Introduction To Essentials of Business Communication

What if a person is far fluent in speaking but not a good listener? Communication is a two-way process that requires listening and speaking. To make it smooth you have to have a strong hand in communication. Among the professional sector, communication has its own norms and is essential of business communication. 

Communication can be well defined as an act/method of giving and receiving messages in verbal and nonverbal form. In an era of globalization where the Business sector is blooming and everything is going digital, communication plays an important role. 

Poor Business Communication can create many roadblocks for the organization as well as can lead to poor employee satisfaction. Communication skills have nothing to do with an individual’s knowledge. One can be very educated but if he/she can’t convey or pass the knowledge to others, they will soon become irrelevant. 

In this blog you are going to learn about: 

• What is business communication?
• Importance of  business communication skills
• Business communication skill/functions
• Process of business communication

What is business communication? 

The process of sharing information between individuals or a group of people, inside and outside the organization is essential to business communication.

Types of business communication

1. Internal Business communication
2. External Business communication

Internal Business communication (Essentials of Business Communication)

In essentials of business communication, internal business communication is the exchange of ideas and information that takes place inside an organization. It can be verbal or non-verbal. Internal business communication can further be described as:-

1.  Upward business communication:-  Upward business communication is when an employee conveys their messages to their superior. For example, if an intern has some issues in their salary so she/he has to follow a proper channel to voice their concern by drafting an email to their manager with HR in cc.
2. Downward business communication:- Downward business communication happens when a superior employee conveys messages to their subordinate/junior employees. For example, if the organization has introduced a new policy for the employees the manager has to inform his juniors about the same by, conducting a meeting with managers, following this, a meeting of managers with their teams. Also, sharing mail with all the employees.

1. Lateral business communication:- Lateral communication happens when two employees of the same position but different departments communicate their ideas. For example, the team leader of the sales department asks for updates on a project from the team leader of the creative department. He can do so by verbally asking him for updates or shooting an email about the same.

External business communication (essentials of business communication)

External business communication comes into play when the organization is communicating with people outside their organization. For example 

1. Giving orders to vendors by verbal communication through a phone.
2. Holding an interview by a telephonic conversation and then calling the candidate for a face to face interview
3. Talking to clients through video conference or in a conference room  

To communicate with each other employees use different essentials of business communication such as:-  

1. In-person communication:- It is a verbal form of communication in which the messages and information are directly conveyed to the person’s face to face. It can be formal or informal. For example, a manager discusses the performance of his/her team.
2.  Email communication:- It is a non-verbal form of communication in which the messages, information, and complaints are shared through typed drafts. It is a formal mode of communication. For example, HR invited the employees to a cricket match.
3. Webinar and Video Conference:-  Pandemic has changed the whole dynamics of how an organization works. The traditional meetings held in a conference room have evolved into webinars and video conferences.  It is a verbal form of communication where the message is conveyed virtually. For example, the whole work from home situation is running on webinars and video conferences.
4. Other:- This mode of communication is used for off-site discussions and ideas for quicker attention and response. It is a non-verbal form of communication and is generally considered to be informal. It is generally done through SMS, What’s App, and other social media applications. This form of communication is growing very rapidly. Research shows that 87% of people use their cell phones to communicate at work at least once a week.  For example, two employees discuss the presentation that is to be done for a client. 

Also, read: 10 exclusive methods to improve your Business Communication

Importance of business communication skills

Having essentials of business communication skills can prove vital for the overall success and growth of the organization. Some of the benefits are listed below:- 

1. Leadership effectiveness:-  With smooth communication skills one can convey/explain important ideas, visions, and goals of the organization. This ensures the smooth functioning of the organization.
2. Email overload canceling:- An employee spends a lot of time skimming through emails. A study shows that 62% of the emails received by the employees are not important. However, there are only a few emails that actually need attention and action. Effective business communication can eliminate this email overload to a great extent.
3. Reducing the chances of conflicts, confusion, and argument:-  Through all the essentials of business communication ideas, information, as well as problems, can be discussed. This will ensure a free flow of information and hence it will leave no room for confusion and conflicts. 
4.  Ensures employee satisfaction:-  Communication should not be overwhelming for the employees. Organizations need to keep an open environment for discussions so that employees can discuss their ideas, issues, and solutions. This will also help in the productivity of the organization.
5. Gaining recognition in the market:- Good business communication ensures that clients are very well aware of the developments that are taking place which will further ensure more assignments hence the organization will reach a lot of masses.
6. Knowledge sharing:- every organization has a set of training that is provided to the employees. In this training, the freshers are groomed for fulfilling the organization’s needs. The knowledge imparted should be crisp and crystal clear so that there is no confusion for the fresher.
7. Elimination of communication silos:-  A lot of less required information results in information silos. Information that can be proven important can get lost in the pool of information. With proper business communication, one can divert this situation.
8. Customer satisfaction:-  With all the essentials of business communication skills one can address the issues of the customers very effectively. When it comes to addressing customers 2 scenarios can possibly happen.
9. The employee will not have the knowledge about what issues the customer is facing, it won’t lead to a very pleasant scenario. 
10. The employee is completely aware of the situation and provides an on-point solution to the customers. This helps in customer satisfaction.

Essentials of business communication skill/functions

The main objective of the essentials of business communication skills is to ensure the smooth functioning of the organization. Below is the list of some skills used by the organization

• Communicating job roles and responsibilities in essentials of business communication
  A survey shows that 72% of the employees don’t have a  full understanding of the company’s policy. Explaining the roles and responsibilities of new employees is very important. It will give them an insight into the company’s vision, goals, rules, and regulations as well as make them aware of their responsibility and how they can contribute to the organization.
• Decision and policy-making in essentials of business communication
  Organizations have to make decisions and make policies on a daily basis regarding the betterment of the organization. Essentials of business communication skills help the policymaker/decision taker to understand the situation better and make decisions accordingly as well as convey them to the employees.
• Providing adequate feedback in essentials of business communication
  Providing adequate, constructive, and timely feedback helps the employees to bridge the gap between them and the skills set they require for better performance. Constructive feedback given at the right time will also help in the growth of the organization is very important as essentials of business communication.
• Motivating the employees to be more efficient and productive in essentials of business communication
  One of the most important business communication skills is to motivate the employees to be more productive. This can be achieved by regular seminars and training of employees. Regular and interactive sessions will also promote an open environment for discussions and also it will bridge the gap between the seniors and juniors.
• Advertising goods and services provided by the organization
  Organizations have to sell their product in markets and advertising is the best way to put out their products in the markets. Giving proper information about the product and services in T.V, newspaper, radio, pamphlets, internet, and posters.
• Bringing clients into confidence/ client convincing
  Basic communication skills help the organization in convincing the clients to work with them. It is very often seen that clients get ready to partner with organizations that offer proper transparency and have clearly explained terms and conditions. This will also help in building the organization’s brand name.
• Emotional expression
  Working can be very overwhelming at times for the employees. Organizations should provide a platform to employees as well as clients to voice their opinions, emotions, and frustration. It creates transparency in the organization.
• Preserving the Organization’s culture
  Keeping the organization’s culture intact is the responsibility of every employee of the organization. This can be achieved when one himself/herself has a clear idea about the organization’s culture and has the ability to pass it on.  

How to improve your business communication skills:

To ensure the smooth functioning of the organization one has to take a few measures. As per the needs of the organizations one should have a perfect road map to follow. The road map or the process of business communication is as follows:-

1. Situation Analysis 
   To know where the organization needs help one has to analyze the situation properly. The organization needs to make a note of the problematic areas and know-how those problems can get solved. This can easily be achieved by knowing the potential and capabilities of the employees.
2. Roadblocks identification
   In order to work on the problems after situation analysis one has to identify the roadblocks, they are going to face in correcting them. A lot of factors can play a role or contribute here. For example, managing time can be an issue because different employees have different shifts in the same company and it will be a task for the organization to ensure everyone is getting the training at a proper time.
3. Analysis of core group discussion
   The organization also has to analyze how the core groups of the organization discuss or communicate with each other. This will help the organization to understand what types of skill sets are required in which group hence it will be easier for the organization to set up training for them.
4. Document and share new business communication programs
   The employees of the organization should be well informed about the new programs or training that are launched in business communication. It is the duty of the organization to make sure that employees are kept in the loop about every new development that takes place.
5. Set realistic future goals
   The organization should expect growth but the goals should be realistic. One should not expect out-of-the-box improvement. Setting achievable goals also will help the employees to be stressed free and hence the gasping power will increase.
6. Revaluation and being solution-oriented
   Revaluation is a very important step in the essentials of business communication. The organization should keep a record of how much the employees have improved and what else has to be done. But it will not always be a cakewalk for the organization. There will always be challenges and to overcome them the organization, as well as the employee, should be solution-oriented. Providing accurate solutions can help the organization to grow in a better place.
7. Feedback
   The organization should also take feedback from the employees to ensure what they feel about the communication process. This will ensure a free flow of information that can help in problem-solving. This will also be about the personal growth of the employees.  

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Conclusion

Essentials of business communication are proving to play a vital role in the development of an organization. According to a survey, 60% of people face crises once a month due to communication issues. It has evolved from a soft skill to a necessity. One has to have all the essentials of business communication skills in order to stay relevant in today’s world. 

In the era of cutthroat competition, organizations can’t afford to be irrelevant. Efficient and essential business communication skills enhance the brand value as it clearly conveys are ideas and visions behind the product and also helps the organization to bloom. With the essentials of business communication skills, it is guaranteed that the organization will thrive and reach new heights.