Business Communication PDF

# Topics - Communication - Meaning - Business Communication - Definition - Importance - Process - Types - One-way/Two-way, Verbal/Non- Verbal, Oral/Written, Formal/Informal, Upward, Downward, Lateral, Intrapersonal, Interpersonal, Organizational, Mass Communication - Models - SMCR, Shannon Weaver -...

# Topics - Communication - Meaning - Business Communication - Definition - Importance - Process - Types - One-way/Two-way, Verbal/Non- Verbal, Oral/Written, Formal/Informal, Upward, Downward, Lateral, Intrapersonal, Interpersonal, Organizational, Mass Communication - Models - SMCR, Shannon Weaver - Language Skills-Listening, Speaking, Reading, Writing ## What is Communication? - Derived from the Latin word "communis," meaning to share. - Communication is the exchange of thoughts, messages, or information by speech, visuals, signals, writing, or behaviour. - It is the transmission of an idea or feeling so that the sender and receiver share the same understanding. ## Definition "Communication is a process involving the selection, production and transmission of signs in such a way as to help a receiver perceive a meaning similar to that in the mind of the communicator." - Fotheringham ## Business Communication - Definition - Business communication is the sharing of information between people within an organization that is performed for the commercial benefit of the organization. ## Importance - In the professional world, communication and related skills decide a person’s career curve - better the communication skills, higher are the chances of touching the zenith of success. - The new global and diverse workplace requires excellent spoken and written communication skills! ## Process of Communication - Communication is a process whereby information is encoded, channeled and sent by a sender to a receiver via some medium. - All forms of communication require a sender, a channel, a message, a receiver and the feedback. - A hindrance in the communication process is called noise. ## Components of Communication - **Sender** - Initiates the communication process by developing an idea into a message known as encoding. - **Channel** - The sender transmits the message through a channel, or a method of delivery; eg. e-mail, phone conversations, instant messages, face-to-face discussion or even a text message. - **Receiver** - This message then moves through the channel to the receiver, who completes the communication process by interpreting and assigning meaning to the message known as decoding. - **Feedback** - This is a critical component in the communication process as it ensures a message was properly received and interpreted. ## Types - One-way, Two-way - Verbal(Oral & Written), Non-verbal - Formal, Informal (Grapevine) - Upward, Downward, Lateral - Interpersonal, Intrapersonal, Organizational, Mass Communication ## One-way Communication - One-way communication involves the transfer of information in one direction only, from the sender to the receiver. - There is no opportunity for the receiver to give feedback to the sender. - Eg. weather report on television, newspaper, recorded music on a CD, billboard messages. ## Two-way Communication - Two-way communication is a form of transmission in which both parties involved, transmit information. - Two-Way communication has also been referred to as interpersonal communication. - Eg. Chat rooms and Instant Messaging, Telephone conversations, classroom lectures etc. ## Verbal Communication In this type of communication the professional uses language as a vehicle of communication: - **Oral communication** - A face-to-face interaction between the sender and the receiver: Eg. Making presentations and appearing for interviews - **Written Communication** - The sender uses the written mode to transmit his/her messages. Eg. Writing reports and emails. ## Non-Verbal Communication When a message is communicated without using a word, the process requires non-verbal cues to be transmitted and received: - Eg. facial expressions, posture, eye contact, walk, person’s voice, sign language, body language volume, pitch, voice modulation etc. - Communication includes both verbal and non-verbal forms. ## Formal - Communication takes place through the formal channels of the organization structure along the lines of authority established by the management. - Such communications are generally in writing and may take any of the forms: policy, manuals, procedures and rule books, memoranda, official meetings, reports, etc. ## Informal - Communication arising out of all those channels of communication that fall outside the formal channels is known as informal communication. - Informal communication does not follow lines of authority as is the case of formal communication. - Such communication is usually oral and may be covered even by simple glance, gesture or smile or silence. - Eg. Talking with friends ## Formal vs Informal | Formal | Informal | |---|---| | Official Channel | Unofficial Channel | | Planned & Systematic | Cuts across formal relationships | | Goal and task oriented | Individual Goal and need oriented | | Impersonal | Personal & Social | | Stable and rigid | Flexible and instable | | Slow & Structured | Fast & unstructured | | Authentic - little chance of distortion | Non- Authentic - bigger chance of distortion | ## Grapevine - It is an informal type of communication and is called so because it stretches throughout the organization in all directions irrespective of the authority levels. - It exists more at lower levels of organization. - Thus, grapevine spreads like fire and it is not easy to trace the cause of such communication at times. ## Grapevine Models - **Cluster:** A message travels to certain people in a group. - **Single Strand:** A message travels through a sequence of people. - **Probability:** A message is passed on at random. - **Gossip:** A message is passed on to everyone in a group. ## Downward - Communication in the first place, flows downwards. - All information in this medium is usually in form of instructions, directions and orders. - This direction of communication strengthens the authoritarian structure of the organization. ## Upward - Upward Communication is the process of information flowing from the lower levels of a hierarchy to the upper levels. - The function of upward communication is to send information, suggestions, complaints and grievances of the lower level workers to the managers above. ## Lateral/Horizontal - This type of communication takes place between persons at the same level or working under the same executive. - The main use of this is to maintain coordination and review activities assigned to various subordinates. ## Interpersonal - Interpersonal communication is an exchange of information between two or more people. - It is the process by which people exchange information, feelings, and meaning through verbal and non-verbal messages. ## Intrapersonal - It is the communication which takes place within one’s own self. - This implies individual reflection, contemplation and meditation. ## Organizational - A process by which activities of a society are collected and coordinated to reach the goals of both individuals and the collective group. - It is a subfield of general communications studies and is often a component to effective management in a workplace environment. ## Mass Communication - It is a means of conveying messages to an entire populace. - This is generally identified with tools of modern mass media, which include books, the press, cinema, television, radio, internet etc. It also includes speeches delivered by leaders to a large audience. ## SMCR Model of Communication - The **SMCR** (Source-Message-Channel-Receiver) Model is a standard in communication studies. This model was originally developed by Claude Shannon and Warren Weaver, and then altered by David Berlo, but the latest credit has been given to Wilbur Schramm for his interactive interpretation. ## Berlo's SMCR Model - **Source:** - Communication Skills - Attitudes - Knowledge - Social System - Culture - **Message:** - Content - Elements - Treatment - Structure - Code - **Channel:** - Hearing - Seeing - Touching - Smelling - Tasting - **Receiver:** - Communication Skills - Attitudes - Knowledge - Social System - Culture ### Source The source is where the message originates. - **Attitudes** - The attitude towards the audience, subject and towards one self for e.g. for the student the attitude is to learn more and for teachers wants to help teach. - **Knowledge**- The knowledge about the subject. - **Social system** - The Social system includes the various aspects in society like values, beliefs, culture, religion and general understanding of society. - **Culture:** Culture of the particular society also comes under social system. ### Message - **Encoder:** The sender of the message (message originates) is referred as encoder. - **Content** - The beginning to the end of a message comprises its content. - **Elements** - It includes various things like language, gestures, body language etc. so these are all the elements of the particular message. - **Treatment** - The way in which the message is conveyed or the way in which the message is passed on or deliver it. ### Channel - **Hearing:** The use of ears to get the message for e.g. oral messages, interpersonal etc. - **Seeing:** Visual channels for e.g. TV can be seen and the message is delivered. - **Touching:** The sense of touch can be used as a channel to communicate for e.g. we touch and buy food, hugging, pat on the back etc. - **Smelling:** Smell also can be a channel to communicate for e.g. perfumes, food, charred smell communicates something is burning, we can find out about which food is being cooked etc. - **Tasting:** The tongue also can be used to decipher e.g. Food can be tasted and communication can happen. ### Receiver - **Decoder:** Who receives the message and decodes it is referred to as decoder. - **Receiver:** The receiver needs to have all the things like the source. - This model believes that for effective communication to take place the source and the receiver needs to be in the same level, only if the source and receiver are on the same level communication will happen or take place properly. So source and receiver should be similar ## Criticism of Berlo's SMCR Model - No feedback / don’t know about the effect. - Does not mention barriers to communication. - No room for noise. - Needs people to be on same level for communication to occur but not true in real life. - The model omits the usage of sixth sense as a channel which is actually a gift to the human beings (thinking, understanding, analyzing etc). ## Shannon Weaver Model of Communication - The Shannon-Weaver model of communication has been called the "mother of all models." - It embodies the concepts of information source, message, transmitter, signal, channel, noise, receiver, information destination, probability of error, encoding, decoding, information rate, channel capacity, etc. ## Elements of the Model - **Sender:** The originator of message or the information source selects desired message - **Encoder:** The transmitter which converts the message into signals For example: In telephone the voice is converted into wave signals and it transmits through cables - **Decoder:** The reception place of the signal which converts signals into message. A reverse process of encode - **Receiver:** The destination of the message from sender - **Noise:** The messages are transferred from encoder to decoder through channel. During this process the messages may distracted or affected by physical noise like horn sounds, thunder and crowd noise or encoded signals may distract in the channel during the transmission process which affect the communication flow or the receiver may not receive the correct message ## Barriers to Communication - When there is a problem which might cause our communication to be distorted or problematic, it is known as a barrier to effective communication. - There are 4 types of barriers to communication: - Physical barriers - Psychological barriers - Semantic blocks - Organizational Barriers ### Physical Barriers - **Distance:** - communication is found obstructed in long distance. Like communication between America and Nepal. - **Noise:** - it is from external sources and affects the communication process. Noise negatively affects the accuracy. ### Psychological Barriers - **Perception:** - it is the process of accepting and interpreting the information by the receiver. People receive things differently for a various number of reasons. - **Filtering:** -In this process, knowingly or unknowingly some valuable information may be disposed. - **Emotions:** - emotion also creates barriers to effective communication like anger, hate, mistrust, jealousy etc. - **Viewpoint:** - it also creates barriers to effective communication. It the receiver doesn’t clear the message and ignore without hearing, the message may create obstructions. - **Defensiveness:** - if the receiver receives the message as threat and interprets that message in the same way, it creates barriers to effective communication. ### Semantic Barriers - The use of difficult and multiple use of languages, words, figures, symbols create semantic barriers. - **Language:** - A meaning sent by the sender can be quite different from the meaning understood by the receiver. Long and complex sentences create problem in communication process. - **Jargons:** - Technical or unfamiliar language creates barriers. The message should be simple and condensed as far as possible so that no confusion is created. ### Organizational Barriers - It is raised from the organizational goals, regulations, structure and culture. - **Poor planning:** - Refers to the designing, encoding, channel selection and conflicting signals in the organization. - **Structure complexities:**- Difficult organizational structure is a barrier for free flow of information - **Status differences:** - Superior provides information to the subordinate about plans and policies. Different information is provided by different subordinates who create barrier in communication. - **Organizational distance:**- Distance between sender and receiver. - **Information overload:** - If superior provides too much information to the subordinate in short period receiver suffers from information overload which creates barriers to effective communication. - **Timing:** - Communication can be obstructed if the information is not provided in time. ## LSRW Skills - **Listening:** - **Speaking:** - **Reading:** - **Writing:** ## Listening Skills - Listening is an everyday affair. - We spend more time to listening than speaking - It is a skill which is often taken for granted - It is considered as a stressful task - Successful listening is challenging and requires a lot of practice - Effective listening is a dynamic activity that seeks out the meaning intended in the messages sent by the speaker. ## Listening vs Hearing - **Hearing** is an involuntary act that happens automatically. Eg. A truck rolling by on the road in front of our house. - **Listening** - - voluntary activity, - demands perfect coordination between the ears & the brain - very creative - Interactive and interpretive process. ## Techniques for Effective Listening - You should have an open mind. - You should sit alert and look the speaker in the eye with a view to establish your interest in him/her. - Do not prejudge the speaker or his message. - Summarize what the speaker is saying - Take down notes - Link what you are listening to what you already know. - Do not interrupt the speaker unnecessarily. - Ask relevant questions to yourself for clarity in your understanding. ## Reading Skills ### Skimming - Skimming is used to quickly gather the most important information, or 'gist'. - Run your eyes over the text, noting important information. - Use skimming to quickly get up to speed on a current business situation. #### Examples of Skimming - The Newspaper (quickly to get the general news of the day) - Magazines (quickly to discover which articles you would like to read in more detail) - Business and Travel Brochures (quickly to get informed) ### Scanning - Scanning is used to find a particular piece of information. - Run your eyes over the text looking for the specific piece of information you need. - Use scanning on schedules, meeting plans, etc. in order to find the specific details you require. - If you see words or phrases that you don’t understand, don’t worry when scanning. #### Examples of Scanning - The "What's on TV" section of your newspaper. - A train / airplane schedule - A conference guide ### Extensive Reading - Extensive reading is used to obtain a general understanding of a subject and includes reading longer texts for pleasure, as well as business books. - Use extensive reading skills to improve your general knowledge of business procedures. - Do not worry if you understand each word. #### Examples of Extensive Reading - The latest marketing strategy book - A novel you read before going to bed - Magazine articles that interest you ### Intensive Reading - Intensive reading is used on shorter texts in order to extract specific information. - It includes very close accurate reading for detail. - Use intensive reading skills to grasp the details of a specific situation. - In this case, it is important that you understand each word, number or fact. #### Examples of Intensive Reading - An insurance claim - A contract of employment ### Critical Reading - This is a form of language analysis that does not take the given text at face value, but involves a deeper examination of supporting points and possible counter arguments. - Critical readers thus recognize not only **what** a text says, but also **how** that text portrays the subject matter. - What a text means - interpretation - analyze the text and assert a meaning for the text as a whole ## Speaking Skills ### Tone - The tone of voice we use is responsible for about 35-40 percent of the message we are sending. - Tone involves the volume you use, the level and type of emotion that you communicate and the emphasis that you place on the words that you choose. ### Pitch - Pitch refers to the rise and fall in human voice. It plays a crucial role in communication. - Questions, for example, should end on a higher note. - Affirmative statements should end in a level or slightly lower pitch. The ending of statements on a high pitch can create doubt in your listeners. - Vary your pitch throughout your presentation to establish and reinforce your message. ### Rhythm - Rhythm is the pattern of the sounds you produce. - Stressing and de-stressing syllables and words gives us rhythm in English. - Rhythm is the music of English Language - the ups and downs and the linking of words, which together, change how we say sentences. - Use rhythm to carry meaning. - Slow the pace to emphasize certain ideas. - Quicken the pace to show excitement or humor. - Pause to give listeners time to absorb a complex idea. Pause also when you’re about to transition to another idea. ### Stressing - Stressing means to emphasize a sound and make certain syllables and words: - louder - longer - higher in pitch - Every word in English has at least one syllable with a primary stress or emphasis. - It is not only essential to stress certain syllables and words, but we must also de-stress other syllables and words. #### Examples - English -> [ING glish] (1st syllable is stressed; 2nd syllable is slightly de-stressed) ### Intonation - Correct intonation and stress are the key to speaking English fluently with good pronunciation. - The entire variation of pitch while speaking is called intonation. - Words that are stressed are key to understanding and using the correct intonation brings out the meaning. - English spends more time on specific stressed words while quickly gliding over the other, less important, words. ### Sentence Variation - A sentence can be spoken differently, depending on the speaker’s intention. - Look at the following sentences. Speak them out loud and especially stress the word that is in bold writing. I did not read anything about the disaster. I did not read anything about the disaster. I did not read anything about the disaster. I did not read anything about the disaster. I did not read anything about the disaster. I did not read anything about the disaster. ## Writing Skills - Effective writing is not a gift that you’re born with, rather it is a skill that you cultivate. Clear writing means clear thinking. - **Think before you write:** Before you put pen to paper or hands to keyboard, consider what you want to say. - **Ask yourself:** What should my audience know or think after reading this email, proposal, or report? ## Steps to Improve Your Writing Skills ### Be Direct - Make your point right up front. - By concisely presenting your main idea first, you save your reader time and sharpen your argument before diving into the bulk of your writing. - If your opener is no good, then the whole piece of writing will be no good. ### Avoid Jargons - Business writing is full of industry-specific buzzwords and acronyms. - And while these terms are sometimes unavoidable and can occasionally be helpful as shorthand, they often indicate lazy or cluttered thinking. - You should also avoid using grandiose words. - Writers often mistakenly believe in using a big word when a simple one will do ### Read What You Write - Put yourself in your reader’s shoes. - Is your point clear and well structured? - Are the sentences straightforward and concise? - Don’t be afraid to ask a colleague or friend to edit your work. - Welcome their feedback; don’t resent it. ### Practice Every Day - Writing is a skill, and skills improve with practice. - Read well-written material every day, and be attentive to word choice, sentence structure, and flow. - Most importantly, build time into your schedule for editing and revising. ### Coherence - Coherence in writing is the "logical glue" that allows readers to move easily and clearly from one idea to the next. - Coherence in writing is much more difficult to sustain than coherent speech because writers have no nonverbal clues to inform them if their message is clear or not.