Analyzing Business Communication: Strategies for Effective Practices

This report delves into the critical role of organizational communication in business, examining its positive and negative aspects and emphasizing its importance for both businesses and employees. It identifies barriers such as gender differences, cultural diversity, and status differences, and proposes strategies to overcome these challenges, supported by organizational communication theories like the Transactional Communication Model and Weber’s Organizational Theory. The report explores different forms of organizational communication based on structure, direction, and expression, highlighting the principles of effective communication, including understanding the audience, simplifying messages, active listening, and using visuals. It also emphasizes the importance of establishing communication practices that ensure transparency and employee involvement, citing examples like Mark Zuckerberg's communication style at Facebook. The conclusion underscores that effective organizational communication is essential for business efficiency and achieving common goals.

Running Head: Communication

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Abstract
In this paper the discussion is focused on the importance of organizational communication and
its positive and negative aspects. The report will highlight the how communication plays an
important role for any businesses and also for the employees working in the organization. Also,
the difficulties for organization communication is also discussed. The strategies to mitigate the
issues has been explained and supported with several theories of organizational communication.
The
principles and purpose of different forms of communication in organization and the foundation
of how to communicate effectively has been explored. The report suggested that organizational
communication has played an important role for business efficiency and also provided the idea of
various communication practices.
Business Communication

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Content
s
Introduction.................................................................................................................................................3
Barriers and challenges to organizational communications........................................................................3
Strategies to overcome organizational communication and theories of organizational communication....3
Different forms of organizational communication......................................................................................4
Principles of effective communication........................................................................................................5
Understanding the audience:..................................................................................................................5
Simplifying the messages:.......................................................................................................................5
Active Listening:.......................................................................................................................................6
Visuals:....................................................................................................................................................6
Communication practices............................................................................................................................6
Conclusion...................................................................................................................................................7
References...................................................................................................................................................8

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Introduction
Organization communication is an important aspect for any business and for the people working
in the organization who are working to achieve a common goal. As organization comprises of
people with different mindset and has different way of approach, there is always a
communication gap which develops difficulty in an organization due to the communication
issue. In this report, the discussion will be based on different aspects of communication like the
barriers and challenges, strategies, forms of communication and its principles (Bonaccio et al.,
2016).
Barriers and challenges to organizational communications
There are several barriers that can arise within an organization which are gender differences,
cultural diversity, status differences, language and physical separation. A company should have
effective policies to overcome communication barriers. The resolution of the same can see some
drastic changes in sales, working environment and organizational culture. Gender differences
arises when there is a difference in communication between a male and a female. Both the
genders have different approach on communication which develops communication barrier.
Status difference prevails when there is difference in hierarchy of organization and people feel
difficulty in communicating up and down the organization ladder. When two people have
different mother tongue and speak different language, there develops a barrier which is known as
language barrier (Phutela, 2015).
For an organization, it is important to decimate the barriers in communications but there are
times when there is no barrier still there is a communication gap. These gaps, also called
challenges disengages employees in an organization. Inconsistent communication, relying on
technology for dissemination of the messages, ineffective listening and developing a perception
that everyone is a good communicator are some of the challenges faced by the organizations
(Yuriev et al., 2018).

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Strategies to overcome organizational communication
and theories of organizational communication
There are several steps that can ensure that effective communication takes place. For example,
giving feedback and upward communication, improving the listening skills, effective writing
skills, use of simple words while communicating. It is important to give feedback as it helps to
reduce the misunderstandings and helps to clear the message when in doubt. This can be
identified by the theory of Transactional Communication model which is the simplest form of
communication and can be applied to describe communication taking at various levels which
includes electronic communication, human verbal and non-verbal and also communication in
animals. In this model, an individual who needs to send the information is the sender and there is
an encoding which is means of transmitting a message. Encoding can be through writing, email
or speech. In order to interpret the message, the receiver must decode it. Decoding processes
include listening, reading and facial expressions. It basically emphasizes on the tone of your
voice and expressions (Ferdous, 2016).
Also, sometimes due to hierarchical differences, the messages passed down the ladder can be
misinterpreted as employees are less confident while communicating or giving feedback to their
superiors. To improve the upward communication it is important to demolish the barrier that
arises due to hierarchical differences. Every employee should be given the platform to voice their
opinion and the organization should listen to them. The above strategy can be explained by
Weber’s classic Organizational Theory which hold that every organization have pre-defined
roles and responsibility, therefore communication is structured, hierarchical and clear. There
should be no misinterpretation or confusion in the messages transmitted from the top ladder and
hence every organization has structure which are like rigid machines where every employee
contributes in a defined and specified roles and responsibilities (Russell and Congdon, 2017).
Different forms of organizational communication
Organizational communication is divided into three main categories based on organizational
structure, direction and expression. Every categories is further sub-divided and has different
forms, principles and purpose:
According to organizational structure, communication is sub-divided into formal and informal
communication. Formal communication principle is associated with organization structure and

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the position of the communicator and receiver. The main purpose behind formal communication
is to make sure that the follow of communication is regulated and to ensure that the information
is flown in smooth, timely and accurate manner. The principle behind informal communication is
that it is free from all types of formalities as it is typically used in informal events like parties,
between friends or between the members of a club. This serves as a purpose of transmitting
information which cannot be done through official channels and is in the interest of organization
(Martin and Nakayama, 2015).
According to direction, communication is divided into downward, upward and horizontal. The
principle and purpose behind downward communication is the flow of communication from the
superiors to the subordinates and to exercise the power of the authority. Immediate action on a
job is expected in downward communication. In upward communication, it is expected that the
people at lower level should communicate with the people top the ladder and proper suggestions
and reactions are provided. In horizontal communication, two or more persons are involved who
are working at the same level. It satisfies the need of the people to get feedback from their own
peers (Kang and Sung, 2017).
According to way of expression, communication is divided into oral and written communication.
Oral communication involves direct communication between the sender and the receiver and
exchange their ideas through words or by any mechanical/electrical devices. The purpose is to
establish direct contact so that there is no gap as it is quick and prompt. When the
communication is limited to black and white writing, it is written communication. This can
include graphs, pictures, words etc. When an organization want to disseminate any policy, rules,
orders or schedules this form becomes indispensable (Burke, Dailey and Zhu, 2017).
Principles of effective communication
Effective communication is very vital for the day-to-day things that people do like emails, blog
posts, meetings etc. but it is important to make sure that you are expressing effectively and
clearly. There are several principles to establish good communication and to make sure the
message is interpreted in the way the sender wants it to be.
Understanding the audience: It is important to learn about your audience and their
tendencies. To know whether they want to be heard? Do they have patience? Do they have time?

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What are their goals, challenges or perception? By better understanding of your audience, you
have better opportunity to convey your thoughts.
Simplifying the messages: Messages that are concise and simple can be delivered much
powerfully and creates the highest impact. To establish effective communication it is important
to distill the complex materials and use terms which are more familiar and can be digested easily
by the audience. Use of technical jargons may lead to comprehending the message in a different
way than you intended.
Active Listening: Communication also involves listening which is an important aspect and
it is important that the audience feels you are listening. Also, merely listening is not enough,
however, you want to make sure the other party feels heard. This can be done by maintaining eye
contact, nodding, your time of response which are parts of active listening.
Visuals: A message can be comprehended in a numerous ways depending on the message. If
you want the audience to understand exactly what you want them to understand, it is important to
connect with them by using visuals which can compel them and explain your point. Drawing
visuals makes appeal to the emotional side of your audience (Ladegaard and Jenks, 2015).
Communication practices
In order to maintain the flow of communication smooth and transparent within an organization, it
is important to establish several practices that will ensure that this consistency is maintained.
This ensures that employees are contributing and everyone else are in the loop with the key
happenings in the company. Organization should have a proper communication strategy for its
employees where every employee is heard and the inputs are respected. The organization should
always practice events or meetings where inputs are taken from every employees, authentic
feedback is provided and appropriate action is taken on the provided input. Making employees
feel that they are contributing would always be beneficial for the organization itself in the long
run (Macnamara, 2016).
Every effective leader or CEO of an organization lays special emphasis to get involved with the
team and puts extra effort to know everyone as an individual. Getting into the practice of
informal engagements with the colleagues while walking casually, showing interests in every
employee lives and sharing some personal insights of your own helps in dissemination of

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communication. Not having any hierarchical nervousness while taking with sub-ordinates helps
the employees working at lower level to open up on their thoughts (Solaja, Idowu and James,
2016). For example, the CEO of Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg is known for his reluctant,
outspoken communication skills and his unique communication practices. He has made sure of
the fact that there is a free flow of communication within his employees and himself by
providing every employee to speak and contributing for the organizations success. Also, he has
discarded traditional hierarchical differences by not having a separate cabin for himself and
sitting next to his employees. Such practices, if implemented within an organization, improves
the communication flow.
Conclusion
With the analysis of the paper, the fact holds true that organization communication is an area
where every business needs to focus. An organization can come across several barriers and
challenges but it is important to take preventive measures as discussed above and mitigate the
issue. As, effective communication brings people in the team close and work hard to achieve the
common goal (Villa, Gonçalves and Villy Odong, 2017).

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References
Bonaccio, S., O’Reilly, J., O’Sullivan, S.L. and Chiocchio, F., 2016. Nonverbal behavior and
communication in the workplace: A review and an agenda for research. Journal of
Management, 42(5), pp.1044-1074.
Burke, T.J., Dailey, S. L. and Zhu, Y., 2017. Let’s work out: communication in workplace
wellness programs. International Journal of Workplace Health Management, 10(2), pp.101-115.
Ferdous, J., 2016. Organization theories: from classical perspective. International Journal of
Business, Economics and Law, 9(2), pp.1-6.