Importance of effective business communication
In this essay, I aim to determine the importance of effective business communication as one of the significant concepts I have learnt in the modules. Since the operations of business revolve around communication, I feel it extremely important that one is well adept with the tools of effective communication while conducting a business. There is no fixed definition of the concept, but to elucidate it in simple terms it would be something like: an information shared both ways involving one party at the receiving end of the message and the other one sending it. Business managers engage in effective communication (Bargiela-Chiappini & Nickerson, 2014) for facilitating the sharing of information between the employees of a company for contributing to the commercial success of the business. The essay refers to the communication concepts learnt in the different weeks of the module and elaborates briefly on the major ones. The following section identifies one concept of communication that I feel to be most integral to effective communication and elucidates the reasons why it is necessary. Finally, the essay concludes with the discussion of two concepts that will help me to develop my skills and meet my career goals.
In terms of the activities conducted in the past weeks, the concept I had learned about in the second week has been most helpful for me. Apart from being one of the most significant aspects of our daily activities, communication is also an integral part of business extension. Several modes of communication are used by business sectors for promoting their products or services. It is also used to deliver and receive information from others. Communication further serves as a relaying means between supply chains, the manufacturer and the customer for instance. The corporate categorizes various topics under the field of business communication. It includes consumer relations, marketing, branding, advertising, community engagement, public relations employee engagement, reputation management, event management and research (Ulmer et al., 2017). The first five weeks have been extremely fruitful in the sense that it has clearly of demonstrated the principles, models, ethics of communication, along with clearing the misconceptions associated with it. The lecture on body language and its potential as powerful communication tool is integral to understanding of the concept. The nature of non-verbal communication and its methodical usage in the corporate world was of particular interest to me. I found the concept of active listening to be the most crucial of all concepts explained in the different weeks. Additionally, group work, paraphrasing and conduct are essential aspects of effective communication. I was acquainted to critical thinking and reflective writing as vital means of communications on the fifth week, the most interesting exercise involved writing a literature review within an allotted time.
Communication concepts
A fixed set of norms and rules regulate business communication and unlike earlier times, it is no longer limited to telephone calls and paperwork. The advent of technology have opened up a whole new plethora of communicative platforms like email, video conferencing, cellphones and social media. A student of marketing and one who wishes to pursue a career in it must be well-adept with the strategies of effective communication for fulfilling the marketing objectives. Week 6 provided a fruitful insight to the structure of persuasive speech and laid the foundation for brushing up public speaking skills, with the lecture on speech outlining. This was followed by week 7’s theory on intercultural communication and some insight into the barriers and future of the same. The 8th week has been the most fruitful following the third one, since selecting the right medium for organizational communication is most vital to business. Since I wish to accomplish my set objectives and culminate in my success, I need to develop my communication skills as the learnings from the earlier assignments suggest that managers and successful organizers make use of effective communication strategies for culminating in their success. I have identified that there are six major components of effective communication: a channel, a sender, a message, a receiver, a suitable environment and a feedback (Huczynski et al., 2013) . The communication is initiated by the source (the sender), who attempts to deliver a written, spoken, nonverbal or sign language to one or more individuals. The medium or channel of communication refers to the way in which a message is transmitted. Several media and channels are usually available in organizations. For most cases, messages are either spoken or written or a combination of both. Additionally, non-verbal cues like body gestures, smiles are accompanied with spoken messages. The message is intended at the receiver and the communication can only be complete after the receiver has received and comprehended the message properly. The 9th week equipped me for working in teams and handling projects.. The next step is feedback, where the recipient sends back a response to the sender of the message. A complete understanding of the communicated message requires proper knowledge of the environmental circumstances under which the message was delivered. For instance, one of the things that influences communication to a great extent is organizational culture (Short et al, 2013). Understanding communication as a concept is important in the sense that the entire structure of the organization and the operations of its business is highly dependent on how well and efficiently the employees communicate with each other and with the rest of the world. In my personal experience, I have observed that all good organizers and business person have excellent communication skills. Week 10 demarcated the lines between effective and supportive communication and provided the guidelines to interpersonal communication. Lack of proper communication have been the root cause of confusion, anarchy and mismanagement in the corporate ambience. Since I am aspiring to become a successful organizer later in my career, it is important for me to develop communication as a soft skill. From the learnings of the past weeks, I have gathered that listening is a very integral part of communication. Apart from interpreting and speaking, a crucial aspect of effective communication is the act of listening and in this assessment, I wish to clear some earlier misconceptions about the concept and make proper use of it for developing my skills.
Components of effective communication
One of the most important things I have learnt in this module is that one has to be a good listener in order to be a good speaker, capable of engaging in effective communication. Unlike what I thought earlier, listening is not merely a passive activity, it consumes as much energy as speaking. There is further a difference between hearing and listening. Hearing is a physical activity that usually does not require any consciousness. For listening, an individual is required to process an information with the help of the conscious alert mind. It is a mental activity that involves reception, assimilation, selection, organization, evaluation, interpretation and response. From what I have learnt and observed so far, for becoming a good listener an individual must always have an open framework of mind. The listener should also be free from all kinds of prejudice and presumptions while receiving an information. Effective communication involves about 60% of listening as per researches, but unfortunately we only use about 25% of our total listening capacity. In a self-assessment test, I discovered that I was not able to recall what I heard within a gap of 8 hours. Communication is deemed ineffective when the listening component is weak and not properly taken care of. Effective communication requires the right balance between speaking and listening. The ability to listen well, I feel, is one of the chief skills in effective communication. Listening comprises the receiving aspect of communication which involves the reception of information through eyes and ears. A crucial communication skill demanding know-how and energy is good listening. It is powerful, productive and purposeful. As mentioned earlier, a communication system involves a receiver and a sender and it is usually the receiver who listens to the message. An efficient communicator is fundamentally a good listener (Tyagi, 2013). He/she is able to modulate several verbal or non-verbal symbols and uses the platform of feedback for verifying his/her interpretation of the message and addressing the issues concerned with the sent information (Smarandache & Vladutescu., 2014). Apart from paying full attention to the words of the speaker/ sender of the message, a good communicator closely observes the body language, tone and facial expressions of the speaker. In other words, a good communicator is perceptive and receptive to both the verbal and nonverbal part of communication. The listener adjusts, adapts and responds to the different cues hinted by the speaker. Active listens requires the alertness of the entire body. Eyes of the listerner should be focusses on the body gestures of the speaker, while ears should focus on listening carefully. In business, relationships might break down if there is no respect between two parties. Listening to the speakers carefully gives them the idea that their opinion is valued, and that they are respected. Listening also helps an individual avoid misunderstandings and conflicts, both in workplace and in personal life. It is important in a working environment that colleagues listen to each other and maintain harmony among themselves for effective business operations (Health, 2013). Additionally, failing to listen to instructions properly increases the chances of misunderstanding a message, which might result in failures. It can also damage one’s future prospects and be detrimental to employment status. Listening to me, equals success, if I am able to listen attentively and effectively, I will be able to learn and communicate well, be it in social environments, academic environments and professional environment. While working on group projects, good listening skills help us communicate better (Brownell, 2015). It is helpful for understanding one’s role in the team and developing the understanding and knowledge of the projects. Further, listening is an aid to our productivity since we can work better and more efficiently when we understand the instructions, deadlines and advices a clearly. More effective work is achieved through the providing of feedbacks, tips and goals for overcoming obstacles. Listening also helps us to understand and perceive of things better, boosting our learning process (Keyton et al, 2013).
Developing communication as a soft skill
Of the ten concepts of communication covered in the module, the two most important ones crucial to my aspiring career is channel and listening. Some people are better at using channels than others (one might be better at speaking, one at writing, the other at reports) and specific channels have advantages over other channels because other channels are better able to handle some particular types of messages than others. Since I aspire to be an organizer, I need to know when to use high channels and when to use low ones. High channels, like in the case of face-to-face discussions, has several advantages. I feel the contact more personal, since it has an instant prompt feedback. However, this type of channels come with disadvantages. It is not recorded and hardy disseminated and sent to larger audiences and often it is spontaneous and unplanned. The low channels on the other hand, like formal reports, bulletins, statements or letters, we are in the opposite situation. This type of communications are recorded so it is easily disseminated and sent to other people. It is generally well thought out and premeditated. The impersonal nature of these communications is advantageous to the organization but the one-way system might be an obstacle to effective communication (Renunakdevi, 2014). Since listening lays the ground for effective communication, it is extremely important that a communicator take care of his/her listening skills. In 5 years of time, I visualize myself as an organizer of a corporation that deals with public relations. This will require me to take extra care of developing my communication skills (Austin, 2015). I realized that in order to become an organizer, I need to identify the suitable channels of communication and implement plans accordingly. An organizer must ensure that the medium of communication is appropriate, since it is one of the chief determiners of success rates in public relations. An organizer further needs to be a good recipient of messages, and someone who is well able to listen to and address the issues of the employees. Listening is therefore a communication skill I need to develop for being an efficient organizer of the associated company. These two concepts are necessary or meeting my career goals as an organizer is responsible for selecting the medium of communication and is liable to interpreting a message properly and watching over the interests of the employees (Hargie, 2016). Moreover, public relations is all about effective communication and anyone desiring to make a successful career in this arena must be well-adept with the concepts of communication and work accordingly to develop their skills.
References:
Drollinger, T., & B. Comer, L. (2013). Salesperson’s listening ability as an antecedent to relationship selling. Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing, 28(1), 50-59. DOI: abs/10.1108/08858621311285714
Gudla, R., Bhosle, A. M., & Chandrasekaran, V. (2014). U.S. Patent No. 8,731,983. Washington, DC: U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
Heath, R. L., & Bryant, J. (2013). Human communication theory and research: Concepts, contexts, and challenges. Routledge.
Huczynski, A., Buchanan, D. A., & Huczynski, A. A. (2013). Organizational behaviour (p. 82). London: Pearson.
Keyton, J., Caputo, J. M., Ford, E. A., Fu, R., Leibowitz, S. A., Liu, T., … & Wu, C. (2013). Investigating verbal workplace communication behaviors. The Journal of Business Communication (1973), 50(2), 152-169. DOI: abs/10.1177/0021943612474990
Mishra, K., Boynton, L., & Mishra, A. (2014). Driving employee engagement: The expanded role of internal communications. International Journal of Business Communication, 51(2), 183-202.
Mishra, K., Boynton, L., & Mishra, A. (2014). Driving employee engagement: The expanded role of internal communications. International Journal of Business Communication, 51(2), 183-202. DOI: abs/10.1177/2329488414525399
Short, J. C., Randolph-Seng, B., & McKenny, A. F. (2013). Graphic presentation: An empirical examination of the graphic novel approach to communicate business concepts. Business Communication Quarterly, 76(3), 273-303. DOI: abs/10.1177/1080569913482574
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