Effective Business Communication Tips

Effective Business Communication Tips

By Rupal Jain

A Research stated that people spend over 75% of their time in an organization in interpersonal communication. The North Carolina State University Research revealed that, “communication skills were considered more important than either technical knowledge…or computer skills”.

Thus, in business effective communication is a must at interdepartmental, intradepartmental and at external level. The objectives of communication can be to inform, to persuade, to educate, to train, to motivate and to entertain for which reading, writing, speaking and listening are the four main skills required.

According to Allen Louis, “Communication is the sum of all things, a person does when he wants to create an understanding in the minds of another. It involves a systematic and continuous process of telling, listening and understanding”.

In Business, Communication supports all the functions of management, viz; Planning, Organizing, Controlling, Co-ordination and Staffing. However, sometimes the communication may get distorted because of internal or external disturbances, the social psychologist estimates that there is usually a 40-60% loss of meaning in the transmission of the message from the sender to the receiver.

However, the other barriers are semantic noise, defensive attitude, self fulfilling prophecy, language, assumptions, distrusted source, wrong perception, differences in culture/value/perception, interpersonal relationship, passive listening, lack of self confidence/esteem, initiative, knowledge of technical language, grapevine and difference in mental maturity.

Thus, it is rightly defined by Koontz and O’Donnell as, “The transfer of information from one person to another, irrespective of whether or not it elicits confidence”

However, here are some suggestions to enhance the communication skills: -

1. Before beginning, determine the communication objectives, intention through proper planning.

2. Be a patient, active and emphatic listener.

3. Focus on the problem, not on the person.

4. Understand the non-verbal clues.

5. Overcome the distractions.

6. Give and Take continuous descriptive feedbacks by using both open ended and close ended questions.

7. Ask questions for clarifications.

8. Avoid getting defensive; don’t overreact.

9. Summarize the vital points after discussion.

10. Priorities the task and spend more time of communication on important issues.

11. Avoid using too many statistics and technical language.

12. Constantly sharpen your axes.

13. Start and finish on time, appreciate other for spending their time.

14. Analyze your strengths and weaknesses before the communication.

15. Maintain continuous eye contact.

16. Use proper medium and mode of communication.

17. Be clear and well informed about the listener.

18. Avoid getting too sentimental, emotional and avoid arguments.

19. Improve communication skills through training and development.

20. Practice, Practice, Practice……… effective communication.

Thus, “Communication may be broadly defined as the process of meaningful interaction among human beings. More specifically, it is the process by which means are perceived and understandings are reached among human beings.” – D.E. McFarland.