• Too much information 

• Long communication channel 

Poor attitudes of either the send or the receiver 

• Sender is not trusted

• Unmotivated workers

• Intermediaries

• Poor opinion or perception

Physical reasons 

• Noisy factories

• Geographical distance

Reducing communication barriers

1. Message is clear and precise

2. Short communication channel 

3. Clear channels of communication 

4. Build in feedback to the communication process

5. Establish trust between receiver and sender 

6. Appropriate physical conditions

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Formal communication networks 

• The official communication channels and routes used in the organisations 

• Chain network – 

  • Used in a hierarchical structure 

  • Autocratic leadership 

  • One way communication 

  • Workers feel isolated, demotivated 

• Vertical network –

  • Leader communicates with subordinates directly 

  • No group networks 

  • Narrow span of control 

• Wheel network –

  • Leader is at the centre 

  • 2 way communication 

  • Poor horizontal communication 

• Circle network – 

  • One person only communicates with 2 other people 

  • Decentralised network

  • No obvious leader

  • Slow rate of communication 

  • No feedback 

• Integrated network – 

  • Full 2 way communication 

  • Participative style of decision making 

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One-way or two-way communication 

• One way communication doesn’t allow for feedback 

• Doesn’t give the receiver a chance to question the sender 

• No assurance for the sender that the message has been received, understood

• Two way communication allows feedback

• Gives a chance for the receiver to contribute 

• More motivating 

• Used for democratic leadership 

• Time consuming 

Horizontal communication 

• Vertical communications is when different people from different levels of hierarchy communicate with each other 

• Main method is formal 

• Horizontal communication occurs along the organisational structure. 

• People of the same status but different responsibility 

• Problems –

  • Different departments may not understand the culture, objectives, way of working 

  • Outlook and objectives of departments may conflict

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Informal communication 

• Unofficial channels of communicatio