Communication is considered to be successful when

Employees will look to you for clear communication

“The best-managed companies are almost always the ones with the best communication flow,” says BDC Senior Business Advisor Jivi Cheema. “That starts with making sure everyone—from the management team to the custodial staff—knows and understands the company vision and how their work contributes to it.”

As the leader, you set the tone for the company. Cheema says entrepreneurs can foster good, constructive communication by modelling these five communication skills:

1. Listen instead of formulating your reply

Anytime you’re in a conversation and are focused on what you’re going to say next instead of on what the person you’re talking to is saying, you’re not really listening. You might misunderstand or miss important elements of their message, which can lead to poor decisions. The first key to good communication is giving people your full attention.

2. Ask questions

If you’re not clear about what someone is trying to tell you, ask questions to get more information. Try phrases like, “Could you tell me a little more about that?” or “Could you explain what you meant by that?”

3. Repeat or rephrase what you hear.

Repeating or paraphrasing the other person helps confirm you’ve understood them. If you haven’t, ask more questions until you’re sure you’ve got it right.

4. Agree on next steps

Finish conversations with agreement between all parties on what should happen next. Everyone should leave with the same understanding of the situation and clear direction on what they need to do.

5. Manage your emotions

You may have strong feelings about certain subjects and, when those come up, your instinct may be to react emotionally. Remember that outbursts almost always lead to communication breakdowns, so it’s important to know what your triggers are and respond calmly when they arise.

Communication is the glue that binds us all together, but you have to use the right kind of glue for each situation or it might not stick.

Jivi Cheema

Business Advisor, BDC

Have the right conversations the right way

It’s all too easy these days to send an instant message (IM) or fire off an email when something needs to be “said,” Cheema acknowledges. Sometimes a quick digital message is exactly the right way to keep things moving. But sometimes it’s not.

“Communication is the glue that binds us all together,” Cheema says. “But you have to use the right kind of glue for each situation or it might not stick.”

Some communications should always be held in person. Performance reviews, corrective feedback and conflict resolution are often highly sensitive conversations, and the potential for misunderstanding is too high to risk holding these conversations remotely.

Email can be great, but when miscommunication happens, it can take multiple exchanges to sort out, and the risk of upset feelings and confusion are much greater. In those situations, Cheema suggests making a phone call.

“People often forget that the phone is still an option,” she says. “You can waste a lot of time going back and forth over email, or you can just pick up the phone and solve it in minutes.”

While IM offers a way to get quick answers with less disruption to colleagues, important business decisions should never be made exclusively on such a platform because they don’t provide a clear or easily traceable record. Anything that may need to be referenced later should be recorded and stored in a more appropriate, searchable and secure medium.

Cheema advises establishing etiquette conventions for email, video conferencing and other forms of digital communication. These could include keywords for subject lines to help people see quickly what a message is about, guidelines on who to send to and who to cc, specific formats and more. For video conferencing, etiquette could include asking participants to mute when someone else is speaking, use the chat function for questions or use a specific sign to indicate that they have something to say.

Communication as we have read in this Tutorial is sine qua non in a business organization. However, unintelligible and entangled communication fails to achieve the desired result and affect work environment in an organization.

In a layman’s lexicon, communication is understood to be day-to-day talks and discussions we all engage with. Though the broader meaning of communication covers all human interactions, in management parlance, communication is not mere talking, chattering or blabbering in a nonsensical manner. Communication is not as simple as it appears. It is systematic process with an objective that a piece of communication aims to achieve. It can be defined as a process of translating any thought process into simple and meaningful utterances through an appropriate channel.

Communication needs to be effective and efficient for better and smooth functioning of an organization.

Effective communication is defined as communication between two or more persons in which the intended message is −

• properly encoded

• delivered through appropriate channel

• received

• properly decoded and understood by the recipient(s)

In other words, communication is said to be effective when all the parties (sender and receiver) in the communication, assign similar meanings to the message and listen carefully to what all have been said and make the sender feel heard and understood.

In a business organization, communication is said to be effective when the information or data shared among the employees effectively contribute towards organization’s commercial success.

In the words of R.W. Griffin, "Effective communication is the process of sending a message in such a way that the message received is as close in meaning as possible to the message intended".

American Management Association (AMA) has defined effective communication based on the following ten points −

• Clear idea regarding topics and receiver of communication.

• Determination of purpose.

• Understanding the environment of communication.

• Planning for communication with consulting others.

• Consider the content of the message.

• To make the receiver aware about the value of communication.

• There must be feedback from the receiver.

• To define properly whether communication messages are of short-run or long-run importance.

• All actions must be suitable with communication.

• Good listening.

Effective Communication is defined as the ability to convey information to another effectively and efficiently. Business managers with good verbal, nonverbal and written communication skills help facilitate the sharing of information between people within a company for its commercial benefit.

Significance of Effective Communication

In this section, we will understand the significance of effective communication −

Construct and Foster Sustainable and Productive Relationship

Effective communication should be the focus in businesses as it becomes largely difficult to properly construct and foster productive relationship without it.

Give space to Innovations

Effective communication facilitates innovations in a business organization by allowing employees and management to come up with innovative ideas that might further help in the overall development of the organization.

Help Build an Effective Team

A work environment enriched with effective or open communication helps in building a cohesive and effective team. Effective communication always boosts the morale of employees. It brings in the zeal in employees to work towards achieving the common objectives of the organization. Regular internal communication can also lead to an improved work ethic if the staff are reminded of achievements and feel that they are working towards a common goal.

Effective Management

When there is hassle-free and open communication between the management and the employees, it leads to a steady rise in the pace of progress of the organization. Effective communication, therefore, yields effective management. Managers come to know the attitude and grievances of the employees and the latter gets to know the managers’ attitudes towards them and also the policies of the organization.

Contributes to the Overall Growth of the Organization

Effective communication builds desired interpersonal, interdepartmental and management-employee relationship which in turn are essential preconditions for realizing the vision of the organization. In other words, effective communication contributes to the overall growth of the business.

At the professional level, it is essential to know how to deal adequately with peers, make good decisions even in stressful situations. This is one of the reasons why effective communication skills are increasingly valued.

Effective communication in the organization enables the employees to deepen their connection with others and improve teamwork, decision-making, and problem-solving capacity.

Characteristics of Effective Communication

The characteristics or principles of effective communication are pivotal for ensuring a productive communication. The major characteristics are as follows −

Completeness of the Message

Communication must be complete so as not to baffle the recipient. Better communication helps in better decision-making by the latter. It develops and enhances the reputation of an organization.

Clearness and Integrity of the Message

The message to be conveyed or sent must have clarity and integrity for better understanding. Clarity of thoughts and ideas enhances the meaning of the message. The pith and substance of the message should be based on honesty and accuracy.

Conciseness of the Message

The intended message must be free from verbosity and should be so written that it is intelligible at the first sight. Short and intelligible message sent to the receiver is ever appealing and comprehensible. It saves time and cost as it is understood at the first instance.

Consideration of Physical Setting and the Recipient

In order to make communication more effective, the overall physical setting, i.e., the media of communication and the work environment, must be considered. The content of the message must take into account the attitude, knowledge, and position of the recipient.

Clarity of the Message

The message should have clarity of thoughts and ideas in order to be understood clearly. Clear message makes use of exact, appropriate and concrete words and symbols.

Courtesy to be Maintained

The sender's message should be so drafted or prepared that it should be polite, reflective, and enthusiastic. It must show the sender's respect for the receiver and be positive and focused at the receiver.

Correctness of the Message

The drafting of the message should be done in such a manner that the final message doesn't have any grammatical errors and repetitions of sentences. The message should be exact, correct and well-timed.

Effective Business Communication

Successful business largely flourishes on effective business communication. Effective communication skills are vital for building active and effective interactions among the colleagues, clients, bosses, and media.

It is of foremost importance for all personnel in all phases of business life in any organization.

Although everyone employed in an organization boasts of having acquired the skills of effective business communication, there is a need ever felt for improving these skills.

Methods of Effective Business Communication

We will now see the different methods of effective business communication in brief −

• Web-based communication − For better and improved communication, anytime and anywhere.

• Video conferencing − This allows people in different locations to hold interactive meetings.

• Reports − This is important in documenting the activities of any department.

• Presentations − This is a popular method of communication in all types of organizations, usually involving audiovisual material, like copies of reports, or material prepared in Microsoft PowerPoint or Adobe Flash.

• Telephone meetings − This allows speech over long distance.

• Forum boards − This allows people to instantly post information at a centralized location.

• Face-to-face meetings − The nature of such meetings is personal and should be succeeded by a written follow-up.

Effective Business communication can further be categorized into −

• Effective oral business communication

• Effective written business communication is an integral part of communication system in a business organization.

  How can the communication process be successful?

  5 Ways to Communicate More Effectively.

  Be an engaged listener. Of course, the way you choose to send your message matters. ... .

  Express yourself. Communication is about expressing yourself. ... .

  Pay attention to nonverbal signs. ... .

  Control your emotions. ... .

  Make intentional language choices. ... .

  Conclusion..

  Why is communication successful?

  Good communication can make the difference between confident, motived employees and an unproductive team with low morale. It builds thriving relationships and gives people the information they need to contribute to the success of the business.