Business Communication: Concepts

Business communication. Learn how to effectively communicate and build professional relationships through various types of communication.

Several different models of communication have been developed by various theorists — Aristotle, Lasswell, Shannon, Weaver, McLuhan, MacLean, Rileys, Westley, Gerbner, Rothstein, Schramn, Berlo, Osgood, Johnson, Cherry.

Verbal & Non Verbal Communication

Verbal Communication
Verbal Communication is oral communication where message is passed through spoken words. Here the comminicator gives words to his feelings, thoughts, ideas and opinions and expresses them in the form of speeches, discussions, presentations, and conversations.

Non-Verbal Communication
Non-Verbal Communication involves communication without the use of words (written or spoken). Communication through facial expressions, hand movements, body language, postures, and gestures is called as non-verbal communication.

Management (BBA / MBA) questions on Verbal & Non Verbal Communication:

Q) Explain the various forms that non-verbal communication takes which impacts cultural aspect of communication. How does verbal and non-verbal communication relate to each other?

Informal (Grapevine) communication

Informal Communication is the casual and unofficial form of communication wherein the information is exchanged spontaneously between two or more persons without conforming the prescribed official rules, processes, system, formalities and chain of command.

Grapevine communication is the informal communication (rumour, gossip), generally word-of-mouth communication that spreads throughout the organization in a random manner, and may be twisted with individual interpretation.

Common example is ‘overheard conversation’ (you overhear someone mentioning a piece of info, either at work or outside).

Types of Informal Communication
Types of Informal Communication (Grapevine) network:

• Single Strand Chain
• Gossip Chain
• Probability Chain
• Cluster Chain

Management should keep an eye on grapevine as its unreliable and incorrect, and it can also generate anxiety and misunderstanding among employees. However, in some cases its also effective and is a widely used tactics in management these days.

Question: Share the organizational grapevine that you have experienced in your career or industry. In your opinion please highlight how grapevine communication is beneficial & detrimental to any organization.

Question: Large organizations where there are many people working closely, create unofficial and informal channels of communication. What is this kind of communication known as and what purpose does it serve in large organizations? List different types of this communication along with drawbacks if any.

Boundary Spanning in public relations

Boundary spanning is more of an academic term for developing external relationships in order to accomplish your business objectives. This is usually accomplished by joining an industry association to help lobby for legislative changes or partnering with another small business to increase sales. Public relations is a boundary spanner, that uses several communication methods to establish and build relationships. Each boundary spanning strategy (Media Relations, Social Media, Internal Public Relations, Social Responsibility) or function in PR is about relationship-building.

Question: You are the leader in a healthcare industry. You often work closely with your Corporate Communications and PR team so they can ensure a positive brand image for your chain of hospitals.

a. To stay updated and connected with the latest trends in the industry, state and justify your opinion on the importance of boundary spanning?

b. A recent incident of insensitive patient interaction at your hospital has tarnished your image in the media. What will you do to control the damage and handle the crisis?

Management (MBA) notes and case studies on Business Communication

Q) Slipkart.com has put up billboards across the main, arterial roads of Mumbai. The
billboards advertise the Mega Independence Day Sale coming up. They hope their
billboards can grab the attention of drivers and pedestrians on these busy roads. List
the 8-steps in the Basic Communication Model and apply the model to Slipkart.com’s
billboard ad.

Q) Digital communication technologies are changing the face of business communication.
Explain:
a. Engaging content for Social Media
b. Pros and cons of Instant Messaging

Q) A team leader in an organization wants to take feedback about his leadership from his peers, superiors and subordinates. List the various tools of verbal and non-verbal communication that can be developed for this purpose.

Q) You have been invited as the Joint Secretary of the Parents Teachers Association to celebrate Teachers Day at your child’s school. Since you are a counsellor, you also have to give the key note address for the event. Your child studies at a reputed school which has a legacy of 25 years. Most of the teachers are very senior with vast experience. The school is modern in its outlook towards extra-curricular activities but conventional as well when it concerns academics At the lunch, you would have the chance to interact with the management, trustees and teachers. You wish to make a great first impression that lasts and also seem confident while addressing such an elite audience.

a. Apart from preparing the speech, you believe your appearance will make or break the deal. What will you keep in mind while choosing your dress, accessories and make up for the event?

b. While meeting and greeting all the dignitaries, how will you conduct yourself when you are introducing yourself with an objective to build rapport with them?

Team management

Team management is the ability of an individual or an organization to administer and coordinate a group of individuals to perform a task. Team management involves teamwork: communication, objective setting and performance appraisals.

• Have the Right Team Leader. A skillful leader helps the team maintain its focus on major issues. S/he enhances communication in order to be sure that all the possible solutions are being heard.
• Have the Right Team Goals. Team goals are derived from critical problems that the organization faces which could influence whether the business will exist in ten or twenty years.
• The Right Plan of Action. Without a clear action plan the wishes of the team may never be completely implemented.
• Communication. Ongoing communication is important after meetings as well as during team meetings.
• Regular Evaluation of the team’s Performance. Stepping back and asking, “Could we do our team work better?” is a good start toward evaluating your team’s performance.
• Celebration of Successes. It is important that you all step back from time to time and acknowledge your progress and celebrate your successes, both small and large.

Question: BSBLED401 Develop Teams & Individuals (for students in Australia)
This assessment consists of several questions and is designed to assess your skills and knowledge of developing teams and individuals/

You are required to respond to each question correctly and in accordance with the instructions given
Students should provide typed responses and may use various sources of information including textbooks, learning workbooks, other documents and the internet
Students must list their sources
To demonstrate your competency in this unit you must successfully complete both theory and practical assessment tasks
The practical assessments will be conducted at a date and place to be advised by your Trainer/Assessor
All questions must be answered correctly for each assessment task to be completed satisfactorily
There is no restriction on the length of the question responses, or time restriction in completing the assessment, unless specified
You must complete all questions unassisted by the assessor or other personnel, but may refer to reference material as needed

1. How to identify learning and development needs in an organisation?
2. What are the key steps involved in collaboratively developing a learning plan to meet training and development needs?
3. List three -3- methods you could use to encourage staff to self-evaluate their performance
4. How to collect feedback on performance of team members from relevant sources and compare it with established team learning needs?
5. a- How to identify career paths and competency standards relevant to the industry?
   b- How would you match development program goals with the specific knowledge and skill requirements of competency standards relevant to the industry?
6. What are the main learning delivery methods that might be appropriate to three different learning styles?
7. Briefly explain the following terms, provide an example of each method and identify where, how, when each could be incorporated into the team member’s workday-a- Coachingb- Mentoring
8. Give two examples of how you might create development opportunities for staff to improve their competencies
9. How would you identify and approve the following required for learning activities in accordance with organisational requirements?
   a- Resources b- Time lines
10. What would you do if a team member came back from a training course and said that it was a complete waste of time and money? Provide three -3- suggestions
11. How do you evaluate the effectiveness of a development program?
12. How might you modify a learning plan? Provide three -3- suggestions
13. a- What documentation should be completed when training has occurred?
    b- Where should it be kept?

Assessment 2 Practical Demonstration

This practical demonstration is in 3 parts.

• You will need to complete all tasks correctly and in accordance with the instructions given
• Your assessor needs to see demonstrated evidence of your performance
• Observations will take place in a simulated work environment- Your assessor will provide guidance as to how these observations will take place
• If the activities below are not appropriate for you, please discuss this with your assessor who may provide alternate activities that will allow you to provide evidence for this practical assessment
• Your assessor will document any alternate activities that you undertake.

For this assessment, students are required to review the training needs of an individual in a work team, and develop professional development programs that meet the needs of the organisational performance objective.

Instructions: You are to undertake a case study project including two short role plays where you will play the part of the team leader and your assessor will play one of your staff members. The details are below:

Use the list below to provide you with guidance on how you should respond to Oscar in the role play- Your assessor will want to see that you:-

• Systematically identify and implement learning opportunities for the team in general and Oscar in particular
• Collect feedback on team performance and Oscar’s performance- Give Oscar feedback from stakeholders to encourage his team participation
• Collaboratively develop a learning plan to match his skill needs
• Provide Oscar with mentoring and coaching assistance
• Monitor and review Oscar’s workplace learning

Unit Assessment – Read the situation information below, note the activities you are required to do in the section ‘Participate in role play’ and work out your approach- You may wish to make some notes for yourself to act as a guide- – You have 10-15 minutes for the role play.

The situation Case study

I Robot You are the leader of the software engineering team for the I Robot Automation and Robotics Company- I Robot specialises in the design and manufacture of custom-built automation machines and robotic systems- Its engineers and project managers have up to 20 years experience in their fields and have installed over 50 systems including 12 robotic cells-The majority of these projects were full turnkey systems, developed from concept incorporating mechanical and electrical design and software development by I Robot’s engineers- I Robot: Mission Statement Our mission at I Robot is to embrace technology and provide our customers with automation solutions that give them a competitive edge by:- Increasing their productivity- Increasing product quality- Reducing production costsTo achieve this, we will:- Work closely with our customer to fully appreciate their requirements- Use proven technologies to derive a custom-tailored automation solution- Demonstrate the benefits of the proposed concept and develop the customer’s trust- Turn the concept into a reliable thoroughly engineered system- Carry out risk analysis to ensure that the system conforms to the relevant standards- Fully test all equipment before we deliver and install on time- Provide on-going technical support to ensure a smooth transition for the customerTeam member profileOscar is the star of I Robot’s software engineering team- He consistently and seemingly effortlessly outperforms everyone else on the team-Oscar is highly intelligent, extremely focused, understands the technology at a very deep conceptual level as well as a detailed practical level and is innovative in his approach to solving problems- Although polite, well-mannered and popular with other team members, he is introverted and somewhat solitary-You are keen for Oscar to take on more of a leadership role within the team- If the rest of the team could get the benefit of his skills and approach, you are confident that productivity and creativity would skyrocket- When you have put this proposition to Oscar in the past he has been polite and agreeable- Subsequently, if other team members seek his advice he has been happy to provide it- But he doesn’t speak much at team meetings and has shown a clear preference to focus solely on doing his own work in his characteristically fast and elegant manner- You have decided to make it a priority to help Oscar realise his potential as a leader within the teamThis assessment involves two short role plays, one in Part 2 and the second in Part 3 of this assessment.

Instructions for the role plays:

• Your assessor will play the role of Oscar
• You are to play the role of Oscar’s supervisor
• You will have 15 minutes to complete each role play Part 1

Your first task is to help Oscar self-evaluate his current skills and performance while taking into consideration the team’s needs-Next, you will collect feedback on his performance from other relevant sources, and sit down with him to identify which areas to focus on for his skills development.

1. Construct a self-evaluation formTo guide Oscar’s self-assessment against his professional development needs, you are going to construct a self-assessment form- This is the prelude to a face-to-face interview between the two of you- You need to:
   a- Include appropriate details in the form e-g- -title, name of respondent, purpose
   b- Construct a format that summarises Oscar’s daily duties and provides space for him to rate the level of his skills
   c- Create a section for Oscar to record any other areas where he feels a professional development program would be advantageous.
2. Collect feedback on the group’s training and development needsYour next task is to collect information on group training and development needs from team members, peers and clients. You need to create a Feedback Form to collect relevant information-It should include:
   a- Title, purpose of the form, space for name, date and the person’s title/job/position
   b- Subject areas and key skills on which you are seeking feedback.
3. Compare feedback on performance with established team learning needsThe feedback from Oscar, clients and teammates revealed the following information. In general, the team is performing solidly but there is an opportunity to perform even better if Oscar’s skills and influence could be more effectively deployed. Clients love Oscar and generally regard him as a gifted problem solver. His teammates likewise regard him as an unusually skilled software engineer. Team mates have indicated that they wish he would take more of a leadership and teaching role within the group. Oscar can become impatient and frustrated with what he sees as ‘administrivia’ and on occasion lets his paperwork get behind. He often looks bored during team meetings. He is somewhat conflict averse and noise sensitive and shows a tendency to withdraw if things become too lively.

You will need to:

1. Use the information revealed by this process to identify Oscar’s skill needs
2. Identify a learning program which encompasses both formal and workplace learning opportunities for Oscar
3. Identify resources and timelines for Oscar’s learning and development program-

You will need to submit the following:

• A written employee self-evaluation form
• A written client/teammate feedback form
• An evaluation report which identifies areas for development and means for achieving that development

Part 2 After collecting the information and discussing professional development needs at a meeting with Oscar, you have both agreed that he needs to upgrade his communication, influencing and leadership skills- You and Oscar will conduct a review of progress in three months, to monitor the progress of the development program and the extent of any additional development support- You are to identify a combination of training and mentoring that will address Oscar’s development needs and assist him to play a more significant role in the team.

You will need to:

1. Meet with Oscar and discuss how the program should operate to best meet his needs- Decide in consultation with him on a suitable combination of learning delivery techniques, including a specific training course and onsite mentoring to be delivered by you
2. Provide a brief written explanation of why you have chosen this course
3. Create a questionnaire that can be used by Oscar to evaluate and assess the course- You will use this feedback to evaluate the worth of the course to Oscar and your organisation and thus decide whether to book this course again

Part 3 Review of progress

Three months have passed. Oscar has completed his course and received the benefit of your onsite coaching and mentoring. You are to have a meeting with Oscar to review his progress and you have made the following notes summarising progress and issues. There has been a noticeable improvement in Oscar’s preparedness to engage proactively with other team members. But he is making less progress with his noise sensitivity and conflict aversion- He is also still a little reluctant to speak up at team meetings.

Meet with Oscar again to discuss progress and decide on a future course of action. Provide a report:

• a- Commenting on Oscar’s progress in achieving the objectives of his development program
• b- Assessing the outcome of the program, and the extent of additional support required
• c- Outlining how you could provide additional support in the workplace to help Oscar at this stage

Participate in the role play with your assessor

• Use the list below to provide you with guidance on how you should respond to Oscar in the role play
• Your assessor will want to see that you can:- Systematically identify and implement learning opportunities for Oscar
• Collect feedback on Oscar’s performance
• Give Oscar feedback from stakeholders to encourage his team participation
• Collaboratively develop a learning plan to match his skill needs
• Provide Oscar with mentoring and coaching assistance- Monitor and review Oscar’s workplace learning

Question: How would you advise a firm on effectively managing virtual teams? Your answer should focus on assessing the challenges of managing teams working remotely on collaborative projects.

Communication barriers in the workplace prevents the proper exchange of ideas or thoughts. Communication barriers can exist in several forms such as: physical, language, status, and even gender barriers. These barriers may cause tension, poor performance among employees and may also result in overall unmotivated workforce.

Barriers in the Communication Environment Within any communication environment, messages can be disrupted by a variety of communication barriers.

These barriers include noise and distractions, competing messages, filters, and channel breakdowns:

Noise and distractions

External distractions range from uncomfortable meeting rooms to computer screens cluttered with instant messages and reminders popping up all over the place.

Internal distractions are thoughts and emotions that prevent audiences from focusing on incoming messages.

The common habit of multitasking—attempting more than one task at a time—is practically guaranteed to create communication distractions. Multitasking dramatically increases the workload on your brain because you’re forcing it to constantly switch between sets of rules and contexts, which requires it to reorient each time.

Rather than getting more done, research shows that chronic multitasking often reduces productivity and increases errors. As more communication takes place on mobile devices, the need to insulate yourself from noise and distractions will keep growing.

Competing messages

Having your audience’s undivided attention is a rare luxury. In most cases you must compete with other messages that are trying to reach your audience at the same time.

Filters

Messages can be blocked or distorted by filters, any human or technological interventions between the sender and the receiver. Filtering can be both intentional (such as automatically filing incoming messages based on sender or content) or unintentional (such as an overly aggressive spam filter that deletes legitimate emails).

The structure and culture of an organization can also inhibit the flow of vital messages. And in some cases the people or companies you rely on to deliver your message can distort it or filter it to meet their own needs.

Channel breakdowns

Sometimes the channel simply breaks down and fails to deliver your message. A colleague you were counting on to deliver a message to your boss might have forgotten to do so, or a computer server might have crashed and prevented your blog from updating.

As you can see, a number of barriers can block or distort messages before they reach the intended audience. Minimizing barriers and distractions in the communication environment is everyone’s responsibility.

Common barriers to effective communication include:

Use of jargon. Over-complicated or unfamiliar terms.
Emotional barriers and taboos.
Lack of attention, interest, distractions, or irrelevance to the receiver.
Differences in perception and viewpoint.
Physical disabilities such as hearing problems or speech difficulties.
Physical barriers to non-verbal communication.
Language differences and the difficulty in understanding unfamiliar accents.
Expectations and prejudices which may lead to false assumptions or stereotyping. People often hear what they expect to hear rather than what is actually said and jump to incorrect conclusions.
Cultural differences. The norms of social interaction vary greatly in different cultures, as do the way in which emotions are expressed. For example, the concept of personal space varies between cultures and between different social settings.

MBA case study / assignment questions on Communication Barriers in organizations:

To facilitate inter-departmental cooperation, what measures would you recommend to your colleagues and subordinates to take? What kind of barriers in communication do you face and what is your strategy to overcome them?