Transcript Business Communication: Theory and Application

Business Communication: Theory
and Application
•We spend much time in communication.
•Talking, listening, reading, writing, gesturing,
drawing, seeing, feeling, smelling are act of
communication
•Communication has enabled us to organize
ourselves and others
•Communication is vital to our success and wellbeing in civilized society.
An Essential to organized Activity
• Communication is essential to the functioning of
organization.
• Can you imagine organization without
communication?
• Herbert Simon wrote, “ no organization without
communication.”
• Communication is the vehicle through which the
basic management functions are carried out.
• Managers direct through communication, they
coordinate through communication, and they
staff, plan, and control through communication.
The High Frequency of Communication
• The frequency of communication depends upon the nature
of your organization.
• Company’s organization plan affects it
• The people who make and run the organization also affect
it.
• Between 40 to 60% of time spent in a typical
manufacturing plant involves some form of
communication-tentatively speaking.
• Typically top executives spend from 75 to 95% of their time
communicating.
• Communication is vital in business but “of all the things
business executives do, they are worst at communicating”.
Communication illustrated: Dan Case
• He works in a typical manufacturing plant as a
clerk in order department.
• He begins communicating as he wakes up
• He talks to another person in his car while
going to his office.
• They talk about personal as well as company
affairs.
• As they reach plant, guard greets them, talks…
Dan Ctd.
• Clock communicates, they insert a card to show their
presence, some greeting to other friends, company’s
whistle to begin work, at 9 o'clock, he begins work.
• Checks emails, telephone messages, hears rush of
orders, deals with positive as well as negative letters,
reads and sends customer replies.
• When he finds some problems which are sensitive or
complex, he sends them to his seniors.
• Reads a message about the promotion of another
person which he had wanted for himself badly
• When he passes by Kapel’s room, he feels jealous
looking at his new office…
• It is just a case. People communicate a lot. It is the
truth.
Main Forms of Organizational
Communication
Three broad categories of communication are:
• Internal operational
• external co operational
• personal
1. Internal- operational communication:
Structured communication within the organization that
directly relates to achieving the organization’s work goal.
Built into organizations plan of operation
Most of the company information might have been stored in
computer… they use the database.
Superiors make decisions and transmit them to subordinates…
Memorandum, reports, conversations etc. are examples of
internal-operational communication.
2. External-operational communication
• It is also structured communication… that is
conducted with people and group outside the
organization.
• Organization’s communication with publicsuppliers, service companies, customers, etc.
• Advertising efforts also comes under it.
• Organization needs to satisfy customer needs.
3. Personal Communication
• Non-business related exchanges of information and
feeling among people
• It affects worker’s viewpoint. Workers viewpoint affects
their performance.
• Although not a component of an organization's plan of
operation, personal communication can have a
significant effect on its success.
• If they are not happy with each other, it affects their
work efficiency.
• Excessive personal communication is also not good for
organization. Somewhere between these extremes lie
the ideal productive viewpoints.
The organization’s communication
network
• It has a complex network of information flow.
• Just like the body has arteries, the organization has well
established channels of information flow.
• Reports, orders, records, instructions, messages, letters,
sales presentations, advertising etc.
• In modern offices, computer is a great help.
• Information from workstation is put into data base. The
information can be assembled at the work station that
needs it.
• Secondary network of information flow is like veins of the
body. It follows no set pattern but form an intricate web of
information flow…that links all organization members in
one way or another.
Ctd.
• Secondary network is not a single network. It is a
conglomerate of smaller networks made up of
groups of people.
• Because of the complex nature of such networks,
they are known as grapevine. It consists of much
gossip and rumor but good managers can
recognize the strength of such information and
use it for the betterment of the organization.
• Please refer to page 12 for a figure.
Some Questions
a. What is communication?
b. What is Business Communication?
c. What is the role of communication in
Businesses?
d. What makes an effective communicator?
e. What does it mean by frequency of
communication? Explain with Dan’s Half an
Hour.
More questions
a. What are the forms of organizational
communication? Explain with examples.
b. Explain communication network with a clear
diagram.