Learn business communication from basic

I’ve developed and designed this guide for beginners to learn business communication step by step similar to the Definitive guide to become a content writer.

My single goal is to answer all the basic questions you (might) have regarding learning business communication skills as a beginner.

I tried to cover all the relevant topics – from the basic definitions to the type, process. ways, 7cs, and the importance of communication in this guide.

Are you ready to learn business communication?

If you are into business communication from some time reading this article will refresh your concepts and do not forget to add your valuable inputs in the comment sections which you think can add value to readers.

Let’s do it.

1. What is business communication?
2. Types of business communication
3. The process of business communication
4. Ways of business communication
5. 7cs of effective business communication
6. Why is it important

For any business to survive, it becomes vital to pass on the correct information within and outside the organization at every level. Here comes the role of business communication.

What is business communication?

Sharing and transferring information within the organization and outside for the organizational functioning and profit is called business communication.

In a business, information is passed on every level for the proper functioning of organization. Any misleading, confusing, or ambiguous message can cause damage to the whole system and affect the profit and harmony of the system.

A good business communication is the spine of any business.

Communication is not unidirectional in a business. It happens between the employee and the boss, one business to other business, business to stakeholders, business to banks, business to customer or consumer, interdepartmental etc. It is a vital part of the administrative regulation.

A business communication should be good enough to pass on the right information to the right place at the right time to the right person to optimize the desired profit.

Let’s understand it in detail.

Types of business communication

Business to Business communication:

Understand it with an example.

Raju owns an online garment shop. To ship his goods from the warehouse to the customer he takes the service of a courier facility. Now the communication between these two is between two businesses.

This type of business to business communication is necessary to strengthen the ground of any business.

It is very necessary for ‘Raju’ to pass on the correct information to the courier facility for the timely delivery of the bought product on the correct address provided by the customer.

If the communication is clear these two businesses can mutually benefit each other and grow over a period strengthening each other.

Business to Employee:

This kind of communication is done in a downward direction. Top management communicates to its subordinate in a downward hierarchy.

Company’s goals and important changes are conveyed through this communication. These are more of a directive kind of communication where what to follow is conveyed.

A clear communication motivates the employee and brings in clarity to take a move towards achieving the goal.

Employee to Business:

This type of communication moves in the upward direction that is from employee to the top management.

These are more of the informative kind where reports are forwarded and the problems hindering the move are conveyed to the top management.

The requirements to achieve the goal are put before the top management.

An effective communication let the top management realize the situation better and accordingly they act for the solution.

Interdepartmental:

This kind of communication can be called as lateral communication. It happens among employees.  It can be between same or different departments. It can be regarding the processes, the plan of action etc.

 

Apart from that communication with the vendors, stakeholders also come under the business communication category. 

The process of business communication 

After the formation of the message and until it is decoded by the receiver, barriers to communication are there, called noise.

It is the hindrance that hampers the communication process to complete successfully. Due to this sometimes the message is not received or interpreted wrongly.

Let’s discuss the process little descriptively.

Sender:

He conceives an idea that he wants to share with the receiver. He is the generator of the message. He is the initiator of the communication process.

Encoding:

Transformation of the information into the message is called encoding. It is giving a form to the idea one wants to pass on to others. It can be done through numeric, alphabets, signs, symbols, or a combination to give the idea a proper form that can be understood by the receiver.

Encoding should be done carefully so that all the information fed is correct and exactly conveys the original idea to be sent. While encoding one should also keep in mind who is the receiver, it helps in choosing the correct format, tone, and understanding level of the content of the message.

Encoding of the message has a great impact of the encoder that is the sender’s background, his skill set, language proficiency, knowledge, and understanding.

Message:

It is the proper body of message prepared after the encoding process. It is the actual form in which the message will move further in the communication process. It can be verbal, written or symbolic.

Channel:

For any message to move from sender to receiver a proper medium is necessary, it is called a channel.

The message can be sent through SMS, call, mail, video, audio, conferencing, courier, fax, etc.

A proper channel helps send the message unaltered to the receiver. Barriers to the communication may create a problem sometimes in form of network issues, natural calamities, accidental damage etc.

Receiver:

He is the person intended to receive the message. He receives the message and tries to understand the message in its original spirit.

Decoding:

The receiver now decodes the message to understand the instruction or information shared by the sender. The process of apprehending the message is called decoding.

It also depends upon the background, knowledge, and skill of the receiver.

Feedback:

It is a very important part of communication because it makes sure whether the message was received or not. It also helps to know whether the message was apprehended in its original sense and understood by the receiver in the same way the sender wanted to convey.

When we are aware of the process of communication, it becomes necessary to know the types of communication that occur in business.

Ways of communication

How we communicate is also an important factor to determine how effective the communication is. It can be verbal, written and symbolic.

Verbal:

Any oral communication comes under the verbal communication.  In businesses, meetings are an example of verbal communication.

Barriers to this kind of communication can be the missing part of set instructions, as it is not documented.

Over the time confusion may creep in as there is no record of the message conveyed or the information passed on.

Apart from this, it is the easiest way of communication, less time consuming and we can pass information in real time.  We can immediately get the feedback too.

Written:

Written communication is the interaction between written words. It can be in the form of

1. circulars
2. mails
3. letter
4. proposals
5. brochure
6. reports
7. bulletin
8. instant messages
9. telegram
10. fax etc

 

In this type of communication, we need not call or travel to meet face to face to communicate, so it is cost effective. Through an e-mail, we can communicate to any corner of the world.

It can be kept as a proof in case of any dispute.

There is no chance of forgetting the instructions as we can always refer to what has been conveyed.

Written communication can be easily done in case of a communication between one and many.

Though having lots of benefits there are few loopholes in this method too. There is a scope of a security breach and privacy leak because everything is on paper.

In a high-security organization, it becomes crucial to maintain the safety of files and documents and maintain an antitheft framework.

 

Symbolic:

These kinds of communication are done through signs and symbols and are limited to highly confidential data. It needs decoding and difficult to understand.

For a high-quality conversation, we should adhere to some principles called the seven C’s of communication.

 

Learn business communication 7 C’s

This 7 C’s of communication is the key to have an effective communication be it a normal or business communication.

 

Let’s discuss in brief the points mentioned in the above picture.

• Completeness:

A complete message leaves no room for assumptions and hence saves it from the possible distortion of the message due to ambiguity.

• Concreteness:

Clear, specific and supported with facts communication is a concrete communication. A concrete communication let not the confusion creep in.

• Conciseness:

A communication that has no extra words making it verbose comes under the category of good communication. A lengthy talk or document creates boredom and people try to skip it reading or prefer to screen it only. This may let the important information filter out leaving the purpose of communication unsolved. A brief but full of facts message grab attention and is easy to comprehend.

 

• Courtesy:

Courtesy in a communication adds value to the communication as it becomes easy to connect. It gives positivity, builds goodwill and creates interest in any communication.

 

• Clarity:

Clarity is one of the most important factors of any communication. If there is clarity, the communication becomes interesting and there is no chance of assumptions. Clarity should be in the speaker or senders thought as well, because then only he can convey the message in the best possible manner so that it can be perceived as received and in its original spirit.

 

• Consideration:

For being considerate in your communication it is necessary to know your audience. When we empathize we connect better and the message conveyed is perceived in its true senses.

By knowing the level of the audience, its background, and skills we can customize the tone, language, and choices of words in the message.

A message customized as per the receiver is well perceived and reciprocated.

It also boosts the morale in any business as the message does not surpass over the mind. It is easy to understand and generates confidence among the employees.

 

• Correctness:

Correct information is always well received and understood. It negates any chance of ambiguity and confusion.

Correction should not be limited to grammar only.

A good communication must have verifiable data and facts in the communication. Correct message generates interest and makes it easier for the receiver to perceive what has been instructed or informed.

 

To know more about seven C’s of a good communication go through our blog “Unraveling secrets of good communication”.

 

Why is business communication important?

 

A good communication is the spine of any business. A business revolves around communicating in a multi-directional way.

 

A communication can be a pyramid (Management to the employee), inverted pyramid (employee to management), lateral (interdepartmental), business to business or business to stakeholders etc.

In that case, a good communication helps to grow a business as it creates a goodwill, builds a relationship and creates harmony among the employees.

 

An organization that has a good communication framework benefits in a lot more ways than can we think.

 

It generates confidence in its employees and they feel free to share if any innovative idea comes into their mind.

To every problem, a solution can come from anyone without fear of getting rejected right away.

This makes the company filter out the right ideas for the benefit of business. Confident employees work enthusiastically and increase the productivity.

A good communication also optimizes the efficiency of organizational human resources and the harmony makes it a better place to work.

To conclude it can be said that a better communication is the best way to optimize the organizational functioning and maximize the output.