Chapter 1 Effective Communication in Business
To understand the importance and benefits of effective communication communication
To understand essential components of communication
To learn the concepts of communication and Challenges of communication
To understand the role of nonverbal communication in overall ove rall communication
Important for the development de velopment of human civilization
The ancient world depended heavily on oral communication
With the evolution of human civilization, the art and science of written communication were developed de veloped
Writing became more important as a means of keeping permanent record of communication
The origination of communication communication principles can be traced back to the bureaucratic traditions of China.
Thus, some of the principles of writing are based on a mixture of ancient oral and written traditions.
“Lifeblood” of Every Organization As blood helps transmission of vital nutrients and hormones for effective functioning of human body, Communication does so in an organization. This is achieved through Internal Communication - Downward, Upward and Horizontal. Effective downward communication motivates employees to engage in a goaldirected behavior.
“Lifeblood” of Every Organization Effective downward communication also provides the employees proper guidelines to carry out their tasks. Effective upward communication fosters employee loyalty towards the organization. They feel they are part of the organization. Managers, through effective upward communication get to know the impact of their decisions on their employees and overall functioning of the organization.
“Lifeblood” of Every Organization
Effective horizontal communication is essential for peer-learning within the organization.
It helps employees solve problems, perform duties, prepare for the meetings and enhance the level of interdepartmental coordination required for carrying out cross-functional tasks.
External Communication
External communication determines can have far reaching effect on a firm’s reputation and ultimate success. The letter, proposal, report, telephone call, or personal conversation can win back a dissatisfied customer.
Cost of Communication
Cost of communication can be measured in terms of time and money.
Late or ineffective communication co mmunication may cause loss of customers and firm’s goodwill.
In certain businesses, such as aviation, oil drilling, healthcare, mining, construction, poor communication may cost life of people and money.
A Valuable Job Requirement
Managerial career requires mainly intellectual inputs to perform tasks effectively and hence an ability to communicate effectively becomes a valuable asset.
Communication is a primary responsibility in many careers, such as marketing, sales, public relations, human resources, customer relations, financial services, and teaching.
A Valuable Job Requirement
Even if your work is mainly with figures, f igures, as in the accounting profession, the t he ability to communicate to those who read your financial reports is essential.
It is an important requirement for those who are looking for their career advancement.
An Essential for Promotion
Managers spend 60 to 90 percent of their working days communicating – speaking, writing, and listening.
Ability to communicate is one of the very important aspects of becoming successful in managerial career.
Context Sender-Encoder Message Medium Receiver-Decoder Feedback
Context
Every message, whether oral or written, begins with context. It is a broad field that includes country, culture, organization, and internal stimuli. Every country, culture and organization has its own conventions for processing and communicating information. Your attitudes, opinions, emotions, past experiences, likes and dislikes, education, etc. influence the way you communicate.
Context
Especially important is your ability to analyze the culture, viewpoint, needs, skills, status, experience and expectations in order to communicate effectively.
Words alone have no meanings. They are meaningful in a given context.
Send Sender er - Encod ncoder er
As a sender-encoder, you use symbols that express your message and create the desired response.
Alphabets are verbal symbols, which are used to design a message.
Posture, gesture, eye contact, facial expressions, silence, etc. are some of the non-verbal symbols managers use to encode a message.
Message
It is the core idea that on wants to communicate and it contains both – verbal and non-verbal symbols.
A communicator’s first task is to decide exactly what the message is and what other information to include.
Choice of medium is crucial in determining the effectiveness of the message being communicated.
Medium
The selection of communication channel depends on all the contextual factors and the nature of the message itself.
The choices of medium include oral conversation, presentation, meeting , on one hand and e-mail, letter, memorandum, report, proposal, on the other hand. hand.
In nutshell, a communicator should decide: decide: to speak or to write .
Characteristics of Oral and Written Media: Oral
Written
Immediate feedback
Delayed feedback
Shorter sentences & words
Longer sentences & words
Conversational
More formal
Focus Focus on interp interpers ersonal onal relati relations ons Focus Focus on conten contentt Prompt action
Delayed action
Less detail detail techni technical cal informatio information n More detailed detailed technical technical info. More personal pronouns
Fewer personal pronouns
More colloquial language
More complex constructions
Simpler constructions
Possibility of review
More imperative, interrogative, and exclamatory sentences
Useful for permanent record and detailed documentation
Receiver-Decoder
The receiver of the message - either a reader or a listener – is also known as decoder.
The receiver-decoder is influenced by the context and by the external and internal stimuli.
The receiver decoded the whole message – the verbal and non-verbal contents of the message.
Feedback
The receivers’ response to a message depends on the meaning that is communicated through the message.
The receiver gives feedback using either a verbal or non-verbal or both symbols.
Feedback can be an oral or a written message, an action or simply silence.
CONTEXT Stimuli
Sender-Encoder _______________ _______________ (experiences, attitudes, skills) Perception Idea encoding Symbol Decisions Sending Mechanism
Message _________ _________
Medium Verbal Nonverbal
FEEDBACK Verbal, nonverbal
Receiver-Decoder _______________ _______________ (experiences, attitudes, skills) Receptor Mechanism Perception Decoding Idea interpretation
Each person’s mind is a unique filter.
Problems with communication are more likely to occur when the two communicators’ filters are sharply different.
The communication communication is said to be effective only when the sender’s meaning is conveyed to the receiver. rece iver.
The sender’s meaning the sender’s meaning and the receiver’s meaning are affected by a number of factors:
Individual Conventions of Meaning
Individual Perception of Reality
Individual Values, Attitudes and Opinions
Individual Conventions of Meaning
The fundamental fundamental principle of communication is that the symbols the sender uses to communicate messages must have essentially the same meaning in both sender’s and receiver’s minds. A sender can never assume that the message that resides in his/her mind will be perfectly transmitted to receiver’s mind. This is because of differences in semantic semantic understanding.
Individual Conventions of Meaning
The difference in semantic semantic understanding can be reduced by common experience.
The closer the common experiences surrounding the symbols and their things (referents) in the minds of sender and receiver, the closer the level of understanding.
For examples, meanings of FIFO (fist in, fist out) or LIFO (last in, first out) can be understood by those who commonly share the profession of an accountant.
Communication Problems in Individual Conventions of Meaning
Miscommunicated Instructions
Reactions to Denotations, Connotations, and Euphemism
Miscommunicated Instructions
Miscommunication occurs when the communicator (sender) and the communicatee (receiver) attribute different meanings to the same words or use different words though intending the same meanings.
It does not occur only in business and corporate offices but also among government officials, professionals and all of us in our everyday contacts.
Reactions to Denotations, Connotations, and Euphemism
Most People agree on denotative meanings of word, as they are dictionary meanings.
A connotation is an implication of a word or a suggestion separate from the usual definition.
In addition to more literal denotative meanings, some words have connotative meanings that arouse qualitative judgments and and personal reactions
Reactions to Denotations, Connotations, and Euphemism
For example, the word student is student is denotative; whereas scholar, bookworm, dropout, are connotative. The connotative meanings meanings for words are also affected by the communicator’s backgrounds and interests. Words such as speed, gay, feminist arouse feminist arouse mixed feelings and arguments.
Individual Perception of Reality
The world provides a special special reality to individuals called “Perception”.
Human beings receive external stimuli through sensory mechanism – touch, sight, sound, smell, taste.
Every individuals attach meanings to these stimuli in their own way.
Communication Problems in Individual Perception of Reality
Abstracting
Inferring
Abstracting
Abstracting is a process of focusing on some details and omitting others.
Abstracting is necessary in countless situations, as the communicator has limited time, money, space and purpose.
The communicator communicator and communicatee should ensure that the facts they are acquainted with are truly representative of whole.
Slanting is unfair in reporting and creates communication problems.
Inferring
Inferences are the conclusions made by reasoning from the evidence or premises.
Most of the individuals make assumptions and draw conclusions even though they are not able to immediately verify the evidence.
Some inferences are both necessary and desirable, however, some are risky and even dangerous.
Necessary and Desirable Inferences
Inferences are essential for analyzing materials, solving problems. And planning procedures, for many professionals such as marketers, advertisers, architects, designers.
Certain inferences we make in our day-today life are necessary and are reliable, such as assign some some task task to to Mr. ShahShah- Sr. If I assign Executive, Marketing, it will be completed in time.
Risk of Inferences
Inferences made without factual support or sufficient evidence prove to wrong and they remain mere assumptions.
So far our company is doing well, but if current economic slowdown continues further, many of our colleagues might have to lose their jobs. (The employee may or may not lose jobs)
Individual Values, Attitudes, and Opinions
The effectiveness of communication is affected by the values, attitudes, and opinions of the communicators and communicatees have in their minds as mental filters.
The meaning meaning of a message is derived based on these filters existing at both – the sender’s side and the receiver’s side.
Communication Problems involving Values, Attitudes, and Opinions
Favorable or Unfavorable Information
Inadequate or Incorrect Information
Receivers often react to unfavorable information by rejecting, distorting distorting or avoiding it.
Creates confusion about the meaning when message is incorrect.
Closed Minds
Some people hold rigid views on certain subjects. It is very difficult to communicate comm unicate with people who have closed minds.
Communication Problems involving Values, Attitudes, and Opinions
Sender’s Credibility
Attitude towards the sender is very important in determining the credibility of sender and therefore authenticity authenticity of information. Sender ahs to win the confidence of the audience before sending any message to them.
Other Circumstances
Life’s stresses affect communicator’s ability to communicate effectively. Sensitivity to one’s own mind as well a to that of the receiver helps communicate better.
Nonverbal communication supports the verbal message being delivered by the communicator in in an oral communication situation.
Some of the symbols of nonverbal communication are:
Appearance
Body Language
Silence, time and space
Appearance
In written communication, an envelope's appearance – size, color, weight, postage – may impress the receiver as either important, routine or junk mail. A communicator’s appearance – clothes and accessories, perfume, grooming communicates a lot about his/her profession, professional status, sender’s credibility, etc. Appearance of surrounding – room size, furnishing, lighting, air-conditioners, etc. supports the process of communication.
Body Language includes:
Facial expressions
Gestures, Posture and Movement
Smell and Touch
Voice and Sounds
Facial expressions The eyes and the face face of a communicator are very useful in oral communication. They are capable capable of revealing emotions such as anger, confusion, joy, surprise, depression, dullness, etc. Appropriate eye contact covering almost everyone in the audience enhances the effectiveness of the communication Cheerful and charming face attracts audiences’ attention and thus helps communicator.
Gestures, Posture and Movement
Hands and head movement adds to the message.
Excessive and aggressive hand movement distracts the attention of the audience.
Posture and Movement can convey selfconfidence.
Relaxed, yet erect posture helps communicate more effectively.
Controlled amount of movement inside the room helps communicate better.
Gestures, Posture and Movement
Continual gesture and movement such as pacing back and forth may signal nervousness and may be distracting to listeners.
An interested listener may lean forward towards the speaker; one who is bored may lean backward, slump or glance at the clock.
Smell and Touch
Specific smell can communicate an identity. For example smell of coffee or tea attracts people to enter a restaurant. Touch can communicate communicate friendship, love, approval, hatred, hatred, anger or other feelings. A pat on the back or shoulder communicates more than just words.
Voice and Sounds
The voice quality and extra sound one makes while speaking is known as paralanguage. as paralanguage. It includes voice volume, rate, articulation, pitch and the other sounds such as throat clearing or sighing. A loud voice communicates a sense of urgency. A lazy articulation, slurring sounds or skipping over syllables or words, may reduce the credibility. Speaking fast may be a sign of nervousness. A lack of pitch variation may be monotonous; monotonous; while excessive variation may seem artificial and overly dramatic. Throat clearing can be distracting.
Silence, Time and Space
Silence communicates more than words.
Concepts of time varies across the cultures.
German are very time punctual. But if you arrive for a meeting in time in Portugal, the host may wonder why you came so early.
In Indian context, reaching late communicates one’s high status and importance.
Silence, Time and Space Space or the distance between the sender and communicator is important for effective communication. The senior executive or officer keeps the size of the table larger to ensure a distance between him / her and the visitors or other staff in the office. The size of office space / cubicles communicates a great deal about the designation and importance of people in an organization.
Main Forms of Communication in Business
Operational
Internal External
Personal
Intranets (or portals) like this one from Deere & Company are used for internal communication.
Communication Networks
Formal Network
Well-established, usually along operational lines Depends on certain established forms or “genres” in the company Planned and managed
Informal Network
Complex Dynamic
The Formal and Informal Communication Networks in a Division of a Small Manufacturing Company Department Manager
Supervisor
Supervisor
Black Solid Lines = Formal Network Brown Dashed Lines = Informal Network (at a moment in time, for they change often)
Factors Affecting the Communication in a Business
Nature of the business Operating plan Business environment Geographic dispersion People Company culture
The Business Communication Process
The Contexts for Communication
The larger context
Business-economic Sociocultural Historical
The relationship of the communicators The communicators’ particular contexts
Organizational Professional
