BC101x Effective Business Communication PDF

BC101x – Effective Business Communication Prof. Bringi Dev Week 1...

BC101x – Effective Business Communication Prof. Bringi Dev Week 1 Week 3 In this segment, we shall discuss a definition of the term communication. This is important as it establishes a fundamental concept and is a precursor to the more detailed topics that follow. The term ‘communication' derives from the Latin word ‘commūnicāre,’ which means ‘to share.’ Humans, animals and plants, and sometimes, even inanimate objects, exhibit different levels of communication or signalling capability. Let’s look at a simple definition of the term; Communication is the process of conveying intended meanings from one entity or group to another through the use of mutually understood signs and rules. In this definition, there are a few important and noteworthy insights. Consider the phrase ‘intended meanings’ here the word ‘intended’ signifies that there is a purpose associated with this activity that the originator wishes to convey something specific, implying a pre-defined purpose. As examples, advertisements seek to influence us to buy a product or a service, politicians want their audiences to vote for them, artists seek to expand your worldview, and parents seek to mould the behaviour of their children. Secondly, the term ‘meanings’ suggests the transfer of emotion, information, concepts or ideas. This implies that the message contains much more than mere data; in fact, every transaction provides the recipient with not just the text, words or pictures which are the direct and obvious signals, but also emotional, tonal, physical, logical and contextual cues. These supplementary inputs, sometimes referred to collectively as Meta-Communication, adds to the basic signals and enhances what may be understood or inferred from that message. When both of these components are interpreted simultaneously the recipient experiences the total impact of the message and is able to discern a much more complete understanding than what might have been possible from the date or text alone. Returning to the definition of communication, another point to be noted is that there are multiple parties involved in each set of communication transaction and that these parties could be single entities or even groups. For example, in the case of business-related communication, we could have businesses communicating with businesses both within their organisations, or with external parties such © All Rights Reserved, Indian Institute of Management Bangalore  BC101x – Effective Business Communication Prof. Bringi Dev Week 1 Week 3 as customers, suppliers, investors and service providers. Or businesses communicating with consumers and, conversely, consumers communicating with vendors or service providers and finally consumers communicating among themselves, via social media or other means. Next, the definition of communication involves the use of mutually understood signs and rules which implies that the effectiveness of a piece of communication is critically dependent on the participants having something in common, be it knowledge, language, prior experience, culture or content. Without this, shared meaning or shared knowledge the transaction is unlikely to be effective. As an example, when I use the term ‘Benelux,’ I refer to the politico-economic union of three neighbouring states in western Europe; which are Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg. When I use the term, I assume that the audience knows as much geography or political science as I do or had enough knowledge or experience to figure out what I am referring to. Now if my assumption was incorrect, the audience would hardly be unable to make sense of what I had just said. And finally, communication is a process. An understanding of the process of communication allows you to be more effective in conveying intended meanings to others, and as such empowers you to be a more effective person as well as a professional. In the next segments, we will look at the process and also other further detail aspects of communication as thrown up by the definition of this term. © All Rights Reserved, Indian Institute of Management Bangalore