Define Business Communication?
Communication is defined as “The flow of material information perception, understanding and imagination among various parties”. Business includes those organizations, which are engaged in the production and distribution of goods and services to earn profit. Therefore, Business communication means, “Flow of information, perception etc. either within a business organization or outside the organization among different parties”.
Explanation: We can extract the following points from the above definition;
- Flow between two or more parties. In business communication the materials flow from one person to another person or from many persons to different people. This flow may either be inside the organization or outside the organization.
- Flow of information, perception, imagination etc. Flow of information takes place when a party transfers the material to another mind. For example, when a news caster says, “India has conducted nuclear test on 28th May 1998”. This is a flow of information from news caster to the listeners. Flow of perception means transfer of different feelings. Finally, flow of imagination that occurs when a painter conveys his/her imaginations through a portrait.
Why Business Communication is called, “Life blood” of an organization?
It discusses the role of effective business communication within and outside the organization. A business Organization is a group of people associated to earn profit. Various kinds of activities have to be performed by the people of an organization so as to earn profit. These activities need an effective and systematic communication. Without efficient communication, one cannot even imagine to do work and hence will be unable to earn profit. Since the aim of business organization is to earn profit, the organization will die without profit and this death is a result of the absence of communication. This is why communication is called life blood of a business organization.
We can prove this statement in the following manner.
Communication inside an organization
Different employees and officials in an organization need to communicate to each other. This internal communication with its importance is shown in the following way:
- Setting goals and Objectives: - Mostly, the organizations have a variety of formal and informal objectives to accomplish. These objectives may be financial results, product quality, market dominance, employee’s satisfaction, or service to customers. So, the communication enables all the persons in an organization to work towards a common purpose.
- Making and implementing decision: - In order to achieve the objective, people in a business organization collect facts and evaluate alternatives, and they do so by reading, asking questions, talking or by plain thinking. These thoughts are put into a written form. Once a decision has been made, it has to be implemented which requires communication.
- Appraisal: - Having implemented the decision, management needs to determine whether the desired outcome is being achieved. Statistics on such factors as cost, sales, market share, productivity and inventory levels are compiled. This is done through computers, manual papers, memos or reports.
- Manufacturing the products: - Getting an idea for a new product out of someone’s head, pushing it through the production process and finally getting the product also require communication. Designing the plan regarding product, introducing the workers, purchasing raw material, marketing and distributing the product all require effective communication.
- Interaction between employer & employee: - Employees are informed about policies and decisions of employers through circulars, reports, notices etc. Employers also get in touch with employees through application, complaint etc. So, communication plays a vital role in the interaction of employer and employee.
External Communication
- Hiring the employees: - If a company wants to hire someone, it advertises the vacancy, receives applications, calls the candidates, takes the interview and then offers job to the successful candidates. The whole process requires communication.
- Dealing with customers: - Sales letters and brochures, advertisements, personal sales calls, and formal proposals are all used to stimulate the customer’s interest. Communication also plays a part in such customer related functions as credit checking, billing, and handling complaints and questions.
- Negotiating with suppliers and financiers: - To obtain necessary supplies and services, companies develop written specification that outlines their requirement. Similarly, to arrange finance, they negotiate with lenders and fill out loan applications.
- Informing the investors: - Balance sheet, income statement, and ratio analysis are used to inform the investors regarding performance of business.
- Interacting with Govt.:- Government agencies make certain rules to regulate the economy. These rules are communicated to organizations through various papers. These organizations try to fulfil, these requirement like filling taxation form and other documents.
Business Communication in the new millennium
Just a few short years ago, the way we most often communicated with others was by telephone or letter. Often, using the telephone meant playing what business workers referred to as “telephone tag.” This name resulted from a caller’s having to leave a message for someone to call back, then not being available when the call was returned. If you communicated via letters, you could never be sure exactly when the letter would be delivered.
With advances in technology, we now have many more options available. Among these options are voice mail and email. Voice mail enables you to leave a message for someone even if you know the person is not available. It enables the person being called to answer the telephone or wait until a more convenient time to get any messages. E-mail enables you to send “written” messages to anyone at any time and have those messages delivered instantly. This is particularly useful if you must communicate with someone in a different time zone. You can send your message at a convenient time for you, and the receiver can respond at a convenient time for him or her.
Each of these options also has negative aspects. Many people do not like voice mail because they do not like to be greeted by a recording; others refuse to leave messages. Companies that rely on voice mail to answer and route all incoming calls risk losing the business of people who want to speak with a “real” person. Have you ever been frustrated by having to listen to a long recording or a list of options before your call could be completed?
E-mail has provided us with a way to send instantaneous messages. However, this ease of sending messages has dramatically increased the number of unimportant messages being sent. (In other instances, using e-mail has proven to be very costly. The informality of e-mail often causes people to respond without thinking and send messages that should never be sent.) In addition, e-mail is not totally secure. Information that you don’t want others to know should not be sent via e-mail.
Here are four general guidelines for using voice mail and e-mail. Whichever one you use, keep your message professional, clear, and courteous. If you are dealing with extremely sensitive information, you may want to deliver the message face-to-face or over the telephone so that there are no misunderstandings. Remember that neither voice mail nor e-mail is totally secure, if you are sating or writing something that you so not want anyone other than the recipient to know about, speak directly to him or her. Finally, be sure your messages are clear, concise, and grammatically correct. Used properly, voice mail and e-mail are a significant help to professionals. With courteous and thoughtful use, people can increase their own efficiency and become more responsive to others.
0 Comments