Business Communication Skills(Notes)

Unit-1

What is Communication?

Think about communication in your daily life. When you make a phone call, send a text
message, or like a post on Facebook, what is the purpose of that activity? Have you ever felt
confused by what someone is telling you or argued over a misunderstood email? The underlying
issue may very well be a communication deficiency.

There are many current models and theories that explain, plan, and predict communication
processes and their successes or failures. In the workplace, we might be more concerned about
practical knowledge and skills than theory. However, good practice is built on a solid foundation
of understanding and skill. For this reason this module will help you develop foundational skills
in key areas of communication, with a focus on applying theory and providing opportunities for
practice.

Defining Communication

The word communication is derived from a Latin word meaning “to share.” Communication can
be defined as “purposefully and actively exchanging information between two or more people to
convey or receive the intended meanings through a shared system of signs and (symbols)”
(“Communication,” 2015, para. 1).

Let us break this definition down by way of example. Imagine you are in a coffee shop with a
friend, and they are telling you a story about the first goal they scored in hockey as a child. What
images come to mind as you hear their story? Is your friend using words you understand to
describe the situation? Are they speaking in long, complicated sentences or short, descriptive
sentences? Are they leaning back in their chair and speaking calmly, or can you tell they are
excited? Are they using words to describe the events leading up to their big goal, or did they
draw a diagram of the rink and positions of the players on a napkin? Did your friend pause and
wait for you to to comment throughout their story or just blast right through? Did you have
trouble hearing your friend at any point in the story because other people were talking or because
the milk steamer in the coffee shop was whistling?

All of these questions directly relate to the considerations for communication in this module:

1. Analyzing the Audience

2. Choosing a Communications Channel
3. Using Plain Language
4. Using Visual Aids
5. Evaluating Communication via Feedback
Before we examine each of these considerations in more detail, we should consider the elements
of the communication process.

The communication process includes the steps we take in order to ensure we have succeeded in
communicating. The communication process comprises essential and interconnected elements
detailed in the figure above. We will continue to reflect on the story of your friend in the coffee
shop to explore each element in detail.

Source: The source comes up with an idea and sends a message in order to share information
with others. The source could be one other person or a group of people. In our example above,
your friend is trying to share the events leading up to their first hockey goal and, likely, the
feelings they had at the time as well.

Message: The message is the information or subject matter the source is intending to share. The
information may be an opinion, feelings, instructions, requests, or suggestions. In our example
above, your friend identified information worth sharing, maybe the size of one of the defence
players on the other team, in order to help you visualize the situation.

Channels: The source may encode information in the form of words, images, sounds, body
language, etc. There are many definitions and categories of communication channels to describe
their role in the communication process. This module identifies the following channels: verbal,
non-verbal, written, and digital. In our example above, your friends might make sounds or use
body language in addition to their words to emphasize specific bits of information. For example,
when describing a large defence player on the other team, they may extend their arms to explain
the height or girth of the other team’s defence player.

Receiver: The receiver is the person for whom the message is intended. This person is charged
with decoding the message in an attempt to understand the intentions of the source. In our
example above, you as the receiver may understand the overall concept of your friend scoring a
goal in hockey and can envision the techniques your friend used. However, there may also be
some information you do not understand—such as a certain term—or perhaps your friend
describes some events in a confusing order. One thing the receiver might try is to provide some
kind of feedback to communicate back to the source that the communication did not achieve full
understanding and that the source should try again.

Environment: The environment is the physical and psychological space in which the
communication is happening (Mclean, 2005). It might also describe if the space is formal or
informal. In our example above, it is the coffee shop you and your friend are visiting in.

Context: The context is the setting, scene, and psychological and psychosocial expectations of
the source and the receiver(s) (McLean, 2005). This is strongly linked to expectations of those
who are sending the message and those who are receiving the message. In our example above,
you might expect natural pauses in your friend’s storytelling that will allow you to confirm your
understanding or ask a question.

Interference: There are many kinds of interference (also called “noise”) that inhibit effective
communication. Interference may include poor audio quality or too much sound, poor image
quality, too much or too little light, attention, etc. In our working example, the coffee shop might
be quite busy and thus very loud. You would have trouble hearing your friend clearly, which in
turn might cause you to miss a critical word or phrase important to the story.

Those involved in the communication process move fluidly between each of these eight elements
until the process ends.
Elements of Communication
 1. Sender
The sender presents their ideas to another person or to a group of people. For example,
when a manager informs her team about a new product or service launch, the manager is
the sender. The sender is the initiator in any communication and it’s up to them to direct
how a receiver comprehends the information.

2. Receiver
The receiver is the person or group of people to whom a message is sent or for whom it’s
meant. Whether the message is an idea, information or a solution, it’s the receiver’s job to
understand it and take action accordingly.

For instance, when Mahatma Gandhi started the Quit India Movement, he made speeches
to tell the people that his goal was to achieve independence. His audience understood his
message, participating in the movement with conviction. He was able to encourage them to
take action with his words alone. This is a result of effective communication.

3. Message
Most of us take the message just as a piece of information conveyed by the sender to the
receiver. However, there is more to it. A message is the heart of communication.
Interpreting it the way it’s meant to be interpreted is what makes communication
successful. But people may interpret the same message differently.

For instance, former-US President Donald Trump’s speeches often evoked mixed reactions
around the world. Have you ever wondered why? That’s because the same message is
interpreted differently by different people.

Many factors influence how a message is interpreted. The speaker’s image or actions play
one of the most important roles in how the receiver or audience understands their message.
 When Mahatma Gandhi Started The Quit India Movement, He Made Speeches To Tell
The People That His Goal Was To Achieve Independence. His Audience Understood His
Message, Participating In The Movement With Conviction.

4. Media
It’s a way to send an encoded message to the receiver. Media can be of different types. It
can include face-to-face communication or popular mediums such as emails, messaging
apps, television and videos.

Today, we rely heavily on digital platforms like social media and messaging apps to
communicate with our peers and colleagues. People have become accustomed to decoding
texts thanks to emoticons and exclamation marks.

5. Encoding And Decoding

A message often contains certain signs and symbols in different mediums. We don’t
always communicate with words, after all. There could be pictures, actions, audio or other
ways to convey a message. The point is to be clear and concise to get your point across
without confusing the recipient. If you leave it up to interpretation, the message may get
twisted into something you didn’t intend.

Let’s take an example to understand how this works:

Suppose an employee named Ajay realizes that he won’t be able to meet the deadline for a
report that he was to send by the end of the day. He sends an email to his manager
informing her about the same and mentioning the reasons for the delay. In other words,
Ajay has encoded his message through email.

Ajay’s manager reads the email, decodes the message and starts thinking of ways to inform
the client about the delay.

6. Feedback
You can also call it the receiver’s ‘reaction’ or ‘response’ to the message. Feedback helps
the sender understand the effectiveness of the communication they initiated. When you’re
 interacting with your peers or friends, pay close attention to how they respond to what
you’re saying or writing.

One example of feedback is the public reaction to a film. Different people respond to the
same film differently, so the same message, which is the movie, receives different
interpretations and reactions.

In a professional context, feedback is one of the most critical aspects to measure your
performance. It’s a daunting conversation, but if done with a clear mind, relevant points
and objectives in mind, you can build a strong case for yourself. Effective feedback can
help you with performance appraisals, communicating your expectations and getting a
promotion at work.

Objectives of Business Communication

(i)To exchange information: The main objective of business communication is to exchange

information with the internal and external parties. Internal communication occurs within the
organization through orders, instructions, suggestions, opinions, etc. Externally, an organization
communicates with investors, customers, suppliers, competitors, government agencies, etc.

(ii) To develop a plan: Plan is the blueprint of future courses of action. The plan must be
formulated for attaining organizational goals. In order to develop a plan, management requires
information. In this regard, the objective of communication is to supply the required information
so the concerned managers.

(iii) To implement a plan: Once a plan is prepared, it as to be implemented. Implementation of

a plan requires timely communication with the contented parties. Thus, communication aims at
transmitting a plan throughout the organization for its successful implementation.

(iv) To facilitate policy formulation: Policies are the guidelines for performing organizational
activities. Policies are also termed as standing decisions to recurring problems. Every
organization needs to develop a set of policies to guide its operations. Preparing policies also
require information from various sources. Therefore, the objective of communication is to collect
necessary information for policy formulation.
(v) To achieve an organizational goal: Collective efforts of both managers and workers are
essential for achieving organizational goals. Communication coordinates and synchronizes the
efforts of employees at various levels to achieve the stated goals of an organization.

(vi) To organize resources: Various kinds of resources are available in the organization such as
human resources, material resources, financial resources and so on. Organizing these resources
in an effective and efficient way is a key challenge to the managers. Communication is the
vehicle to overcome this challenge.

(vii) To coordinate: Information is a basic management function. It involves linking the various
functional departments of large organizations. Without proper and timely coordination, the
achievement of organizational goals is impossible. Therefore, the objective of communication is
to coordinate the functions of various departments for the easy attainment of organizational
goals.

(viii) To direct the subordinates: The job of a manager is to get the things done by others. In
order to get the things done, management needs to lead, direct, and control the employees. The
performance of these managerial functions depends on effective communication with
subordinates.

(ix) To motivate employees: A pre-requisite of employees’ motivation is the satisfaction of their

financial and non-financial needs. Financial needs are fulfilled through monetary returns.
However, in order to satisfy non-financial needs, management must communicate with
employees on a regular basis both formally and informally.

(x) To create consciousness: Employees of an organization must be conscious regarding their

duties and responsibilities. Communication supplies necessary information and makes them
conscious about their duties and responsibilities.

(xi) To increase efficiency: In order to increase employee efficiency, they should be provided
with the necessary information and guidelines. Communication supplies such information and
guidelines for them.
(xii) To bring dynamism: Organizations should be dynamic to cope with the internal and
external changes. Bringing dynamism requires finding new and better ways of doing things. For
this purpose, communication helps to seek new ideas and suggestions from the internal and
external parties.

Barriers to communication

Role of communication in social and economic system

A development strategy that uses communication approaches can reveal people's underlying
attitudes and traditional wisdom, help people to adapt their views and to acquire new
knowledge and skills, and spread new social messages to large audiences.

1.Managing complex situations

2. Establishing cooperation and understanding

3. Effective Management of Organization

4. Facilitates Cohesion

5. Developing Positive company image

6. Increase Profits

7. Fewer Layoffs

8. Better Customer interaction

9. Ease of information collection and Dissemination