The Best Practices in Business Communication - Essay Example

?[Your full full January 28, The Best Practices in Business Communication Introduction Businesscommunication is a form of communication that takes place in any workplace setting either between two or more individuals or between delegations of companies. Effective business communication helps a company achieve its goals and objectives successfully. Some of the main benefits of doing effective business communication at the workplace include timely decision-making, timely communication between different employees, improved business processes, improved level of understanding between employees, improved work relations, and improved cohesion between employees and managers. In this paper, we will discuss some of the best practices in business communication that lead to successful accomplishment of company goals. Best Practices in Business Communication Both employees and managers need to be able to communicate effectively with each other at the workplace because bad attitude, ineffective communication, and personal and work related misunderstandings may lead to many problems for employees, as well as for the company. As Meyerson states, “Poor workplace communication skills will have negative effects on your business relationships and may result in decreased productivity” (1). Therefore, it is essential for employees to have effective business communication skills in order to develop better working relationship with each other, as well as to improve productivity of the company. Along with effective communication skills, some key characteristics of productive business communication include convenience, freedom of expression, and timely communication. Convenience From business communication perspective, employees and managers should express willingness to share business related information with each other freely. There should be no communication gap between employees and managers because such gaps reduce the level of trust between them, as well as decrease the productivity of the business. Moreover, such communication processes result in nothing where managers and employees are not ready to develop a collaborative relationship. As Dhavale states, “communication is a two way process, so it is necessary to be a good listener and not just a good talker” (1). This statement shows that a person needs to be a good listener, as well as a good presenter both at the same time. While listening, a person should listen to the concerns and viewpoints of other people with full concentration in order to get a correct idea of the situation. Similarly, during talking, a person should be able to express his/her viewpoint logically and in an expressive way to convince others. If any of these two skills is missing in a person, the process of business communication is not likely to produce maximum benefits or results. Moreover, every person involved in the process of business communication needs to participate in the communication process in order to make the process effective and result-oriented. Freedom of Expression Freedom of expression is another effective business communication practice. Result-oriented business communication can never take place if each person involved in the process of communication is not given the due respect and time to express his/her viewpoint. Freedom in expressing the viewpoint is the key towards successful and result-oriented business communication. In a business communication setting, if a manager keeps distance with employees due to his/her position in the company, the employees will not be able to express their concerns to the manager properly which will definitely affect the productivity of the company. Therefore, it is necessary for managers, as well as for senior employees to show respect and courteousness to their subordinates in order to ensure success of the business communication processes. Value of Time Time is one of the most important factors of successful business communication. It is extremely important to make timely decisions in order to ensure successful completion of business goals. Timely decisions can only be taken if the employees of a company have good working relationships with each other and they show willingness to help each other in the completion of business tasks. In business communication, late responses or delayed communication make communication ineffective and result in delayed project submissions and difficulties in taking timely business decisions. Nonverbal Communication Nonverbal communication is also very effective business communication practice. In workplace environments, use of meaningful gestures by managers during the process of communication with employees is a very effective way of doing productive business communication. Nonverbal communication also increases employee motivation. For example, when the manager of a department comes close to an employee and puts his/her hand on the shoulder of the employee, it provides a sense of appreciation by the manager to that employee regarding his/her work. In the same way, good eye contact between people involved in the process of business communication makes communication more credible and convincing. “Good eye contact helps your audience develop trust in you, thereby helping you and your message appear credible” (Hopkins 1). Principles of Effective Workplace Communication Along with best practices regarding business communication, there are also some key principles that both employees and managers need to follow in order to do successful business communication. Those principles of effective communication include giving sincere appreciation, communicating in a friendly manner, using appropriate body language, showing interest in knowing the viewpoint of each other, overcoming language, cultural, location, perpetual, and emotional barriers to communication, and getting communication feedback. Communication feedback is very important as it helps communication participants know the value of their participation, as well as the correctness of their viewpoints. Poor business communication and lack of communication feedback can lead to a wide range of issues, such as, unmotivated employees, frustrated customers, and a negative corporate culture (Papa). Therefore, every person involved in process of business communication should provide timely feedback to the inputs of each other. Conclusion Business communication takes place in any workplace setting either between two or more individuals or between companies. Some benefits of doing effective business communication at the workplace include timely decision-making, improved level of understanding between employees, improved work relations, improved business processes, and improved unity between employees. Convenience, clarity, commitment, concentration, and freedom of expression are such communication practices that can make business communication processes successful. Along with these practices, there exist some key principles of communication that also play a vital role in making business communication processes effective and result-oriented. Works Cited Dhavale, Geeta. “Effective Communication Skills in the Workplace.” Buzzle.com, 10 May 2011. Web. 28 Jan. 2013. Hopkins, Lee. “Nonverbal Communication in Business.” Ezinearticles.com, 16 Nov. 2004. Web. 28 Jan. 2013. Meyerson, Harriet. “Top 7 Keys to Successful Workplace Communication.” Top7business.com, 13 Jul. 2005. Web. 28 Jan. 2013. Papa, Joey. “Importance of Feedback in Business Communication.” Ehow.com, n.d. Web. 28 Jan. 2013. Read More