This Paper Is About All Aspects of Business Communication

Business Communication

Communication Norms

There are a number of norms for business communication . Business communications serves to perform a number of tasks, ultimately leading to improving the performance of the business. It can inform, motivate, explain or clarify, and business communication can also help to build a team. Within these roles, however, there are some norms for communication in the business setting. Business communication has a higher degree of formality than casual conversation. This is the same no matter by what means the communication occurs, but it also means that communication is more frequently in writing. That allows for better choice of words, for accurate recording of the communication and for communicating the message to many respondents. A more formal style also helps with broadcasting a message to a larger audience, because the formal style focuses the communication strictly on the issues at hand (Ingram, 2015).

The fact that many message in the business context are broadcast, sometimes to thousands of recipients, has other implications as well. Because the message is not tailored to an individual recipient, it should provide sufficient guidance for the recipient, without actually providing specifics. Guiding people to specific actions without specific instructions is one of the challenges in business communication. Another issue is that with so many respondents, each having their own needs and their own communication styles, any business communication needs to be relatively neutral in tone, easy to understand and avoid cultural issues. Finally, in the business setting communication is usually never about the person, but is more about concepts.

Another norm in business communication is the emphasis on goals and objectives. Business communication should always have a specific objective in mind -- where social conversation can meander, business communication should always be direct. The message needs to be clear, and it is that clarity and precision that makes for effective business communication. This can be difficult when one of the other aspects of business communication is considered -- messages are often filtered through numerous senders and receivers.

For example, senior management may set out a strategy, but that strategy then has to be translated by a series of lower-level managers, who interpret the strategy and communicate it to their charges. The message will sometimes pass through several people before it is received. Thus, there is a norm for simplicity and clarity in business communication, to ensure that the receiver receives the same message that the sender intended the receiver to receive. The text discusses the different channels by which messages are communicated -- wheel, chain, circle and all channel -- and thus it is important that a message retain its clarity no matter by what means that message is ultimately going to be disseminated throughout the organization (Baack, Chapter 3)

Interpersonal Communication

Interpersonal communication plays a number of roles in business. A lot of what you need to know in business can be communicated in writing, but interpersonal communication allows for the message to be tailored for individual needs. This can be specific instructions about what to do, it can be by adding a specific motivational aspect to the message, or it can provide an opportunity for the message to be clarified in some way. So interpersonal communication serves the role of refining messages, tailoring them and clarifying them.

Yet, interpersonal communication is more challenging because both the sender and receiver have to accommodate the needs and interests of the other. This is different from messages that are broadcast, where the audience is a generic body of people, without distinctive characteristics. In interpersonal communication there are very much specific characteristics for both sender and receiver.

Interpersonal communication is fraught with barriers, and the most effective communicators have developed techniques by which they can overcome these barriers. First, there are strategic ways to overcome barriers from the outset. The message needs to be simple. Additionally, the media by which the message is sent should be as simple and direct as possible. In interpersonal communication, this means direct messaging that stays on topic, so as to reduce the amount of noise. Noise is defined as anything that is being communicated that is extraneous to the message -- the more noise there is, the less likely the receiver will receive the message as intended.. The same goes for information overload -- keeping the message short and simple will increase the likelihood of the receiver understanding the message (MSG, 2014).

Conflict Resolution

But when there are issues with the communication, there are still strategies that can be used to overcome these challenges. First, it is helpful to recognize that different people have different communication styles. While this is fairly evident in terms of different cultures, managers sometimes can forget that different personality types can be very different in their approach to communication as well (Tovey, 1997). A manager cannot necessarily know how to deal with every type of person or every culture, but they can at least be aware that these things can pose barriers to communication; one cannot work around these barriers if one does not know that they exist. Listening is another thing that can help. Being an active listener is a valuable skill in communication, and this goes for whatever role the person has within the organization. There is tremendous value to listening to what the speaker is actually saying, rather than trying to fill in the blanks yourself -- both speaker and listener should be prepared to answer questions and provide clarification in order to ensure that the communication is effective. This process helps to ensure that ambiguity in communication is reduced.

Another form of conflict resolution occurs when a manager is forced to play the role of intermediary in a conflict between two third-parties. In this role, the manager has to be careful not to choose sides -- the objective is to end the conflict, not to determine who is right. The first step will be to calm the emotions, as conflicts are seldom resolved while emotions are high. The second step will be to sort out the issues, and try to find some common ground. This conflict resolution role emphasizes listening as a primary communications tool. By listening to each party, the manager can better understand how to drive the disagreement towards an agreement that hopefully allows everybody to move towards their goals. Keeping the organization's objectives as an overarching goal is valuable here. But the important thing is that this is a listening role, and the manager as conflict intermediary needs to calm the parties and move them towards finding a resolution, in other words to use the intermediary role to improve the quality of communication between the parties if possible, rather than to shut down that communication and render some decision from on high.

Verbal vs. Nonverbal Communication

One of the major challenges in business communication is the non-verbal aspect. Where verbal communication be clear and explicit, and there is opportunity for active listening, clarification and feedback, nonverbal communication can be significantly more challenging. In many cases, people are less likely to realize what they communicate non-verbally, and non-verbal communication is governed by one's culture more than most people realize. Given that non-verbal communication comprises most of what we communicate, this makes for significant challenges. There are many aspects to non-verbal communication, including gestures, eye contact and other body language, but also the timing of communication, the choice of media and directness (Hopkins, 2015). People will read into all of these things, and none are the actual words that are being communicated. Personal space and touch are also identified in the Baack text as elements of non-verbal communication that can send messages or influence how those messages are received.

Navigating non-verbal communication can be complex. There are some simple rules that are recommended, like having a firm handshake, but others are trickier. Western cultures place value on looking people in the eye, but in other cultures this is an insult. So it is important to know that there are a lot of nonverbal cues that people pick up on. They will be looking for cues that relate to your culture, as that is what they expect of you, but likewise there is room for both parties to recognize how easily non-verbal aspects can be misunderstood. Thus, it is important for both parties to avail themselves of opportunities to use verbal communication to gain more clarity -- if you suspect somebody is sending a message, it might be valuable to verify that before acting on it.

Effective Written Communication

The most important aspect of written communication is to have a strategy, because strategy will allow for this communication to be at its most effective. First, any written communication should have a specific objective, and that objective should be the focal point. What is the message you are trying to get across? Everything that is written should contribute to that message. Anything else is either noise, or it is information overload. Knowing the audience is also important. One of the pieces of advice from the text is to avoid using jargon, and the reason is that many people do not understand the jargon. But if your audience does, then it is ok. The key is to know who the audience is, and write with their knowledge level in mind. This may require the same message to be written multiple ways for different audiences.

Having a clear format for the message helps one to write it more effectively. The writer stays on point when there is a specific format to follow, and when that format is familiar to the reader, then the reader knows where to look in the message for a specific element of the message. Formulating the message requires some knowledge of basic grammar and syntax. The cleaner the message is written, the easier it will be for the audience to receive it. Unnecessary words, clumsy phrasing, random metaphor, unfamiliar jargon and non-sequiturs should be avoided (Reyes, 2013).

Once the message has been formulated, another component is that the message has to be authenticated (Baack, no date). This means going over the message, ensuring that it is accurate, and that all of the text and visuals therein relates directly to the message. Too often in written communication, sloppy grammatical or spelling mistakes, factual errors or extraneous information will undermine the authority of the messenger and, by extension, the message.

Presentations and Meetings

Presentations are a unique challenge for business communication.. They can be powerful, because they combine text and visuals, and the audience is often able to participate at least to some degree in the dialogue. However, it is important to understand the best ways to approach a business presentation. The same rules of written communication still apply, and the visuals also must be accurate and relevant. But the audience will also need to be engaged. With other forms, like email, the audience can consume the message when they are ready, but in a presentation you must make them ready. Engaging the audience is not necessarily easy. First, they must be motivated - the speaker must present a vision or mission that captures the audience. If they do not know what they are listening to or why, they will tune out almost immediately. An opener need not be dry -- it can be an anecdote or something that the audience finds to be relatable. If nothing else, the speaker needs to be relatable, while simultaneously establishing some sort of credibility with the audience.

The audience can also be encouraged to active listening through interaction. Interaction allows for audience participation and feedback. This can slow a presentation down, but the advantage is that it can maintain audience engagement throughout the process. Further, the speaker must present himself/herself well. This means looking professional, having good posture, having a clear, confident voice and knowing the material. The speaker cannot become lost in himself/herself if they struggle, either, but must always keep the audience as the most important thing -- look at them, use lively body language and active facial expressions, and generally make sure they have a reason to pay attention to you.