Relevance of Communication in business

Communication is important in building and sustaining human relationships at work. It cannot be replaced by the advances in information technology and data management that have taken place over the past several decades. Communication can be thought of as a process or flow. Before communication can take place, a purpose – expressed as a message to be conveyed – is needed. It passes between the sender and the receiver. The result is transference of meaning from one person to another.

Communication gives life to your organisation; so, it can be likened to the life blood of  your organisation. The communication system serves as the vehicle by which an organisation is embedded in its environment.

Organizational communication encompasses many aspects. It spans a wide range, from formal and informal internal communication practices to externally directed communications (media, public,  inter-organisational). In their book, Essentials

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Communication is at the heart of  organisational performance. Organisational communication includes  marketing, public relations, investor relations, corporate advertising and  environmental communication. In the largest sense, it encompasses the organisation’s initiatives that demonstrate social responsibility and good citizenship.

           Entrepreneurs uniquely position themselves at both the  starting and finishing points of the communication continuum.

            In an age of increased competition for talent, communication has become a  strategic tool for employee engagement, satisfaction and retention. In fact, effective organisational communication contributes directly to employee and  organisational learning, an essential factor for competitive advantage.

       The  most successful entrepreneurs  are consummate communicators. Typically, their organisations over-communicate with all constituents, and their leadership styles transmit the traditions a nd  val u es o f  the ir  c o mp an y.  Th us , a s  a  p ro mo te r  o f ef f ec ti ve  or ga ni s atio na l communication, HR is a key strategic  partner in leveraging the relationships between employees and top management.

Feedback:

The final link in the communication process is a feedback loop. Feedback, in effect, is communication traveling in the opposite direction. If the sender pays attention to the feedback and interprets it accurately, the feedback can help the sender learn whether the original communication was decoded accurately.

Without feedback, you cannot ascertain the flow of the information transmitted to your employees.

Never be in a rush not to receive feedback from the information you have passed to your employees.

BARRIERS TO COMMUNICATION

Barriers to communication are factors that block or significantly distort successful communication. Effective managerial communication skills helps overcome  some,  but not all, barriers to communication in organisations. The more  prominent barriers to effective communication which every entrepreneur should be aware of is given below:

1.              Filtering: Filtering refers to a situation where sender manipulating information so it will be seen more favourably by the receiver.

2.              Selective Perception: Selective perception means seeing what one wants to see. The receiver, in the communication process, generally resorts to selective perception, i.e., he selectively perceives the message based on the organisational  requirements, the needs and characteristics, background of the employees,  etc. Perceptual distortion is one of the distressing barriers to the effective communication.

3.              Emotions: How the receiver feels at the time of receipt of information influences effectively how he interprets the information. As an entrepreneur do not let your emotions override your judgement and reasoning

4. Language: Communicated message must be understandable to the  receiver.  Often, c om m u ni c a ti o n        g a p  a r i se s  be c a us e  th e  la n g ua g e  th e  s e n de r  is  u si n g  m a y  be i n co m p re h e ns i ble ,  va g u e  a n d    i n di g e sti ble .  La n g ua g e  i s  a  c e ntr a l  e l em e n t  i n communication. It may pose a barrier  to correct and timely action if its use obscures meaning and distorts intent. Use words which are simple and avoid technical terms to non technical people.

5.     Stereotyping: It is the application of selective perception. When we have  preconceived ideas about other people and refuse to discriminate between individual behaviours, we are applying selective perception to our relationship with other people.

6.     Status Difference: The organisational hierarchy poses another barrier to communication within the organisation, especially when the communication is  between employee and manager.

7.     Use of conflicting signals:  A sender is using conflicting signals when he or  she sends inconsistent messages. A vertical message might conflict with a non-verbal one.

8.     Reluctance to Communicate: For a variety of reasons, managers are sometimes reluctant to transmit messages. The reasons could be:

Overcoming Barriers to Communication

Following are some of the additional measures to overcome the barriers to communication:

1.              Fostering good relationships: Strong relationships must be fostered between you and your employees in order to avoid misunderstandings.

2.              Communication should be purposeful and directed to an individual.

3.              Co-ordination between you and your subordinates

4.              Avoid technical language: The specialized language should be avoided.

5.              Feedback: The selective perception of receiver should be minimized  through  proper feedback.

6.              Accuracy: There should be accuracy in the message to be transmitted between both parties for the communication to improve its effectiveness.

7.              Clarity in message: The message to be transferred should be clear, practical accurate and without any ambiguity.

8.              Communication of organisational  philosophy: Efforts have to be made in a planned way to sensitize your people with the organisational philosophy.

9.              Flat  organisational  structure: The organisation should have clear cut and  simple organisational structure.

10.            Division of labour: There should be proper division of labour between people in order to reduce information overload and prevent delay in information transfer.

11.            Organisation policies: The organisation should formulate its policies in such a way that it will give full advantage to all members of the organisation.

12.            Minimize semantic problem: People should avoid using double meaning words.

13.            Use proper communication channels.