Effective Communication in Business: Principles and Models

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Business Communication
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Table of Contents
Introduction...............................................................................................................................3
Literature review.......................................................................................................................4
Analysis and discussion...........................................................................................................5
Conclusion.................................................................................................................................9
Reference list..........................................................................................................................10
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Introduction
Communication is one of most essential elements of the business. It helps the
organisation to maintain positive relationship with the clients as well as the workforce.
The report is going to shed light on the different strategies of communication, principles
to be followed for better communication as well as the importance of models of business
communication. In addition the report will highlight the basic features or characteristics
of effective listening as well as effective speaking during the conferences and meetings.
The report will also include a personal reflection of strengths and weakness in oral and
written communication.
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Literature review
According to Black and Görman, (2018) Communication strategy is considered as one of
the most important business tools, which help the organisation to improve their culture,
maintain a healthy relationship with the customers as well as the employees and ensure a
systematic functioning of business activities in the organisation. There are different types
of communications strategies such as verbal, non-verbal and visual communication
strategy. One of the most commonly used communication strategy in business
organisations is verbal communication strategy. This strategy has two different
classifications named as oral and written communication.
Managers often use written communication methods for interacting to the employees as
this is a formal method. Employees, in order to communicate with co employees use
oral communication method.
As stated by Trevino and Nelson, (2016) for ensuring a barrier free communication in the
organisation, managers frame certain principles to be followed by the employees as well
as the managers themselves. It is important for the communicator to gain proper
knowledge regarding the person he or she is going to communicate. The communicator
must have a clear understanding about the subject of communication for effective
conveyance of message. Proper medium should be selected for communication and the
communicator must have the ability to speak fluently to the listeners and answer to the
questions of the communication.
Communication model
The Berlo’s model of business communication is one of the most effective models in
communication. In the words of Rogers and Valente, (2017)This model was developed
by David Berlo in the year 1960. It involves four factors named as sender, message,
channel and receiver. In a business context the sender of the message must have clear
idea of the subject in his or her mind. Message is subject which is desired to convey
through communication, in business messages regarding the change in the rules and
regulations can be sent to the employees by the managers to help them work accurately.
On the other hand, the channel should be the medium through which the message is to be
conveyed. According to Pearson, (2017) in business organisations oral communication is
used improving relationships and gain feedback from employee and customers and
multimedia channels can be used for adapting to multiple business target. Often the
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receivers in business are the employees and the customers at the time of launching
products.
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Analysis and discussion
Task 1
Purpose of communication
The flow of information- The HR department of the store must ensure the smooth flow
of information from the top-notch management to the subordinates and vice-versa. The
staffs must be well informed about the objective of the business. Information must be
communicated to the staff in a language they can easily understand. The communication
channel adopted should be such that it facilitates the sharing of information with the
right person and at the right time (Melewar et al., 2017).
Coordination- Coordination among the staff is essential for the growth and success of
the organization. Proper coordination among the staff can be achieved through effective
communication among them. By incorporating proper communication structure, an
organization can strive to make its employees more efficient thereby helping them serve
the customers better.
Delivering management skill- Communication leads to the flow of information between
the management and the employees and vice-versa in the form of opinion, instructions,
ideas etc. It facilitates the learning of new concepts through experiencing others work. It
will help the HR of Sports Love to understand the needs and problems of the employees
and facilitates the employees to learn from the managerial activity and thereby improve
their working condition.
Adopting changes- The HR manager can use effective communication to prepare the
employees of the company to adopt changes in their work culture. The management to
bring alteration in the policies, procedures, and structures of the organization uses the
tool of effective communication (Bryson, `2018).
Effective employee relationship- Good relationship can be developed and maintained
among the employees and between the management and the employees through
appropriate communication. Proper communication between the management and the
employees helps the management to understand the difficulties faced by their employees
while executing a task, helping them to take precautionary measures on time. It also
helps the employees to understand the needs and policies of the management, thereby
fostering a good relationship among them.
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Encourages the ideas of subordinates- Proper communication would ensure that the
ideas and concepts of the subordinates are heard and valued by the management. It
would encourage the subordinates to participate more in the working of the company. It
will motivate the employees to contribute more to the objective of the company “Sports
Love” and thus would help to remove unnecessary delays and ineffectiveness among the
employees. Appropriate communication would make the employees efficient by
facilitating them to incorporate new ideas into the structure of the company.
Increased productivity- Effective communication helps to enhance the productivity of
the employees by helping the management understand the problems of their employees
and thereby addressing the same for improving their efficiency (Lewis, 2019). It helps
the management to increase the productivity of the employees by making them aware of
their problems and helping them overcome the same.
Principles of effective communication
In order to establish proper communication within the structure of the Sports Love store,
the HR director of the store must ensure that it involves the following:-
Clarity- It implies that communication should be done in a language that is easy to
understand. The management should give instruction to its employees in a simple and
easy language. The words used should be easy to understand and unequivocal. Language
used for communication should be such that it does not create any chaos or confusion in
the mind of the receiver of the message (Eaves and Leathers, 2017). The language used
for communication within an organizational structure should be such that could be
understood by all the employees. Here, in this case, the language used for
communication should be proper and simple English as all the employees of the stores
are good with English.
Consistency- It is the responsibility of the communicator to ensure that the message
communicated by them is complete in all sense and does not convey any wrong meaning
to the receiver as incompletes sentences or messages tends to create confusion leading to
inefficiency or misjudgment. The communicator must also ensure that the message
communicated is in line with the organization's plans, objectives, and policies ( Burgoon
et al., 2016). The passing of message, which is not in consistent with the goal of the
organization, may create chaos within the organizational structure.
Integration- Through effective communication attempts must be made by the
management to integrate its human capital with the set objective of the organization. The
main purpose of communication is to ensure the achievement of the company’s goal
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through proper coordination among the employees and the management (Dingemanse et
al., 2015).
Feedback- Feedback is an integral part of the communication system. Communication is
deemed ineffective if appropriate feedback is not taken from the receiver of the message.
It plays a significant role when the mode of communication is written, as in the case of
oral communication feedback is known instantly.
Attention- The mode of communication or the channel adopted by the management for
communication should be such that it is able to attract the attention of the receiver and
prompt necessary actions from their ends. Effective communication prompts effective
results from the employees by making them understand the objective of the message.
Efficient network for communication- In order for the communication to be effective,
there is a need for an appropriate channel or network of communication. A well-framed
network is essential for the communication to be effective. The success of the managerial
decision depends upon the existence of an adequate network of communication.
Timeliness- Communication is effective only when done at the right time, as it would
help the management to implement the plans formulated for achieving the objective of
the company. Any communication done later than required becomes useless, as it would
not be able to contribute to the operation of the company.
Informality- Management usually uses the formal form of communication for conveying
messages within the structure of the company. However, it has been noted that the
informal mode of communication also plays a crucial role in conveying the policies to
the employees. It also helps the management to collect feedback from their employees
easily and promptly regarding various aspects of their work. An informal communication
facilitates easy networking between the managers and the employees of the company.
The principles of communication mentioned above would help the management of the
Love Sport to establish a smooth communication network within its structure and thus
help them to improve the productivity of its employees by creating a good employee
relationship within the structure and minimizing the problems related to the functioning
of the employees.
Task 2
Being a human resource director evaluation of my strengths and weakness are stated as
under:
Strengths
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Being an HR director I can communicate to the employees properly. As speak fluently
and in use simple words to communicate with the employees it helps to clear the concept
in the mind of employees and convey the message through communication effectively. I
am good at formal writing, which helps me to provide proper information to the
employees’ regarding the rules and regulations of the organisation.
Weaknesses
Though I am an HR director, one of my biggest weaknesses is inability to listen to the
employees. I speak well with the employees but I am unable to listen to the issues of the
employees actively. This can create a negative impact on the employee motivation and
can hamper my skills too. My weakness will not let me to satisfy my employees. As far
as my writing skills are concerned, I am weak at informal writing, which can create a
negative impact on my skills and decrease the motivation level of the employees leading
to occurrence of disruptions in business activities.
Opportunity
Being an Hr director, I have observed that I am not an active listener. Therefore, in order
to overcome my weakness in communication, I will have to improve my patience; I have
to be more disciplined. I have to attend communication classes in order to improve my
listening skills. If I will improve my listening skills I will definitely be able to enhance
the satisfaction levels of my employees. I will conduct meetings with employees and
listen to their issues which will help me to address those issues in a successful manner. I
can improve my informal writing skills, by respective classes, read books, gain
information online regarding the ways and format to informal writing.
Threats
There are large a number of technologies being introduced in the field of
communication, which can contribute towards effective communication relationship
maintenance. However, as I am not tech savvy, it might be a significant threat for me
which can reduce my communication skills, and I might face issues to satisfy my
employees.
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Conclusion
By the end of the report, it can be concluded that there are different purposes and
principles of human resource director might require for considering in the
communication strategy. There are certain general characteristics, which the members
should require for being effective speakers and listeners while attending the meetings.
The three different types of communication strategy is visual, verbal and non verbal. The
Berlo’s model of communication can helps organisation in establishment of effective
communication chain and satisfying the employees and the customers as well. The study
has contained a personal refection of the strengths and weakness in communication as an
Hr director.
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Reference list
Black, L. and Görman, P., 2018. Podcasting a new communication strategy: Determining
success factors for podcasting and audio-marketing campaigns.
Bryson, J.M., 2018. Strategic planning for public and nonprofit organizations: A guide
to strengthening and sustaining organizational achievement. John Wiley & Sons.
Burgoon, J.K., Guerrero, L.K. and Floyd, K., 2016. Nonverbal communication.
Routledge.
Dingemanse, M., Roberts, S.G., Baranova, J., Blythe, J., Drew, P., Floyd, S., Gisladottir,
R.S., Kendrick, K.H., Levinson, S.C., Manrique, E. and Rossi, G., 2015. Universal
principles in the repair of communication problems. PloS one, 10(9), p.e0136100.
Eaves, M. and Leathers, D.G., 2017. Successful nonverbal communication: Principles
and applications. Routledge.
Lewis, L., 2019. Organizational change: Creating change through strategic
communication. Wiley-Blackwell.
Melewar, T.C., Foroudi, P., Gupta, S., Kitchen, P.J. and Foroudi, M.M., 2017. Integrating
identity, strategy and communications for trust, loyalty and commitment. European
Journal of Marketing, 51(3), pp.572-604.
Pearson, R., 2017. Business ethics as communication ethics: Public relations practice and
the idea of dialogue. In Public relations theory (pp. 111-131). Routledge.
Rogers, E.M. and Valente, T.W., 2017. A history of information theory in communication
research. In Between Communication and Information (pp. 35-56). Routledge.
Trevino, L.K. and Nelson, K.A., 2016. Managing business ethics: Straight talk about
how to do it right. John Wiley & Sons.
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