Importance of Communication for Managers

This assignment emphasizes the significance of effective communication for managers in performing their duties. It highlights how communication is fundamental to all essential management functions: planning, organizing, leading, and controlling. The document stresses that clear and efficient communication allows managers to gather necessary information, develop and implement plans, motivate teams, and monitor progress effectively.

COMMUNICATE IN A
BUSINESS
ENVIRONMENT

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
TASK 1............................................................................................................................................1
1.1................................................................................................................................................1
1.2................................................................................................................................................1
1.3................................................................................................................................................2
1.4................................................................................................................................................2
1.5................................................................................................................................................2
1.6................................................................................................................................................3
1.7................................................................................................................................................3
1.8................................................................................................................................................3
1.9................................................................................................................................................4
TASK 2............................................................................................................................................4
2.1................................................................................................................................................4
2.2................................................................................................................................................4
2.3................................................................................................................................................5
2.4................................................................................................................................................5
2.5................................................................................................................................................5
2.6................................................................................................................................................5
2.7................................................................................................................................................6
TASK 3............................................................................................................................................6
3.1................................................................................................................................................6
3.2................................................................................................................................................6
3.3................................................................................................................................................7
3.4................................................................................................................................................7
3.5 ...............................................................................................................................................7
3.6................................................................................................................................................7
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................8
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................9

INTRODUCTION
Business Communication is any communication used to promote a product, service, or
organization – with the objective of making sale. In business communication, message is
conveyed through various channels of communication including internet, print (publications),
radio, television, outdoor, and word of mouth (Chow and et. al., 2012). In business,
communication is considered core among business, interpersonal skills and etiquette.
TASK 1
1.1
Internal stakeholders are individuals within a company, i.e. employees, managers,
directors,investors; alternatively, external stakeholders are those that are outside of but
care/benefit from the performance of the company, i.e. consumers, regulators, investors,
suppliers, etc.
 Internal: Communication internally can be less formal due to familiarity between
members of a team if between colleagues. However, it is typically informative in
nature,i.e. regarding sales processes, business requirements/needs, or performance.
 External: This type of communication is varies largely on what the business wants/needs
from its external audience. In terms of investors, a company would be more honest with
figures than it would with customers/consumers, i.e. margin profits or company
performance, in order to secure money from individuals.
1.2
Communication is a key element to business success both internally and externally. There
have been multiple models which explore how people communicate to enhance their ability to
transfer messages;
Shannon and Weaver Model Of Communication (1948)
This is one of the earliest models of communication and lays out the process of
conversation to evidence what could go wrong from ‘source’ to ‘receiver’ as a message is
‘encoded’ and ‘decoded’ by two people.
Schramm’s Model (1954) alters this simplistic model, showing that encoding and
decoding is not a one-sided process and that by converting ideas into words humans are
constantly encoding and decoding messages to be decoded and encoded again.
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1.3
There are a range of different communication systems/methods which are used within
business: Telephone - Telephone calls are an effective communication method in business due to
the ability to structure messages simplistically and employ tone to ensure understanding
between both parties as well as to better understand intention (Björklund, 2011). Email - Comparatively to telephone calls, email is entirely written, resulting in a lack of
verbal ques and limited understanding of objectives such as personality or attitudes.
 Face-to-face - Meeting external stakeholders is an important way to create a relationship
with important business relations.
1.4
When deciding which communication media to use it is important to consider what
message you are trying to get across/receive. When looking to describe and to discuss, telephone
or face-to-face are better choices as they allow the use of senses within conversation i.e. tone
(hearing), body language (visual), as well as ensuring the understanding of both parties due to
quick feedback. Telephone calls are typically better when looking to discuss large amounts of
information or to save time. Face-to-face meetings are good with clients for initial meetings, or
candidates following interviews, to gather key information and make a lasting impression.
1.5
It is important that you always use proper grammar in all your business communications.
It is a standard that the management should practice and demand from all its employees to
maintain the good reputation of the business and to propel the business to success. To understand
this better, here are the advantages of using proper grammar in all communications. If unclear of
details, a candidate may be turned off by a role or time may be wasted clarifying information
typically appropriate candidates will get a lot of emails/messages daily and so it is important that
time is spent making it clear for them to assess if they should return contact through the
structuring and content of the first email sent to them. This importance carries through to other
methods of communication with similar reasoning– the most important thing is to ensure the
correct message is expressed.
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1.6
When planning and structuring different communication media it is important to consider
how the message you are offering will be taken in. A key consideration is the ability of the
receiver to take on your message i.e. your message should be clear for a reader who may find
reading English difficult – who might have English as a second language or suffer from a reading
disability (Louhiala-Salminen and Kankaanranta, 2011). Consequently, it is important to make
sure that any message is as succinct as possible – only relevant and necessary information
included within emails or conversations.
1.7
Clarify Ideas before Communication:
The person sending the communication should be very clear in his mind about what he
wants to say.
Convey Things of Help and Value to the Listener:
The subject matter of the message should be helpful to the receiver. The need and interest
of the receiver should specially be kept in mind (Popescu, 2013).
Consult Others before Communication:
Its main advantage will be that all those people who are consulted at the time of preparing
the communication plan will contribute to the success of the communication system.
1.8
Mehrabian's research provided the basis for the widely quoted and often much over-
simplified statistic for the effectiveness of spoken communications. Here is a more precise (and
necessarily detailed) representation of Mehrabian's findings than is typically cited or applied:
On the other hand, body language can suggest that someone is uncomfortable, nervous, or
judgemental, i.e. hunching, crossing arms, etc., whereas,open body language is a good indication
of agreement, honesty, and friendliness, i.e. expressive hand gestures, a lack of physical barriers,
and relaxed body positioning. Using open body language in meetings with clients/candidates is
important as it helps to portray an honest and friendly message something key to creating the
foundations for a good business relationship
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1.9
 Print out a hard copy while proofreading on screen. Arm yourself with two copies. It’s
likely that errors will stand out in one version even if you’ve glided over them in the
other.
 Ensure the document makes sense. Correcting grammar and punctuation can often seem
to be the point of proofreading.
 Use your computer spellchecker. Your spellchecker doesn’t read for sense, only
accuracy – it doesn’t know whether you mean mountain ‘peak’ or ‘peek’.
TASK 2
2.1
Proofreading is to business communication what buffing and polishing is to
woodworking: One little blemish detracts from the entire piece, causing the overall impression to
suffer. Mistakes and imperfections in any kind of work convey carelessness, and in the
workplace, the stakes are even higher:
 Allow your piece of written communication to “get cold” before you proofread it. With a
fresh set of eyes, you will be more apt to spot errors (Fassin and Buelens, 2011).
 Read your work out loud, and slowly. If you find yourself stumbling over a clause or
sentence, chances are that your readers will, too. You are more likely to catch missing or
misplaced words when you read aloud, as well.
2.2
 Identify your target audience. Find out the job titles of the people who make or influence
decisions about purchasing the type of products you supply. Review the media
information packs of magazines and newspapers that claim to reach your target audience.
 Analyze the message you want to communicate. Use channels such as advertisements,
email or short messages on social media such as Twitter to communicate a simple
message, such as a price change or new product announcement.
 Calculate the cost of communicating through the channels you have identified. Obtain
advertising rates from media publishers, ask designers and printers for quotes on
producing printed documents such as technical papers and calculate the cost of direct
sales calls on key decision-makers.
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2.3
Presentation is concerned with the structure, format, impact and readability of
information. Formatting to achieve clarity and appeal is concerned with the layout of pages,
paragraphs, text, tables and images. Candidates should also be aware of other types of document
that are used for presenting information including publicity flyers, reports and newsletters.
Candidates should know that some specific elements of information are standard in many
documents.
2.4
 Email Communication - Email has become a common form of written communication in
business because of its rapid delivery, ease of use and ability to reach large audiences.
The storage of business email has become increasingly important as email has become
“equally admissible” in court as formal paper documents.
 Etiquette - Observe appropriate etiquette when sending or replying to business
correspondence. Business letters should include letterhead, the date, the reader’s address,
a greeting, letter heading, main body content, closing remarks, and the sender’s signature
and name. When replying to email, don’t delete the sender’s original message in your
response text box (Savrul, Incekara and Sener, 2014).
2.5
 The Socializer - These individuals are charismatic, enthusiastic, persuasive, lively, loud,
talkative, friendly, people-oriented and very social. They are also visual and creative.
 The Analyser - These individuals are meticulous, detail-oriented, introverted and task-
oriented. These individuals can be considered perfectionists and they are suspicious of
others. They may answer a question with a question.
 The Aggressor-Asserter - They are very competitive, goal-oriented, demanding, task-
oriented and fast-paced. To these people, time is money and money is time. You know
where you stand since they are blunt and direct in their communication.
2.6
To communicate effectively you need to get your point across and relay information
clearly. Effective writing allows the reader to thoroughly understand everything you are saying.
This is not always easy to do. Here are a few tips that will help you to know your goal and state
it clearly. Your purpose needs to be stated in the communication. Avoid information that is not
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relevant. Clarity is key. Explain in clear terms what you want the reader to do. They can not
oblige if they do not understand. Also, they may not even want to try to help if the
communication is vague and sloppily written. It is good to include why it is beneficial to them to
do what you ask or to help you. Language needs to be simple. Do not overuse clichés, jargon,
and expressions or try to impress with big words. Keep sentences and paragraphs short and
concise.
2.7
 Care about deadlines. This is the first step, as many people are very lax about deadlines.
You have to be very serious about meeting them, and make them a priority.
 Keep a list of projects & deadlines - If you care about deadlines, you'll write them down,
and have one place that you check often to make sure you know what's due and when.
 Communicate a clear deadline - Be sure that you and the client are in agreement with a
specific deadline, including time of day. If the deadline is fuzzy, you will have trouble
meeting it. If the client doesn't give you a deadline, you need to ask for one.
TASK 3
3.1
When communicating in a work environment, the nature is to communicate factually, in
concisely and in an easily digestible style. If you are communicated non-verbally, e.g. a letter,
the information needs to be relevant, accurate and be presented professionally. Knowing what is
trying to be achieved from a conversation is essential for a successful conversation. You have to
make sure in a business environment that the information that you a portraying or that is being
portrayed to you is accurate. If not, important decisions could be made erroneously and maybe
unnecessary costs could occur.
3.2
Communication has not taken place until the person(s) being communicated with has
understood the message as the sender intended." In other words, an appropriate choice of
language for your audience is required (Charter, 2017). The communication should be at a
pitched at a level that will be understood by your audience e.g. if you were talking to a customer
you wouldn't be using the usual jargon or abbreviations that would to your colleagues in the
office.
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3.3
When you are trying to reinforce messages, your body language and tone of voice will
help this. Your tone of voice needs to be moderate to low and the speed of what you are talking
needs to be slow enough in order for it to be clear and easy to understand. When communicating
verbally, your body language will be assessed. Keep your posture high with your shoulders back,
give direct, solid eye contact and smile. Also use purposeful and deliberate hand gestures and
these will make you appear confident and interesting.
3.4
Communication is the act of transferring information from one person to another. If you
do this verbally, it will usually be as a face to face conversation or over the phone. When
speaking to a customer over the phone I use question techniques as way of confirming that the
information has passed through successfully. Examples of this would be, using open. .Using
questioning techniques is a positive way of engaging the recipient as you are enquiring their
input building a positive response from them. Skilful questioning can be matched with active
listening from yourself so you are both engaging what the other is saying.
3.5
It is important that we confirm that what we have been communicating has been
understood. A way of judging this when having a face to face conversation would be by
observing the person's body language as you speak and by questioning throughout. With all
forms of communication, at the end almost like a conclusion, you could sum up overall what has
just been discussed as a clarification of understanding (Pulver, 2012).
3.6
Sometimes when questioning and answering over the phone, information can be
misinterpreted due to the speaker’s nerves. You should always appear confident when you speak
by speaking clearly and speaking with a smile. Smiling can change the tone of your voice to
make you sound friendly and welcoming whereas if you are frowning you may seem like you are
fed up and that you don’t really want to be having that particular conversation. As a result, that
could lead to your company losing their customer morale. When speaking to a customer it is
important that you are following your companies’ policies and standards.
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CONCLUSION
Effective Communication is significant for managers in the organizations so as to
perform the basic functions of management, i.e., Planning, Organizing, Leading and Controlling.
Communication helps managers to perform their jobs and responsibilities. Communication
serves as a foundation for planning. All the essential information must be communicated to the
managers who in-turn must communicate the plans so as to implement them.
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REFERENCES
Books and Journal
Chow, A. T. and et. al., AT&T Intellectual Property II LP, 2012. Computer readable medium
with embedded instructions for providing communication services between a broadband
network and an enterprise wireless communication platform within a residential or
business environment. U.S. Patent 8,155,155.
Björklund, M., 2011. Influence from the business environment on environmental purchasing—
Drivers and hinders of purchasing green transportation services. Journal of Purchasing
and Supply Management. 17(1). pp.11-22.
Louhiala-Salminen, L. and Kankaanranta, A., 2011. Professional communication in a global
business context: The notion of global communicative competence. IEEE Transactions
on professional communication. 54(3). pp.244-262.
Popescu, G. H., 2013. Macroeconomics, effective leadership, and the global business
environment. Contemporary Readings in Law and Social Justice. 5(2). p.170.
Fassin, Y. and Buelens, M., 2011. The hypocrisy-sincerity continuum in corporate
communication and decision making: A model of corporate social responsibility and
business ethics practices. Management Decision. 49(4). pp.586-600.
Savrul, M., Incekara, A. and Sener, S., 2014. The potential of e-commerce for SMEs in a
globalizing business environment. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences. 150.
pp.35-45.
Charter, M. ed., 2017. Greener marketing: A responsible approach to business. Routledge.
Pulver, S., 2012. Business and the Environment.
Siewiorek, A. and et. al., 2012. Learning leadership skills in a simulated business
environment. Computers & Education. 58(1). pp.121-135.
Roth, S., 2014. The things that go without saying: on performative differences between business
value communication and communication on business values. International Journal of
Business Performance Management. 15(3). pp.175-191.
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