Business Revision – Communication
The relationship of communication to business objectives and strategy i.e. why is it important?
Business goals/objectives and strategies must be clearly communicated to stakeholders.
-Internal stakeholders
-External stakeholders such as the general public and customers make judgments about a business based on its goals
Communication: Communication is essentially a sender conveying messages to a receiver in a form that the receiver can understand and therefore act on in the desired manner.
It can be broken down in three steps:
Communication process:
1. Sender gives out message to a receiver in an encoded form (such as words, actions, facial expression)
2. Receiver is exposed to message and decodes it. (Understands its meaning)
3. Receiver gives feedback to the sender to show that they have received/understood the message in the manner intended.
How do you know which method of communication to use?
-your audience (confidentiality)
-your purpose
-time
-feedback
Effective Communication:
Effective Communication is when the intended receiver of a message obtains and interprets the message in the manner intended by the sender.
Benefits of effective communication:
-All stakeholders understand what and how to achieve their goals to keep the business running successfully
-Business will have greater performance and production.
-Customers will appreciate and come back for more if they feel that they have been dealt with well.
-It also creates a positive public image for the business
-supports a healthy working culture
-Effective communication allows employees (and employers) to work with confidence and safely as instructions would have been communicated well.
Barriers to effective communication – Define and give examples- e.g.
Filtering: the deliberate manipulation of a message to make it appear more favourable to the receiver by deleting undesirable pieces of information.
You round off your exam percentage when you tell your parents so it looks like a better mark
Jargon: using technical language can be inappropriate and confusing if it is used to the wrong audience.
Talking to an artist in law language (terminology)
Barriers to Successful Communication
– Ability of the sender – how much the sender understands of the message they are trying to send
– Content – including technicalities and jargon
– Method of communication – including style and body language where appropriate!
– Skills and attitude of the receiver
– Organisational factors – complexity of the organisation, scope of the organisation
– Cultural attitudes
– Perceptions, prejudices and stereotypes
– Inappropriate target for the message
– Technical capabilities – ICT!
Internal Communication: Forms of communication used within a business e.g. memos, emails
Formal: Upward, downwards, sideways communication that follows paths designated by the official hierarchical organisational structure.
Informal: Messages sent through informal channels rather formal networks; referred to as the ‘grapevine’. Unofficial-(not formally approved by the business)
Grapevine: Unofficial & informal communication system which is superimposed on the formal network
External Communication: External business communication includes business to business communication and also business to the wider community communication.
Suppliers: -involves ordering supplies (maybe some negotiation for lower prices or info on when they can get the supplies in asap.
Customers: demonstrating and selling products
Channels of communication
Upward: when info flows from a lower to a higher level in the organisational hierarchy
E.g. employees participating in democratic decision-making
Disadvantage: superiors may be too busy to listen
Downward: info flows from a higher to a lower level in an organisation
E.g. boss giving instructions to employees.
Advantage: Employees feel more confident knowing that they have received the instructions from someone who has experience and knows what he/she wants
Disadvantage: employees may not feel that they can act independently
Sideways/lateral: Communication between people or departments on the same level within an organisation.
Advantage: build relationships, work more efficiently!
Disadvantage: lateral communication can often be misinterpreted and cause a lot of worry and rumours throughout the work place.
Purpose of Internal Communication: inform employees or members, of the direction and performance of the business.
Purpose of External Communication: communicate a positive image to the community in general
‘inform that disputes are being handled e.g. Xavier
Methods of communication
Verbal: any form of communication that relies on spoken or written words to covey a message
-written
Advantage: Creates a permanent record of what information was exchanged and distributed
Disadvantage: time consuming to prepare and receive feedback, can be inflexible and not easily adapted to suit individuals needs.
-oral
Oral instructions are not appropriate when detail is required (technical description and figures would be inappropriate on a phone)
Advantage: instant feedback, easily adapted for different uses
Disadvantage: no permanent record of what has been said.
Non-verbal: any form of communication that does not rely on spoken (or written) words to convey a message
E.g. body language, tone of voice, facial expression, gestures, symbols (logos), their dressing
Disadvantage: people have little control over the message being conveyed, as we are often unaware of the message we are sending.
-end result of production process.