How do we measure the effectiveness of communication between people? Briefly, it can be done through purpose and metrics.
Business communication is effective when meaning of the message is shared among people. And, when there is common understanding of the message between the people sending the message. And, when the people receiving the message.
Hence, the key element in determining whether communication is effective or not effective is ‘understanding’.
Peter Drucker, one of the modern management gurus, once said that the most important thing in communication is to hear what is not being said out loud.
Features of effective business communication
The purposes of communication include instructing, clarifying, interpreting, notifying, warning, receiving feedback, reviewing and informing.
Effective communication is always a two-way process of exchanging information between people or groups of people, with feedback. Feedback refers to the response to a message by the receiver.
Therefore, to make communication effective, the message must be received and understood by the receiver, while the sender needs to knows that it has indeed been understood.
If the message has been sent, but there has been feedback whatsoever, the effectiveness of communication cannot be judged. It is because the receiver does not know whether the message has been understood or not.
When is communication effective?
Communication is effective when it:
- Helps people understand each other.
- Stimulates others to take action.
- Encourages workers to think in new ways.
- Increases productivity.
- Provides practical information.
- Gives facts and strong evidence rather than opinions.
- Clarifies and condense information and use visual aids to help explain.
- States precise job responsibilities.
- Persuades others and offer recommendations.
Components of effective business communication process
In order to create effective communication, think about the objective, audience, message, format, distribution and evaluation
To communicate effectively, you must get the following combination of components correct:
- MESSAGE. You need to know what you want to say and what you are saying otherwise someone else will not understand you. Keep messages short, clear and to the point.
- MEDIA. You must choose an appropriate medium or media for the message that you are putting across. The message could be verbal (spoken), non-verbal (body language, facial expression, tone of voice, volume, etc.), visual (graphs, charts, pictures, etc.) or written (E-Mails, articles, reports, letters, posters, etc.).
- CHANNEL. You must decide about the most effective communication channel – how the message goes from the sender to the receiver to arrive at its destination. Sometimes information gets distorted when sending messages via other people.
- TIMING. You need to send your message at the right time, otherwise it will be ineffective which will equal not sending that message at all. Do not send the birthday card to somebody. Send birthday wishes to somebody on his or her birthday day only.
- FEEDBACK. You need to receive feedback from the receiver who will communicate back to your what the message was, or ask questions relating to it. Feedback allows the sender to discover whether the communication has been successful or not.
Importance of effective business communication
To know if the communication between two or more people or groups of people has been successful, it should confirm the following statements:
- The sender sent the message using the appropriate communication medium.
- The message is sent to and received by the right person.
- The receiver provides feedback to the sender to confirm he has received the message.
- The receiver fully understands the message.
Therefore, it is crucial to have the right message, the right person, the right time, and the right interpretation.
Modern developments in the workplace such as the use of teams, workforce diversity, globalization, E-Commerce, S-Commerce and M-Commerce all intensifying the need to communicate effectively in the workplace.
Benefits of effective business communication
Effective business communication brings a number of benefits to businesses including:
- Reducing mistakes. The receiver of a message must clearly understand what the sender is asking him or her to do. Poorly expressed message, or when the message is not understood, will lead to incorrect understanding leading to tasks not being completed or incorrect actions such as the wrong products being made, incorrect prices being charged or mistakes in promotional messages.
- Generating new ideas. Business communication will help with generating numerous ideas. When employees are asked for their input, they can share quality answers which will assist business managers with problem-solving.
- Speeding up decision-making. Typically, the fewer people who have to be communicated with, the faster the decision-making system is going to be. On another hand, the more people who have to be communicated with, the slower the decision-making system is going to be. Therefore, the number of people who needs to receive the communication should be kept to a minimum.
- Responding quicker to market changes. The business needs to consider how much time it takes to communicate and respond to market changes. When it takes a long time to communicate changes in consumer tastes to the main decision-makers in the business, then the firm will be slow to respond to those changes with making appropriate products. It may miss marketing opportunities as a result. On the contrary, when it takes a short time to communicate changes in consumer tastes to the main decision-makers in the business, then the firm will be fast to respond to those changes with making appropriate products. It may catch marketing opportunities as a result.
- Improving coordination between departments. Typically, any decision taken by one department in a business organization often has an impact on the remaining other departments. Hence, there needs to be effective communication links between them, so that each department knows what the other is doing and can respond appropriately in a timely manner. When Marketing is going to run an advertising campaign to increase sales, this needs to be communicated to other departments such as Production (Operations), because more products will they will need to make sure they are able to produce the goods to meet any increase in demand for the product.
- Improving motivation of the workforce. When employees are encouraged to take part in discussions about important work-related issues, they will feel valued as a part of the organization. Consequently, this will aid morale and motivation. On another hand, when workers’ input is being ignored, this will most likely create a sense of demotivation.
- Maintaining good customer relationships. Open and frequent communication with customers will keep them informed about any new products being available, the progress of current orders as well as future product introductions. In this way, the firm will make customers feel valued, so they will want to continue to buy products from the business in the future.
What happens when communication is not effective?
Ineffective communication in business can be a real buzzkill, costing companies time, money and morale. Therefore, it is important for managers to always think very carefully about what is being sent and how messages are being sent.
In the short-term, poor communication will lead to errors and misunderstandings, reduced productivity and efficiency, damaged relationships and conflicts, missed opportunities and deadlines, decrease morale and engagement as well as reputational damage.
In the long-term, poor communication will lead to demotivated workforce, uncoordinated departments, weak customer service and a lack of the overall direction of the business.
Have you ever had any communication problems or experienced a complete failure to communicate? Was it because of a lack of understanding?
