Communication skills are essential to your success in today's business environment, whether you are starting your own company or working in an existing firm. Employers often direct or express their frustration at employees with poor communication skills. In order to communicate effectively, especially in a professional business environment, you have to learn to write well, speak well, listen well and be able to recognize the appropriate way to communicate.
What is communication? According to Business Communication Today, "communication is the process of transferring information and meaning between senders and receivers, using one or more written, oral, visual, or electronic channels." "The essence of communication is sharing, providing date, information, and insights in an exchange that benefits both you and the people with whom you are communicating." These are some of the benefits that can be obtained from effective communication:
- Faster problem solving, in which less time is spent on understanding problems and more is spent on creating solutions.
- Earlier warning of potential problems, from rising business costs to critical safety issues
- Stronger business relationships
- Clearer and more persuasive marketing messages
- Enhanced professional images for both employers and companies
Effective communication strengthens the connection between a company and all who it have some connection with, be it customers, employees, suppliers or shareholders. Every company has a formal communication network, in which ideas and information flow. There are a variety of ways that messages flow in and out of business organizations. There is iinternal communication which takes place between people inside a company and then there is external communication which takes place between a company and outside parties. Within the internal formal network, information flows in three directions. Downward communication flows from executives to employees, conveying executive decisions and providing information that helps employees do their jobs. Upward communication flows from employees to executives, providing insight into problems, trends, grievances and performance, thus allowing executives to solve problems and make intelligent decisions. Then there is horizontal communication which flows between departments to help employees share information, coordinate tasks and solve complex problems.
To make your message effective, you need to make them practical, factual, concise and persuasive.
- Provide practical information - give recipients useful information.
- Give facts - use concrete language, specific detail and information that is clear, convincing. accurate and ethical.
- Clarify expectations and responsibilities - write messages to generate a specific response from a specific audience. Clearly state what you expect from audience members or what you can do for them.
- Offer compelling, persuasive arguments and recommendations - show your employees precisely how they will benefit from responding to your message the way you want them to.
Human communication is a complex process with many opportunities for messages to get lost, ignored, or misinterpreted, therefore you must understand the communication process. Within any communication environment, messages can be disrupted by a variety of communication barriers. These barriers include noise and distractions, competing messages, filters and channel breakdowns. After a message works its way through the communication channel and reaches the intended audience, it encounters a whole new set of challenges. You must understand how your audiences receive, decode and respond to messages.
