Effective Communication

Business communication today

Communication has been a vital part of businesses in all ages. However, the need for good communicators has increased many fold in the modern world. Technological advances, globalization, diverse workforce, and emphasis on team work have made effective communication vital to business success.

The field of business communication has undergone a sea change in the past few decades. The most dramatic change is seen in the increase of number of channels of communication. Development in technology and introduction of internet has rapidly brought the world closer. Earlier, long distance calls and snail mail were the standard communication channels and the mode of communication was through voice, pen and paper. There was a limited scope for transmitting videos and visual presence was present only in face-to-face communication.

Today, technological advances and increasing competitiveness in business has made business communication versatile in terms of communication tools available to businesses. This has resulted in change in the way communication works today, and it has also opened new avenues and markets for doing business such as telemarketing, outsourcing services and e-business. Besides new business ideas, technology also remains a tool for business communication ventures.

Teams need leaders and leaders need to share their vision and mission with team members in order to get work done. Moreover, teams thrive and succeed through the leaders’ wisdom and action; and they work according to the leaders’ plan of action. In order to accomplish these tasks, leaders need to be effective communicators. This is where the need to master business communication comes in.

Basically, business communicators focus on clarity, brevity, ability to come straight to the point, the ability to be attentive, and the ability to be approachable.

Clarity requires communicators to express themselves clearly to their intended audience so that they grasp the intention of the message.

Brevity requires communicators to express thoughts in as few words as possible. However, it does not mean that clarity is sacrificed for brevity.

Ability to come straight to the point means getting to the main point of discussion as soon as possible without unnecessary beating about the bush.

Ability to be attentive requires communicators to be good and active listeners as well as clear and effective speakers.

Ability to be approachable creates an open and comfortable work environment where communication is spontaneous and easy.

Today social media has proliferated the business world. Although use of social media may not be mandatory for business success, it is important for business communicators to understand the options available to them and how their audiences use and respond to such social media.Social media tools are useful for internal as well as external audiences. For example, companies create their own Facebook pages or Linkedin groups for internal sharing and community development. Youtube has made videos popular means of sending messages. Web cams help to incorporate sound and image in messages.

 Combing traditional and modern means of communication tools to engage various audiences ensure wider circulation of messages. This is of particular relevance to businesses that cater to a wide variety of customers.

Ethics in Business Communication

Ethics refers to accepted principles of conduct that govern behaviour and define the boundary between right and wrong. To abide by ethics in communication, communicators need to know not only what they choose to say or not say, but also the consequences of such choices.

 Ethical communication facilitates communication effectiveness. It reflects the moral aspects of individual and group interaction and establishes the credibility and reputation of communicators. It matches words to action/behaviour,  enhances human dignity by fostering truthfulness, fairness, personal integrity, mutual respect, and responsibility, and endorses freedom of expression, diversity of perspectives, tolerance to dissent, and responsible decision making. It advocates sharing of knowledge/information when faced with significant choices and accepts responsibility for short term and long term consequences of communication. Ethical communication is true in every sense, includes all relevant communication, and is not deceptive in any way. 

Unethical communication can distort truth or manipulate audience in a variety of ways. It misrepresents facts, opinions, or situations through selective and irresponsible representations.

Some forms of unethical communication are:

1. Plagiarism: presenting someone else’s words/ research/data/ creative work as one’s own. It is illegal and often violates copyright.
2. Omitting essential information: information is essential for an audience to make an intelligent and well informed choice and make an objective decision.
3. Selective misquoting: distorting or misrepresenting someone’s words by taking it out of context so that the meaning changes.
4. Misrepresenting numbers: unethically manipulating data and statistics by increasing, decreasing, exaggerating, altering, or omitting data.
5. Distorting visuals: making a product seem bigger/smaller, changing scale of graphs and charts
6. Failing to respect privacy or information security: ethical concerns go beyond message content. Failing to protect privacy, or information entrusted to one is unethical.

At the individual level, Ethical communication accepts audience response and refrains from demeaning or subjugating the audience. It requires active listening on the part of both communicators and an environment of open and honest exchange. Unethical communication appeals to passions, habits and prejudices of the audience, and often says only what the audience wants to hear. On the other hand, ethical communication considers all implications of the message conveyed, and remains rational and balanced.

In group communication, ethical communication works at three levels:

1.       The individual or personal level in which individual group members decide on what and how to convey in relation to the work entrusted.

2.       The group level in which the group members together decide on the way information is conveyed and credits assigned.

3.       The environmental level in which the group decides on the extent to which information is given when conveying the entire information might entail drastic changes or raise monetary issues.

The vital characteristics of Ethical Communication are as follows:

1.       Conveying ideas without offending the audience. Conveying accurate messages is the basic goal of business communication. In addition to this it is important to convey messages in a manner that does not offend the audience or cause emotional negativity.

2.       Maintaining a relationship with audience. Maintaining a relationship relates to keeping all communicators on the same wave length. The relationship is based on trust and rapport between them.

3.       Avoiding withholding crucial communication. Information is vital for decision making. Hence it is important to convey information correctly and completely, without withholding crucial sections.

4.       Constructing a well organized value system.  This value system rests on mutual respect and honesty or any other value both communicators hold in common.

Two problems with ethical communication:

1.       Ethical dilemma- An ethical dilemma refers to a conflict between two equally important values.  In such cases choosing either alternative can be justified on valid grounds. It arises when the sender and receiver share a relationship that makes it difficult to voluntarily or readily convey vital information or when either is unwilling to share such information for certain reasons, personal or professional. This could happen due to mistrust, personal antagonism or rivalry, or over competitive spirit. The question in the mind of the sender is whether to pass on the information or withhold it. One way of resolving such ethical dilemma is to focus on the importance of the information to be conveyed rather than on the person or group to whom it is to be conveyed. Another alternative is to distinguish clearly between personal emotions and professional conduct. The thumb rule would be choosing the greater good and the lesser evil.  Resolving an ethical dilemma calls for creative thinking to determine available alternatives. If the information is vital, and professional conduct calls for sharing it, the sender is obliged to set aside all other consideration and convey the message.

      

      Ethical dilemma takes a second form when personal relationships or interests lead to disclosing of sensitive information. In such cases the communicators transgress the bounds of responsibility and accountability. Furthermore, they fail to respect their position in the hierarchy.

    

2.       Ethical lapse- Ethical lapse refers to failure to communicate information for any reason when such communication is known to be essential. It reflects a failure to uphold the ethical standards that one subscribes to. Such lapses may occur due to negligence, lack of sense of responsibility, oversight, forgetfulness, or deliberate retention of information with mala fide intention. Communicators either unintentionally fail to share information that they should, or deliberately withhold the information.

Ensuring ethical communication

Ask three questions:

1.       Has the situation been defined fairly and accurately?

2.       What is the intention in communicating the message?

3.       What impact the message will have on the receiver?

Time management is one of the key skills for professionals and students alike. Each day we have a number of tasks to get through; each day we intend to get through all the tasks; yet, at the end of the day we find we have fallen short of the mark. With each shortfall tasks pile up and stress levels increase. We wish the days were longer, there was less to do in a day, or we had a magic wand in hand to keep up with our tasks. None of these wishes are ever likely to be fulfilled. So are we doomed to lag behind and build up stress through life or can we do something to change the scenario? Yes, we can learn to manage time.

Time management refers to techniques of finding and allotting time for all our tasks on a day to day basis. It  rests on our ability to categorize and prioritize tasks, set schedules for each, and monitor and measure progress realistically. To accomplish these goals, we need to first create a Time Matrix with four quadrants that categorizes tasks.

Important and Urgent Quadrant of Necessity  crisis deadline based work work that has been delayed/postponed  last minute tasks                                                                            1	Important but not urgent Quadrant of Quality strategic planning working towards goals relationship building true recreation 2
3 Not important but urgent                                Quadrant of deception                                      interruptions phone calls/e-mails minor demands unplanned meetings/work	4   Not important and not urgent     Quadrant of waste web- browsing social media activity used to procrastinate irrelevant gossip/chatting

The first step in time management relates to creating a to-do list for all tasks scheduled for a day. Each item in this list is next put into one of the quadrants in the Time Management Matrix. The next step is to prioritize the tasks in each quadrant and to decide on expected time needed to complete each task. Now we are ready to go through the day, taking up tasks on our list one by one.

The Time Matrix can be further extended for easy disposing of tasks. Tasks in the first quadrant are the ones that need to be done personally and immediately. Tasks in the second quadrant need to be scheduled and planned for execution at appropriate times. Tasks in the third quadrant need to be delegated , and tasks in the fourth quadrant need to be avoided. 

Time Management saves time, reduces stress, increases productivity and effectiveness, and gives greater control over our lives and responsibilities. Successful people have the same number of hours in hand per day yet manage to get more work done not because they are geniuses but because they understand the value of Time Management and do the right task at the right time. Time management is a means of staying on top of our lives and activities. More than effort, it requires sincerity and discipline.

Communicative Behaviour

Communicative behaviour refers our action or reaction to both internal and external stimuli in a communicative situation. It can be any action or representation that attempts to convey a meaning. Our of pleasure at meeting a friend after many years or our frustration or anger in a situation we fail to handle are examples of communicative behaviour. Since all behaviour communicates meaning, the flow of communication remains continuous.  The strength and direction of relationships depend on positive and negative communicative behaviour. Understanding the communicative behaviour of others strengthens relationships, while misinterpreting or misunderstanding such behaviour creates distance and spreads misinformation.  An appropriate choice of communicative behaviour makes situations positive, inappropriate choices make them negative. Very often it is not what is said but how it is said that triggers a positive or negative reaction.

Aggressive behaviour isolates or offends the rights of individuals. Such behaviour typically displays dominance through physical or verbal violence. It expresses feelings of anger, fear, loss of control, or lack of self esteem and can be triggered through automatic reactions or reaction to a threatening situation. This behaviour puts the aggressor’s rights and needs above the other party’s and shows lack of responsibility and maturity.

Submissive or accommodating behaviour reduces anxiety or fear by allowing one’s own thoughts to be ignored, thereby setting the ground for others to take advantage easily. Such behaviour is usually learnt early and instilled by parental or hierarchical dominance. It gives the advantage of not rocking the boat and is noticed in people who have a hard time saying “No” to unreasonable requests. Loss of self esteem as well as potentially aggressive outbursts, are side effects of built up resentment that stems from such behaviour.

Avoidance behaviour is used to avoid confrontation and can be expressed in many ways such as refusing to interact or visit, avoiding social activities etc. It ignores responsibilities and rights through fear of future consequences. Individuals prone to such behaviour grow adept at avoiding uncomfortable situations, possibly due to refusal to see the situation as it is or face up to realities.

Assertive behaviour expresses rights, needs and feelings in a direct and honest approach while still acknowledging others’ space and rights. This behaviour leads to healthy and effective communication as a win-win situation is created whereby both parties are benefited. However, chances of misinterpreting assertive behaviour as aggressive are high. However, people with assertive behaviour acknowledge the rights and needs of others and aggressive behaviour ignores them though both display firmness of resolve.

Communication patterns follow from the behavioural approaches adopted. It is reflected in word choice, delivery style, and most importantly in non verbal cues in messages.

Communicate to excel

Communication is an easy and natural process. Do you agree with this statement? Most of us subscribe to this view and pay little or no attention to the process. The result is there all around us: misunderstandings, failed communication, and mis-communication. Do you recognize the symptoms that generate stress in your life? Are you willing to put in an effort to sail smoothly while communicating both personally and professionally? We are here to help you. No more fumbling for words. No more frustration.

The first thing to understand about communication is that it does not happen automatically or effortlessly. It requires effort and,planning, In addition, it requires strategies and and proper organizing to really succeed. Yes, that means we need to be willing to work really hard to communicate well and the benefits reaped from good communication are reward for the effort put in.

There are no born communicators. Do not mistake the ability to speak fluently and continuously, or to write correctly and eloquently with good and effective communication. When we speak or write we use a tool called language to express what is in our minds. When we communicate we make sure that the tool is used effectively to achieve a desired objective. Now you understand that language learning is not equivalent to communication training. The words you choose are only part of the message you send out. You add to, alter, emphasize, or negate the basic message with non verbal components such as body language, attitude, and behavior. We speak with our eyes, our hands, our postures, our accessories, our appearance, and our touch. When you write, the appearance of your document, the quality of stationery used, and the promptness or timeliness of your interaction are as much a part of your messages as the words you write.

By now those of you who wish to be good communicators, or aim at improving your communication skills. understand the challenge you face. Brush up your language skills, pay attention to your appearance, be careful of the attitude you project, and control your behavioral responses. Happy communicating!