Business
communication
INTRODUCTION TO
COMMUNICATION
• The word “Communicate” comes from the Latin verb
“Communicare” which means to impart, to participate, to share
or to make common. By virtue of its Latin origin it is also the source
of the English word “Common”.
• Thus, Communication is defined as the process of conveying
or transmitting a message from one person to another through
a proper channel.
DEFINITION
• “Communication is an exchange of facts, ideas, opinions by
two or more persons” – W.H. Norman & Summer
• “The process of passing information and understanding from
one person to another it is essentially a bridge of meaning
between the people by using the bridge a person can safely
cross the river of misunderstanding” -- Keith Davis.
COMPONENTS OF
COMMUNICATION
 Sender – Encoder
 Message
Medium(channel)
Receiver Decoder
 Feedback
WHAT IS BUSINESS
COMMUNICATION?
• The term business communication is used for all messages that
we send and receive for official purposes like running a
business, managing an organization, conducting the formal
affairs of a voluntary organization and so on.
• Business communication is marked by formality as against
personal and social communication like chatting, letters
between friends and family, etc.
• It includes both written and oral communication like letters,
reports, memos, notices, interviews, meetings, conferences,
presentations, group discussions etc.
PRINCIPLES OF
COMMUNICATION
To make communication more effective, a business man/woman
has to follow certain principles while communicating. To make
it simple, the principles of communication can be divided into
two broad parts:
1.
7Cs of communication
2.
Other principles of communication
7CS OF
COMMUNICATION
1. Candid : the message should be candid ,it should not be
indirect , multivocal or untrue. the message should be frank and
straight forward .
2. Clear: The message to be communicated whether oral or
written should be clear . For this not only clarity of expression is must ,
but also clarity of thoughts .
3. Complete : Completeness is necessary for effective
communication incomplete message breads misunderstanding and
misinterpretation.
7CS OF COMMUNICATION
CONTD..
4. concise : To retain the attention as well as to save the
time of the reader, it is essential that the message should be
concise. Conciseness means conveying the message in fewest
possible words without sacrificing its completeness and clarity
.
5. concrete: The communicated statement should not
be vague , rather should be concrete and specific , concrete
expression create visual image in the mind of the receiver
which vague or generalized statement can not
7CS OF COMMUNICATION
CONTD..
6. Correct : The message to be communicated should
be correct in spelling , in grammar , in format, in content, in
statistical information etc.
7. Courteous : Congenial and healthy
communication environment is essential to ensure the
effectiveness of communication .
OTHER PRINCIPLE OF
COMMUNICATION
1.
Create synergetic environment
2.
Two way communication
3.
Strengthen communication flow
4.
Proper medias
5.
Encourage open communication
6.
Appropriate language
7.
Effective listening
OBJECTIVES OF
COMMUNICATION
• Information-giving: The basic objective of
communication is to enquire, supply or receive
information through spoken or written language or
through symbols, signs or signals. In order to
manage different operations and processes one
needs both external and internal information in an
organization.
• Advice: It is the personal opinion about a particular
course of action in a particular situation, with a view to
change the behaviour and opinion of the receiver. Since it
involves the personal opinion of the advisor, it is
subjective and usually flows horizontally or downwards in
an organization.
• Suggestion: Suggestion is a proposal made by a
subordinate to the higher authority indicating change
required in the existing procedural and operational
matters. Suggestion flows upwardly because it is given by
a person of lower rank to one in the higher authority.
• Order: An order is a directive issued either in written
or orally by the management to a subordinate in an
authoritative manner, specifying to do something or to
refrain from a certain course of action. It is a downward
communication as it flows from higher authorities to
subordinates.
• Motivation: Motivation channelizes the inner urges of
human to work and to excel for the organizational goals.
The role of the business manager in motivating his
employees is that of a ‘guide by side’, helping others to
discover their inner urges to excel.
• Persuasion: It is the act of influencing the other
persons to voluntarily change their attitudes, beliefs,
feelings and thoughts. Effective persuasion is a difficult
task but it is more powerful way than ordering or
warning in command and control style of management.
• Education: It is an important objective of
communication because organizations teach and train
their executives and employees to learn new tools and
techniques of performing various operations with
greater economy, efficiency and effectiveness.
• Warning: It is informing about the unpleasant and
unfavourable consequences, if certain course of
action is not changed. Such course of action may be
negligence, disobedience, misbehaving with others
or mishandling material and machinery etc. The
purpose of warning is to ask the employee to abide
by the rules and regulations and work with devotion
and dedication.
PROCESS OF COMMUNICATION
• Communication is something everyone engages in, some with
more skill than other. In much of our communication, focus is
on the contents of conversation. We listen to what people are
saying to us and attempt to respond.
• Communication is a two-way street involving both receiving
messages and giving messages and a two way method utilizing
both spoken words and non-verbal messages.
The Communication Process
PROCESS OF COMMUNICATION
 A message is sent: someone shares an idea or feeling with other
person.
 A message is received: The other person gives feedback,
through word or sign, to indicate that message has been received.
 The sender received feedback: The response of the receiver tell
the sender if the message was understood
 Another message is sent: If the 1stmessage was not understood,
the sender tries other ways to express the same idea. If the
1stmessage was understood another message can be sent,
communication can be processed.
To be complete, a message must be given and received with a
common understanding of what the message means. The sender is
responsible for being sure his message is accurately received for
finding a way to express himself so that the receiver knows what the
message means.
FEEDBACK
• Feedback is the response
or reply which the receiver
of a message gives back to
the sender. Sometimes its
possible to get feedback
immediately.
• Feedback can be immediate
as in the case of face to face
communication.
FUNCTIONS OF COMMUNICATION
• Communication plays a very important role both to an individual and
an organization. Communication is important not only for the success
and growth of any business executive or profession, but also for the
smooth and efficient running of any enterprise.
• There are several functions of communication. Some of the important
functions are:.
 Expression of oneself.
 Building human relations.
 Career advancement.
 Efficient working of the business
 Strategic management.
 Technological progress.
 Economic advancement.
 Global village.
• Expression of oneself: Communication helps humans to convey their
opinions, thoughts, feelings, Etc., to make the other person understand their
point of view.
• Building human relations: Building healthy relations is important both in
personal and professional life of an Individual. Two way communication
promotes openness, trust, cooperation and among different individuals. It also
creates a conducive working environment between the management and
workers.
• Career advancement: Human ability to communicate effectively helps him to
perform effectively. Communication skills- writing, speech, listening, etc., play
a dominant role in one’s success in his profession.
• Efficient working of the business: Communication plays in important role in
establishing a successful and smooth running enterprise by creating a healthy
and conducive work environment. It also helps in conveying organizational
goals and policies to the employees which helps them to coordinate and
accomplish the goals of the firm.
• Strategic management: Strategic Management consists of decisions and
actions directed at formulation and implementation of strategies. Hence,
Strategic Management requires flawless and free communication among top
level and bottom level management to understand each other’s plan and
actions and to know and implement the objectives of the organization.
• Technological progress: The advanced communication system has
contributed immensely towards publicizing and passing on the fruits of
scientific discoveries and inventions to the people from the laboratories. It is
visible that countries that have good communication systems have advanced
technological progress.
• Economic Development: Communication plays a dominant role in the
economic development of the nation especially when the industrial economy
is evolving and leading into digital economy in which information, services,
products and money are transferred and transacted electronically.
• Global Village: With Globalization and Liberalization stepping in, the modern
communication technology has played a significant role in breaking all
geographical barriers among different countries and continents and has
integrated various communities and cultures under unified network.
TYPES OF COMMUNICATION
Some of the popular types of communication are:
One way communication and two way communication.
Verbal and Non-verbal communication.
Formal Communication and Informal Communication.
Interpersonal and Intrapersonal Communication.
Group Communication.
Public Communication.
Mass Communication.
• One way communication and two way communication:
• One way communication is characterized by absence of feedback from the
receiver to the sender. The sender conveys the message and the receiver
has to make out the meaning on his/her own as there is no scope for check
back. E.g; reader reading news on TV or Radio.
• Two way communication involves active feedback from the receiver to the
sender to ensure that the receiver has understood the same message which
the sender intended to convey. This form of communication is more
interactive and interpersonal.
• Verbal and Non-Verbal Communication:
• Verbal communication can be oral as well as written. Oral communication
may be face to face, by telephone or video conferencing system, while
written communication can take the form of letters, memos, reports, emails, etc.
• Non-verbal communication refers to transmission of information through
facial expression, body postures, eye contacts, clothing, silence, etc. Studies
reveal that more than 65% of human communication is through non verbal
communication.
• Formal Communication and Informal Communication:
• Formal communication is a structured communication on the basis of
hierarchy, authority and accountability. It may be downward, upward or
horizontal communication. E.g; conferences, circulars, interviews, etc.
• Informal communication is relatively less structured and spontaneous
communication arising out of day to day routine and meetings among
peers. E.g; conversation at lunch or tea, talks at social gathering, Etc.
• Interpersonal and Intrapersonal Communication:
• When the communication goes among two or more persons it is called
Interpersonal communication. It can be both formal and informal
communication.
• Intrapersonal communication refers to the internal dialogue that occurs
within the mind of an individual. The internal dialogues may be clear or
confused depending on the person’s mind. If the mind is in trouble, the
message will be unclear and confused. On the other hand if the mind is
silent and still
• Group communication: A group is an association of two or more
persons who interact with each other in such a way that each
influences the other. Group communication may be formal
communication in a group such as committees, board of directors,
teams etc., and also informal such as friends, relatives, etc.
• Public Communication: Public communication involves speech by
one person to a large group at a time. This is a one way
communication because the speaker gives a speech and the
audience listens. E.g; speech by Political leaders, preaching by
religious preachers, etc.
• Mass communication: It is a process of communicating to the public
at large scale through mass medias such as television, internet, films,
publications, newspapers, etc. It plays a vital role in boosting the
image of the business organization and attracting the customers.
VERBAL AND NON-VERBAL
COMMUNICATION
• We communicate through various ways using different
symbols like pictures, colors signs and sounds to share our
ideas and experience with others. We also use our facial
expressions, movements, clothing and so on to communicate.
• Communication through words (both oral and written) is
called verbal communication and communication through
other symbols is called non-verbal communication.
VERBAL COMMUNICATION
• Verbal communication is done using words either orally or in
written. It is said that most formal communication happen
through verbal communication. Verbal communication is
always accompanied by non-verbal communication like,
gestures, facial expression, voice modulation, etc.
• The oral communication is affected by the environment and
conditions of situations such as, face-to-face conversation,
telephone conversation, presentation, public speech,
interview, group discussion, negotiation, meetings, etc.
• The written communication is used to communicate with
people who are not physically present in front of us. The
various channels used for written communication are, letters,
memos, notices, circulars, report, minutes of the meetings, etc.
NON-VERBAL COMMUNICATION
• Non-verbal communication includes all things other than
words and language than can convey meaning. Non-erbal
communication can be independent of verbal
communication unlike verbal communication which is
dependent on non-verbal communication.
• Non-verbal communication includes Visual symbols such
as, colour, pictures, graphs and charts, maps, signs and
signals etc., Auditory symbols such as, whistles, buzzers,
bells, beeps, sirens, etc., Body language such as, Facial
expression, smile, eye contact, gestures, postures, clothing
and appearance, handshakes, etc. Other non-verbal
communication include, space, environment, time, energy,
etc.
PARALANGUAGE
• The non-verbal aspects of the spoken words are known as paralanguage. It is
possible to control and use paralanguage effectively by becoming aware of it and
paying attention to one’s voice and speech. Voice has characteristics like volume
and pitch, speech has qualities of speed, rhythm, pronunciation, accent, tone and
stress.
• We can change the meaning of a sentence using the help of the above mentioned
paralanguages.
• For example, take the sentence, “I love my children”. That sentence is
meaningless unless it is pronounced. The way that sentence is packaged vocally
determines the signal that if given to another person. For example, if the emphasis
is on the first word, “I love my children”, the implication is somebody else doesn’t.
If the emphasis is on the second word, “I love my children”, a different implication
is given, and perhaps that some of their behavior is suspicious. If the emphasis is
placed on the third word, “I love my children,” the implication is that someone
else’s children do not receive the same affection. If the emphasis is placed on the
final word, “I love my children”, a fourth implication may be drawn, that is, that
there are other people whom I do not love. So the way we carry our words vocally
often determines the meaning that another person is likely to infer from our
message.
BARRIERS TO COMMUNICATION
Barriers of communication are the hindrances or
the difficulties involved in the process of
communication which distort the message being
properly understood by the receiver. Barriers
prevent the communication from being effective.
Barriers of communication can be classified as,
 Semantic barriers
 Physical barriers
 Organizational barriers
 Psychological barriers
SEMANTIC BARRIERS
• Semantic barriers are concerned with problem and
obstruction in the process of encoding and
decoding the message in to words or other
impression.
• The use of different language, different
interpretation of different words and symbols ,poor
vocabulary and poor grammatical knowledge are
some of the semantic barriers.
PHYSICAL BARRIERS
Any disturbance or interference that reduces the clarity
and effectiveness of communication is called noise. It
may be physical or psychological ,written or visual,
noise distracts the persons communication and acts as
barrier to communication .
The different forms of physical barriers are;
1. Noise
2. Improper time
3. Distance
4. Inadequate or overload of information
ORGANIZATIONAL BARRIERS
• Organizational barriers occurs in the organization
due to rules, regulation and hierarchical
relationship.
• The various forms of organizational barriers are;
1.
Rules and regulations
2.
Hierarchical relationship
3.
Non conducting of staff meetings
4.
Wrong choice of channel
PSYCHOLOGICAL BARRIERS
Psychological barriers arise from motives, emotions,
social values, different perception etc. These create
psychological distance, cause misunderstanding
among people at work and hinder the
communication process.
The various forms of psychological barriers are:
1.
Selective perceptions
2.
Premature evaluation
3.
Poor listening
4.
Attitude of superiors
5.
emotions
 THANK YOU 