Business Communication Assignment Help

         Rengsona Limbu

             4th December 2015

Communication is about passing information between people or an organization.  It is an essence of human interaction and learning.  It can be in different forms like: communicating with phones, Short Message Service (SMS), Video messages, letter, e-mail, Internet, face-to-face, body language, hand signs, etc.  Before civilization, people used smoke signals; drums and some people had messengers.  People also communicated by drawing on rocks, which is called rock paintings.  In those ancient times, messengers were also used to deliver important communications from A to B, either by foot or on horseback.  Some marathons that run today trace the route taken by these early couriers.  Carrier pigeons have also been used to transfer physical messages from place to place.

The purpose of communication is for human beings to be able to understand each other in different ways and for several reasons.  It can be any means, not just verbal.  Communication entails expressing and listening to each other’s problems, and solve the difficulties we face in day-to-day operations in our work and personal life.  To achieve effective communication, communicative skills need to be developed.  With effective communication skills, people can easily explain things to each other and express themselves. We also communicate in a business environment.  Explanations or expressions of what an individual demands and what a supplier can supply is the backbone of communication in the business environment.  It helps us find solutions to difficulties that may face our businesses.  It is important to know the audience so that whatever is being communicated to them will be relevant, not offend them, and, as a result, be received appropriately.  People should be aware how to communicate with other people from different ethnic groups, workplaces, age groups, etc.  If a person knows the audience, they can more effectively communicate with and persuade that audience.  Knowing the customers or listeners beforehand helps the person to present information more effectively.

Business communication is in many forms: writing business documents, including letters, memos, and reports; speaking, including interviews, meetings, public presentations, and daily interactions at a more informal level; word processing and telecommunications; behaving, including the way a person shakes hands, sits during an interview, dresses, talks, walks, and moves.

Stages of communication

Communication is a process.  For the message to be properly relayed, there are six major stages that are involved.  These stages include; the sender-

Communication starts with the sender.  It is the person interested in sharing information or seeking an explanation.  The message- This defines what needs to be communicated.  It expresses the concerns or explains the knowledge of the person communicating.  The symbol- The symbol is the third stage of communication.  The sender composes the message in the way the other party or parties will understand.  The channel- The channel of a communication involves the route, the tools or the method the message is relayed.  It is how the sender chooses the information to reach the audience. The receiver- This is the recipient of the message.  The receiver is supposed to decode the message from the sender. And finally, the feedback- Once the receiver has received the message and decoded it, he/she is supposed to send back a response to the sender.  This feedback also helps the sender to improve their communication skills. (Guffey and Loewy).

Different methods of communication:

As stated earlier, communication can be of different forms. These include;

Verbal communication, non-verbal communication, written communication that is in the form of; formal writing and informal writing, sign languages, body languages, pictures, electronic presentation and facial expression.

Verbal communication is the most important and most effective type of communication.  It can be either face-to-face communication with a person or a group or a call to the people you are communicating using telephones.  Face to face communication is the best.  There is a direct contact, and the sender can see or hear what the person says and feels.  Communication through the telephone is also effective, but not the best.  The sender can only hear but cannot see the person or group of people you are communicating to or with.  Effective verbal communication involves listening to people or a group of audience, and not much to do with speaking.  It is listening to people’s concerns and trying to find solutions.  These are used when you have conferences, seminars, discussions, etc.

The non-verbal communication is a type of communication that does not involve words.  It could be written, or sign language, facial expression and gestures that help understand the person with whom one is communicating.  With non-verbal communication, great attention is important since even the small things make a lot of difference.

Written communication is the most common form of business communication.  It is essential for all business owners and managers to develop effective written communication skills and to encourage the same in all employees.

Formal communication can be considered as communication efforts that are used to fit customary rules.  It follows proper order, and procedures, and can be recorded to store the outcomes.

Informal communication can be about anything from emailing your friends, it can be a chat about anything: it can be work related, texting friends, leaving post, short notices, and letters to friends or employers.  It can also take place at informal meeting where people meet up for small discussion.  Discussion can also take place in small café, lounge or Starbucks, etc.

Sign language is a language, which uses manual communication and body language, facial, and other body movements as the means of communication, especially among deaf people.  A method of communication, as between speakers of different languages, that uses hand movements and other gestures.  Sign language has largely been standardized in the world.

Many people have a hard time with communication, and can find it difficult to tell others what they think or to give them bad news.  Sometimes, it is difficult to find the right words to express the things one wants to say.  Body Language, however, is mostly honest and can be counted on.  Some people who find it hard to hear or talk can use sign languages or facial expression to communicate what they feel. 

Picture communication is when one gives information through the use of images.  It was originally used for children with autism, however, nowadays; it is becoming common among preschoolers, as it is very easy to understand.

A presentation is a process of presenting a topic to an audience.  It is typically a demonstration, lecture, or speech meant to inform, persuade, or build good will.   A presentation program, such as Microsoft PowerPoint, Apple Keynote, OpenOffice.org, is often used to generate the presentation content.  Modern internet-based presentation software, such as the presentation application in Google Docs also allows presentations to be developed collaboratively by geographically different collaborators. Presentation viewers can be used to combine content from different presentation programs into one presentation. (Newman and Ober)

Facial expressions are vital to social communication between humans.  Facial expressions are a form of nonverbal communication.  They are a primary means of conveying social information between humans, but they also occur in most other mammals and some other animal species.

Barriers to effective communication

Effective communication is a difficult skill to learn.  There are so many variables that can affect communication, which people often do not consider.  These variables include both the sender’s skills at communication and also how receptive the other party is in the message.  Even though a person is the best communicator in the entire world, if the other party is not interested, then there is no point of communicating.  Barriers to effective communication include: 

• Physical/ geographical barriers.

Geographical location can strain communication in the sense that probably the persons communicating are in different locations.  The issue with time difference can also strain communication.  Physical objects, mostly opaque objects can also block people from communicating non-verbally.  This is because the parties involved might not be able to observe the other person gestures, facial expressions, and other non-verbal cues. 

• Dialect and Regional Differences

Regional difference can be a businessman from London and a farmer from Scotland can have or will find that neither one of them will be able to understand each other, due to dialects, accents and, other regional differences.

• Language

In the world, there are so many different languages.  When people speak in a different language, it is difficult to understand what the other person is communicating.  It is amusing how many people forget about the fact that not everyone uses the same language.  In business, people interact with people who speak different languages.  In this case, the parties should be aware of the problem and not assume the other party will understand, be as fluent or understand as fast.  It is possible that sometimes the message will not be relayed properly. If this is the case, try to get the other party to rephrase and repeat their words to make sure you understand what they are saying.   This should apply to any communication method.  Preparing and learning other languages can help you in future.  To solve this issue, it is advisable to use sign language if all parties involved are conversant with it.  It is also advisable to use gestures.  If none of this works, then interpreters who understand the different languages should be called upon to help in the translation.

• Lack of subject knowledge

For communication to be effective, all parties should understand the subject being communicated.  If this is not the case, then some people will not get anything being informed.  The audience may not have too much information, but the communicator is required to have understood the subject perfectly.  If the communicator does not fully understand the subject; they might lie to the audience or even confuse them.  It is also possible that the audience might lose interest in the process.

• Emotions

Emotions hinder communication since sometimes they cloud people’s judgment.  For instance, when someone is angry they may not be receptive or patient to get the information you want to pass along.  Some of the most basic tenants of communication and the first thing an individual should learn is to make sure they do not alienate or make people feel out of place and awkward in their presence.  It is difficult to get any business deals or meet and make new friends easily if a person put everyone in the room on edge.

• Noise

Noise distracts people’s attention.  When there is a noise communicators need to strain to be heard, and the receivers should also strain to hear what is being said.

• Cultural barriers

The cultural difference has a major impact on potential barriers to communication.  It is very challenging for the people to communicate with others from different cultures.  The cultural difference includes different things from people in the way of seeing, hearing and interpreting.  Also, the same words can mean different things to people from the different cultures.  So this is why the cultural difference can be an impact on barriers to communication.

However, there are many ways of improving a person’s communication skill and reducing the barriers to effective communication.

Word choice: First of all, it is important for the sender to select words that they are sure mean what they are communicating.  There are certain words meaning to different people.  This kind of information can be obtained when the audience gives feedback.  The speaker should put into consideration and do a little practice. Using simple words will be better than using complicated words.  Over complicating your speech does not make you sound intelligent, it just makes the speaker sound showy and can confuse people if they do not have a broad vocabulary.  Using technical terms to people that are not in the organization you are in or understand the same organization means you will alienate rather than improve, making the barriers to effective communication get bigger and harder.

If the method of relaying the message is electronic, that is by sending emails or digital messages, it is important to use surgical in word choices.  Choosing the correct words and stamping out ambiguity is the only step to making communication without the recipient more effective.  Physical communication barriers can be some of the worst.  Many people rely on the body language to understand the message without realizing it.

The most effective way to overcome communication barriers is to understand the audience and the message.  If the sender has clear understanding of what they want to communicate, the can simplify it for the audience ad even choose the best method to communicate.  A person who also understands the people they are communicating with is also likely to deliver the message effectively.  Knowing the recipients of the message will help the sender to understand all their weaknesses.  They work on it and, this way, they are better prepared and equipped to relay the message.

By understanding the motivations and behaviors of a particular customer, an individual, will both be able to plan their communications activity more effectively, and also develop a healthy approach to evaluation. To run a successful organization, a hardworking, intelligent, punctual, team working staffs are paramount to deliver effectively.  These are the main points to have in your workplace or any organization to help your business grow.  For example:

1. Daily communications meeting to provide updated and to plan daily strategy
2. Continual monitoring of social media, contributing to conversations when appropriate
3. Helping to plan communications activity based on customer insight
4. End of week meeting to assess performance and communications activity