business case study

business case study

The Importance of Effective Communication in Business

1. Introduction

The cost and time involved with face-to-face communication at the home office or in the field can be substantial. But it’s a bargain compared with the price of misunderstandings. These are tough to gauge, but anyone can tell when a mix-up has occurred. Deadlines might be missed, people feel terrible frustration and stress, and worst of all, the job or sale might be lost. It just makes sense to work for better communication to prevent such messes. Easier said than done, because effective English essay business communication is indeed a complex web of spoken words, tone, inflection, facial expressions, and body language. Understanding and being understood comes from active listening as much as talking. Though it is more demanding than other forms of communication, verbal communication is the most common way that people relate at work and it’s the most effective.

Effective communication in the workplace is no mere luxury; it’s a necessity. It can make or break a company. As businesses expand, they are crossing cultural barriers and must be able to communicate well to succeed. Corporate spending for communication training is at an all-time high, and for good reason. The workforce is reaping the benefits, enjoying less friction and stress, and more efficiency and productivity at every turn.

Communication plays a vital role in our professional as well as personal lives. It is the lifeblood of human relationships with co-workers, customers, and the public, yet is often taken for granted. This is especially true in today’s fast-paced business world, where the communication revolution is having an impact on how we work, the time we work, and who we work with. Changes such as the rapid expansion in the international market, increasing competitiveness, and fluctuating financial conditions have made effective communication inside and outside an organization even more critical.

2. Benefits of Effective Communication

Minimizing misunderstandings is undoubtedly one of the advantages of effective communication, but there are other positive aspects as well. Effective communication facilitates decision making. That’s because it provides valuable information and data, which can help in the decision-making process. Data may be in the form of facts, figures, statistics, or even qualitative information. It also facilitates monitoring. In the absence of effective communication, employees may be working at cross purposes. Between two points of communication in the organization, there may be many distortions, deletions, and generalizations. They eventually form “noise”. This noise may greatly distort the original message. And the higher the noise, the more is the distortion, leading to the formation of a completely different message. But if the communication is effective, distortion can be minimized and the actual message reaches more accurately. Effective communication is also a solution to an essential factor for reducing occupational stress and burnout. Studies frequently point to communication as being the principal culprit in the creation of stress. Data from several studies indicate that a lack of communication is likely to give rise to employee frustration and may lead to higher levels of stress. Last but not least, effective communication increases productivity and builds a strong public image. We all are aware of how customer relationships are important for a business. Good communication with clients increases the standing of the company. Communication of the company with suppliers or other parties also plays a role in its overall success. In short, for any decision-making body, be it an organization or government body, effective communication is the key to successful operations and the achievement of the set goals.

3. Challenges in Business Communication

Diversity and the move to a more global market have caused many changes in how people communicate within and between organisations. Globalisation has, by definition, raised more cross-cultural interactions. Queensland, Australia employs an abundant number of backpackers visiting from countries such as Sweden and Germany. Due to the inability of these individuals to secure long-term work due to their visas, they often hold jobs as temps. Imagine an IT company hiring Swedish temps to run system testing on a new global marketing project. The Swedish testers require to communicate system defects to the developers. This has a direct communication path from one culture to another, and it is likely the system testers would be expected to report defects as precisely as possible. Failure of communication here could lead to problems with the project, and the testers would be out of work once the project ends. Another point being Australia’s move to more cross-cultural interactions within organisations within the effort to increase knowledge of other countries or language education. This is most evident in the education sector. Failure of communication during these efforts could lead to various complications. This, combined with internal organisational changes, will require diverse groups of people to communicate in different ways to meet the differing needs of various situations. All this adds complexity to an already complex practice and requires a greater cognitive effort from all parties involved.

Globalisation has made the marketplace highly competitive. Companies are fighting to establish their brand names and to acquire more market share in capturing the potential and existing customers’ interests. The rapid change in the business environment is leading organisations to continually change the way they do business. They are forced to make changes in their business processes in order to survive in the ever-changing business environment. For example, organisations entering into the e-business market are changing the way they do business by implementing an ERP system to better integrate their business processes, thus enabling the business to be more efficient. Alternatively, a company expanding into the global market may run a marketing campaign or change branding to try to capture a larger share of the global market. All these changes in the way business is conducted add complexity to the way organisations and individuals communicate, making communication more challenging at the best of times. With various changes being made, communication strategies must be continually reviewed and may have to be adapted to suit new business processes. If poor communication does occur at any point, it could be detrimental.

4. Strategies for Improving Communication

Making radical changes to the way you communicate is a scary idea, but it is all too necessary. Create forums for discussion and make sure employees have the chance to talk to each other. Realize that you don’t have to be the source of every solution, and involving others can lead to more commitment in enacting a solution. Meet physical needs. A cranky, hungry person will not be very receptive to your brilliant ideas. Make an effort to improve your listening skills. People will tell you what you need to know; you just have to be tuned in. Listening can also make the speaker more open to your thoughts. Listen for their feelings, not just the facts. Observe body language and ask questions to clarify what you hear. Take your time and show some patience, especially if what the speaker has to say is unpleasant. People will not seek your help if you are always brushing them off because you are too busy. If your personal style is more inclined to nonverbal communication, make sure you give that person an opening to talk. Exchange written notes when a spoken conversation is not necessary. These can be used to confirm what was said during a conversation or to reopen an issue. This is also a fail-safe for international communication because someone may not fully grasp what you’re saying. An important tool in ascertaining how you are doing is gaining feedback, and your conversation partner is an excellent source. Let them know that it is okay to give you negative feedback. If feedback is scarce, approach the subject from a different angle. Find someone who you know will give constructive feedback and pick their brain. On occasion, a consultant can be hired to specifically pinpoint communication problems.

5. Conclusion

There are three main types of communication in business. The first type is formal communication, which is communication that is taught in the classroom, such as presentations and group discussions. This communication is very easy to plan. The second type of communication is quasi-formal communication. This communication takes place in a work context, although it is not work-based. For example, a conversation about a work-based issue that takes place in the pub. This is more difficult to plan than formal communication. The third type of communication is informal communication, which is work-based. For example, a hospital administrator passing on important information about an issue that has arisen during a visit to the hospital canteen where he is confronted by a doctor. This is the most difficult to plan. In all cases, you are sending a message and hoping that it is understood. Miscommunication can lead to disaster in a company, and you need to know what method of communication to use in order to pass the message across most effectively.

Effective communication is being increasingly recognized as a major challenge in many organizations and it is one of the most important factors that is often taken for granted. Failure to recognize the importance of effective communication has been the downfall of many executives and their respective companies. Effective communication creates a bridge between employees and employers where an employee understands exactly what is expected of him or her and employers understand what it is possible to expect from employees. The growing competitiveness in business is leading to an increase in the importance of effective communication.