Business Communication Strategies: Analysis and Application

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Contents:
Particulars Page No
Introduction 3
AC 1
AC 1.1 – Analysis of the communication needs of stakeholders 4
AC 1.2 – Analysis of the various communication models that help administration 5
AC 1.3 – Different communication systems and evaluation of their effectiveness 6
AC 1.4 – Factors that influence the choice of communication media 8
AC 1.5 – Significance of using proper grammar and punctuation in business 9
AC 1.6 – Factors to be considered while planning and structuring communication 10
AC 1.7 – Ways of overcoming barriers to communication 10
AC 1.8 – Usage of communication theories and body language 11
AC 1.9 – Proof-reading techniques for business communications 12
AC 2
AC 2.1 – Identification of purpose and audience of data to be communicated 12
AC 3
AC 3.1 – Identification of nature and use of information to be communicated 13
AC 3.4 – Meaning and implications of information that is verbally communicated 13
Conclusion 14
References 15
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Introduction:
Business environment is a strategic management term which refers to the totality of forces
(which are both internal and external to the organization) that have an influence on the
performance of the organization (Hansen, 2018). The whole business environment is
popularly classified into three categories – the internal environment (includes all
organizational elements that lie within the boundaries of the organization), the external micro
environment (includes all elements that are external and have small impact on the
productivity of the organization) and the external macro environment (includes the big
societal factors that possess a threat for the survival of the organization). The situations of
each category can be assessed by performing environmental scanning with different variables
as observations for each kind of environment (Pearson, 2017). Since the business
environment spans over a wide area it is important that all components of the environment
have a proper path for communication and interaction (Alaloul, 2017). Hence,
communication in a business environment is inevitable and important for the better
performance and productivity of the entity. But the question which rises is – Who will
communicate with whom? How these elements of the organization will communicate with
each other? How such communication can be improved? What are the globally accepted
communication models? What are the different kinds of communication channels? Are all
equally effective? These are some of the questions for which answers are attempted to be
identified in the process of research and thorough study on the subject – Communication in a
Business Environment.
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AC 1.1: Analysis of the communication needs of stakeholders
Stakeholders are those individuals or groups of individuals who have an interest in the
functioning or performance of an enterprise (Jones, 2017). Stakeholders are broadly classified
into three categories – internal stakeholders (include those who are within the boundaries of
an organization like the employees, management, etc), external stakeholders (include those
who have no material connection with the entity like the media, government, regulatory
bodies, etc) and connected stakeholders (who are technically external but share some kind of
connection with the organization like customers, suppliers, etc) (Fassin, 2017).
It is obvious that in a business environment these stakeholders will have to communicate with
each other at some level. The purpose of such communication can be to deliver information
regarding a specific operation of the enterprise or in order to provide the opinion and views of
different individuals with respect to any happening in the organization (Miles, 2017). It
depends on the party to conversation while deciding upon the appropriate mode of
communication. When communicating to officials or colleagues at an office space, it is
always advisable to adopt formal communication channels and refrain from using informal or
friendly communication channels and vocabulary. Informal methods of communication can
be used with friends or close acquaintances during office hour breaks. It is a known practice
in the business world that all serious business related communications shall be made in
writing like contracts, emails, messaging, etc. On the other hand verbal communication is
preferred while clarifying queries or while providing additional details on the written
information (Andriof, 2017).
The various channels of communication can be divided into direct channels (that is both the
parties to the conversation – the sender and receiver communicate with each other without
any hindrance), indirect channels (here both parties to the conversation – the sender and the
receiver are not speaking what is intended but are indirectly trying to convey the message
through body language, tone of the individual, etc). Chain of command refers to the path in
which information or orders flow down in an organization from the top manager to the
operational staff (Ketokivi, 2016).
The methods of communication can be in general analyzed as
 Face-to-face – conversing with one-to-one or a group meeting
 Voice – includes telephonic conversations
 Paper based – includes formal letters, statements of business performance and reports
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 Electronic – includes messaging, emails, etc
 Social Media – information transmission through facebook, Whatsapp, Instagram, etc
 Internet, Intranet and Extranet (Escobar, 2017)
AC 1.2: Analysis of various communication models that assist administration
Throughout the years there have been many researchers who have devised many
communication models like the Shannon Weaver Model of Communication, Berlo’s SMCR
Model of Communication, Schramm Model of Communication, etc.
 Shannon – Weaver Model of Communication:
This model was devised in the 1948 when a mathematician Shannon and a Scientist
Weaver came together to create what is now known as the “mother of all models”.
This model of communication encompasses the following concepts – Sender (refers to
the individual of creates the information, selects the channels and transmits the
message), encoder (refers usually to the machine that converts such message into
binary data or signals), Channel (refers to the medium of transmission), a decoder
(refers usually to a machine that converts the binary data or signals into message), a
receiver (refers to the individual who is intended to get the message and the one who
provides feedback) and finally noise (refers to the disturbance which hampers the
proper receipt of the information).
(Figure 1: Shannon Weaver Communication Model (Rogers, 2017)
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 David Berlo’s Sender-Message-Channel-Receiver (SMCR) Model of Communication
(McQuail, 2015):
This is basically the expandion of the Shannon and Weaver’s linear model of
Communication. David Berlo have clubbed few of the components of the previous
model and made broad classifications of its components into four parts
 S- Sender (includes communication skills, knowledge, attitude towards audience,
culture and social systems of the sender)
 M- Message (includes contents of the message, non-verbal elements, treatment of
the message, structure of the message and the form of code of the message)
 C- Channel (refers to the way the message is communicated)
 R- Receiver (includes same components as the sender but from a receiver point of
view)
 Schramm’s Model of Communication (McPhee, 2016):
Wilber Schramm also devised this model of communication after getting inspired by
the Shannon Weaver’s Model of Communication. According to his theory, the
processes of encoding and decoding are very important as it is through these
processes that the information is ensured to flow and convey to the receiver the
message as it is intended to be. He also believes that a communication is considered
incomplete until he or she receives a feedback from the receiver saying they have
understood or interpreted the message as it was intended by the sender.
AC 1.3 – Different Communication Systems and their effectiveness
The various systems of communication can be analyzed looking at the patterns of the flow of
information around the organization. These are commonly known as the Communication
Patterns instead of communication systems.
 Circle:
In this kind of communication pattern, the head of the group usually the primary
sender of information can only pass the message to his or her immediate sub-ordinate,
who in turn will pass the message to the next person in line. Any person in this kind
of communication pattern can only directly communicate with his or her immediate
superior and immediate sub-ordinate. The advantages of this kind of pattern includes
clarity over the flow of information and leader’s need not worry about personally
informing each and every person about the message (Rieger, 2017). The limitations
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for this approach includes takes a lot of time for the message to reach the intended
audience, information might be distorted by the time it reaches the receiver due to
human inefficiencies in communicating and lower level employees cannot speak up
about problems with their immediate superiors to the group leader.
 Chain Pattern:
This kind of communication pattern is similar to circle communication pattern. The
only difference is that it strictly flows the chain of command and here the leader
doesn’t get to know if the last member received the message as there is no concept of
feedback.
The advantages of this pattern include ease of flow of information and no additional
effort is required by the management to ensure the communication is complete or not.
The disadvantages of this approach include distortion of intended message, and no
guarantee that the message has been delivered due to absence of the concept of
feedback (Hirsch, 2016).
 Wheel Pattern:
In this kind of communication pattern, the leader of the group is at the centre of the
communication and is directly connected with all his or her group members (who are
all at same level of authority). The leader can directly transfer messages to the
intended group member without any third party involvement in the process. The
advantages of this method include immediate feedback from the receiver, no
distortion of intended message and better organizational behavior as it encourages
open culture. The limitations of this communication pattern include confusing
communication flow paths and additional burden on leader to keep track of each
individual group member (Dissanayake, 2018).
 Y Pattern:
Here, the leader is at the center of the communication and he has three subgroups
controlled by him or her. Each sub-group is again a collection of three people
arranged according to the chain of command. The leader transmits the message to the
sub-group leader who will in turn transfer it to the other team members. The lowest
level of team member cannot contact with the leader. The sub-groups are usually not
aware of what the other sub-groups are. The advantages of this kind of pattern include
proper flow of communication and no ambiguity in chain of command. The
limitations on the other hand include groups cannot interact with each other –
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information has to flow through the leader hence burdening him or her and there
exists some level of message distortion.
AC 1.4 - Factors that affect the choice of communication media
As we have seen earlier the channels of communication or the Communication Media can be
broadly divided into written, oral, indirect, digital and social media. A sender might fall into
dilemma in deciding which one of the above channels to consider for transferring the
message to the receiver. The following factors help decide which Communication Media to
choose:
 Audience – it is important to consider the kind of audience or the number of audience
while deciding on the communication media. For instance, if it is meant to be a
private conversation a one-to-one oral communication would suit. On the other hand,
if the audience for the message is large and geographically dispersed utilizing the
email facility would be beneficial (Wang, 2017).
 Purpose – if the purpose of the communication is to merely convey information a
small text message would suffice. Whereas if the purpose of the communication is to
convince or impress others then verbal and indirect communication would be useful.
 Cost – the costs associated with implementing each channel of communication shall
be considered before opting for one.
 Speed of communication – verbal communication is known to have the highest
velocity for communicating a message. Written communications take the highest
amount of time for conveying a message (Petersons, 2016).
 Subject matter of the information – if the content of the message is formal and legally
binding then using written modes of communication or to some extent digital modes
of communication would be beneficial.
 Amount of information to be communicated – if the amount of information in the
message is more, it is always advisable to choose written or digital communication
Medias as people often tend to zone out if the speaker verbally transmits information
more than the saturation point of the receiver’s brain.
 Feedback – verbally transmitting messages bear immediate feedback as the person is
literally sitting next to the message sender. In digital media one can expect some level
of feedback through responses to mails but the least feedback friendly mode of
communication is written communication.
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 Permanent record – if permanent record of such information is required, it is always
beneficial to adopt written and email mode of communication (Mohorek, 2015).
 Information security – if the information is extremely confidential and only one
person has to receive it, then using verbal forms of communication is better. Written
communications can be read by others. Email conversations can be hacked.
AC 1.5 – Importance of using correct grammar, sentence structure, punctuation,
spelling and conventions in business communications
Basically in a business environment majority of communications happen in formal
conditions. Such formal modes of communication includes Emails, Reports and Statements,
business presentations and letters. It is important that the receiver of the information
interprets it in the way it was intended to be done. In order for this to happen, the sender of
such message shall ensure that no language based hindrances are a part of the message
(Teixeira, 2017). Language related barriers can be use of jargons, grammatical errors in
sentences, wrong spellings, lack of punctuation or improper sentence structure.
It is to be ensured that the whole information intended to be conveyed are arranged in
different paragraphs with each paragraph speaking about a relevant issue or topic. By
adopting this, it gives the receiver a clarity about what the sender is meaning to convey. The
format for emails or letters are expected to be the one of the world wide accepted formats. By
sticking to such formats, it portrays a sense of formality and seriousness of the issue to the
receiver of information. In case some technical terms are included in the message, it is always
better to add a glossary or definitions section to the report wherein all such technical terms
are explained in order to facilitate better interpretation of the information (Lei, 2016). It is
always suggested to ignore using jargons as one might not understand or be aware of them
while going through the email or letter. In case the jargon or abbreviations are very popular
like (EY that is Ernst and Young), it can be used in the body of the report and the full form of
it can be mentioned in the side notes of the report or at the end of it.
By using the above tips of effective communication, an organization as a whole conveys a
professional outlook and enhances the customer perceptions on them. This helps employees
meet their own standards of work (Baecker, 2017).
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AC 1.6 – Factors to be considered while planning and structuring different
communication media
To start with the planning of communication channels, the factors listed above shall be taken
into consideration will preparing the plan. The audience for the message must first be
evaluated as to decide the extent of communication necessary for this kind of message. Is the
objective of communication confidentiality or wide spread awareness or legal binding effect
of communication must be thoroughly analyzed. The length of the message and the intensity
required in conveying the message is also important while planning the required
communication channel (Allen, 2017). On the basis of the above factors and the time in hand
to complete the process of communication shall decide the amount of preparation required for
the same.
There needs to be a specific structure in which the information of the message is intended to
be communicated to the receiver. It shall commence with an introduction section which
basically gives a background to the topic under consideration. This helps receivers who are
not acquainted with the issue learn about its basics. After the introduction, the main body of
the report shall start which states all the facts and figures relevant to the issue. The
recommendations and required actions can also be attached at the end of report. The report or
statement shall end with a conclusion which summarizes the entire findings of the report
(Crudge, 2016).
AC 1.7 – Ways to overcome barriers of communication
Barriers to communication refers to those hurdles between the sender and receiver that
hampers the message from properly being communicated to the receiver. There are a number
of barriers of communication like noise (the presence of any kind of audio disturbances
between the parties to communication can be a hindrance), use of jargons (as mentioned
above can lead top misinterpretation), subjectivity (individual view points and perceptions
vary for different people and such opinions can lead to wrongful interpretation of the
message), physical disabilities (people with hearing problems or speech problems are more
open to misunderstanding of the message), lack of common language (in an organization
there are usually a diverse range of people coming from different areas and cultures. Each
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must be having a different tongue of language and even if it is a common language their
accent may lead to confusions), emotions and prejudices (if a person does not like the sender
of information, his or her perception towards his message will be different right from the
beginning and lead to distortion of the message being delivered) (Das, 2019).
Such barriers to communications can be overcome to a certain extent by using the following
techniques – it is important that both the receiver and the sender are aware or the seven Cs of
Communication that it Clarity, Content, Credibility, Continuity, Context, Channels and
Capability. The message to be delivered must first be crystal clear by following the structure
discussed above. Such contents of the message must be relevant to the receiver in order to
grab his or her attention. The channel chosen to deliver such a message must be appropriate
for instance, for a person having hearing difficulties it is better to convey the message in a
written form. It is also vital for both the parties to assess their own emotions and attitudes
while assessing and evaluating the message sent by the sender (Kramer, 2016).
AC 1.8: Uses of communication theories and body language
Various management experts have derived different communication theories out of their
observation, experience and analysis. The concepts of communication have come a far way
and is no longer restricted to the words used either vocally or in a written form. Body
language plays an important role in conveying messages as it is intended to be. Body
language refers to the eye contact, facial expressions, touch, body posture, hand gestures, etc.
Few of the communication theories discussed in this paper would be – Mehrabian’s Silent
Messages theory, Birdwhistell’s theory of kinesics, and Argyle’s communication cycle.
 Mehrabian’s Silent Messages Theory:
According to Professor Albert Mehrabian, seven percent of the message is spoken
through the words actually used by the sender, thirty eight percent of the message is
conveyed through the way the words are communicated and last fifty five percent of
the message is delivered through facial expressions (Mehrabian, 2017).
 Birdwhistell’s theory of kinesics:
Ray Birdwhistell was an American Anthropologist who coined the term ‘Kinesics’.
Kinesics refers to the non-verbal use of body in the process of communication. He
believes that body language is one of the most powerful ways of delivering a
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message. All bodily movements have something to convey to the receiver (Baker,
2019).
 Argyle’s Communication cycle:
As per Michael Argyle theory of communication cycle, there exists six stages of to
successful communication which include – the Idea occurrence stage, the coding of
the message stage, the actual sending of the message stage, the receiving of the
message stage, the decoding of the message stage and finally the interpretation of the
message stage (Berger, 2018).
AC 1.9: Proof-reading techniques for business communications
In a business environment, there are a variety of formal ways to communicate including
presenting of reports and statements which have definite formats prescribed for them. These
reports usually consists of text, factual findings, numbers, graphical representations,
spreadsheets, images, charts and diagrams. Hence it is important to cross check before
presenting such a report or statement to the superior or the sub-ordinate. The SPAG approach
can be adopted before submitting the report. The abbreviation stands for S – spelling, P –
Punctuation, and G – Grammar. The above three are to be thoroughly checked and reviewed
before submission. The facts included shall be double-checked. After printing, the hard copy
of the report is to be checked if the format is in accordance with the soft copy. The best way
to cover all these necessities is by creating a proof-reading checklist which consists of all the
above suggestions. One can simply finish one task and tick next to that heading (Scahrtel
Dunn, 2019).
AC 2.1 – Purpose and Audience of the information to be communicated
For the purpose of answering this question, let us consider a business environment situation
where the sub-ordinate is asked to communicate the performance of the department of the
organization to the superiors that is the top level management. The purpose of the report
would be to deliver the financial performance and the statistics are expected to be attached to
the report. This will help the top level assess the performance of that specific department and
also will help them in planning for the future. The communication channel shall be extremely
formal in this scenario as it is the superiors who are going to consume the information. The
report shall follow the Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) format in order to
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