Acquiring Business Communication Skills Necessary for Business Graduates - Coursework Example

Acquiring Business Communication Skills Necessary for Business Graduates Contents Executive Summary 3 Introduction 3 Evaluation of general communication skills 4 Evaluation of business communication skills 5 Recommendation 6 Conclusion 7 References 9 Appendices 10 Executive Summary The paper deals with the important skills of communication, especially the business communication skills. At first, the skills to be exhibited in general communication have been reviewed. This is followed the communication skills required in the context of business. After identification of the business communication skills, the skills have been evaluated from the view point of business. Based on this identification and evaluation, the business communication skills required to be adopted by the students in the undergraduate course in WBS have recommended. The various ways through which the students could adopt the business communication skills have been discussed in this paper. Introduction The communication between the individuals and the organizations are effective and meaningful only when the parties involved in the communication process exhibit the essential skills of communication. The general communication skills could be identifies as verbal, non-verbal and listening skills. These basic communication skills could be applied in the context of business. However, the business communication skills require fulfilment of the business objectives for which the skills of information accuracy, coordination between business stakeholders, and confirmation of all stakeholders to the business policies and communication and timeliness of the communicated messages is important. The business communication skills are important for effective delivery of instructions in the workplace. The employees should exhibit skills of business communication in order to coordinate well and achieve the organizational goals. The timely aspect of business communication is required for implementation of competitive strategy and disclosure of information to the investors. Evaluation of general communication skills The general communication skills required for the purpose of interaction between the sender and the receiver could be divided into four categories. The four different skills for general communication that have been identified are presented in Appendix 1. These four categories of skills are the verbal communication skills, non-verbal communication skills, listening skills and the language skills. The communication between the sender and the receiver is said to be effective when the parties involved in the communication possess good quality of the communication skills. The verbal communication skills are the abilities of the sender and the receivers to express themselves through the use of words. The communication takes place through a medium between the sender and the receiver. This medium of communication may be in the form of a physical medium or a virtual medium (Barker, 2013, p.51). Thus verbal communication takes place face to face between the individuals involved in the communication. The verbal communication also takes place through the telephonic medium and also through the virtual communication platforms. The clarity of expression and the logical delivery of the expressions are important features of the verbal communication skills. The non-verbal communications skills are important for the purpose of effective communication. Apart from the verbal communication, the communication process also includes use of body languages, signs and expressions in response to the communicated messages. The body language, dressing style and facial expression reflect the intentions and the psychology of the individuals engaged in the process of communication (Nielsen, 2008, p.82). In order to support the verbal and the non-verbal communication skills, the listening skills are also important for the purpose of effective communication. It is important to understand that the two persons engaged in the communication should have the patience to listen to the other party. This would facilitate correct interpretation of the messages delivered in the process of communication. There is, however, a difference between the process of hearing and listening. The aspect of listening is most important in order to follow the sequence of communication and interpret the messages delivered in the communication process. The language skills used in the communication process is extremely important for the purpose of communication. The sender and the receiver engage in the communication process should able to code and decode the languages used in the process of communication into meaningful information in order to make the communication more effective between the individuals engaged in the process. Evaluation of business communication skills The communication in the business entails the process of interaction between the internal and external stakeholders of the organization. The mode of communication and the nature of conversation depend on the parties involved in the communication process which includes the owners, management, employees, shareholders, customers, investors and the creditors. The various skills that have been identified to be important in the process of business communication are the aspects of accuracy, co-ordination, information, confirmation and timeliness. This has been shown in Appendix 2.These skills could be evaluated in the context of the various modes of communication used in the business matters. The various ways of business communication includes the writing mode, presentation and public speaking, marketing, social media and networking. The nature of communication in case of business conversations is totally formal and there is no scope of informal communication (Di Salvo, 1980, p.290). For example, the communication between the employees in the workplace has to follow the official code of ethics. The domain of conversation between the employees in the workplace is strictly confined to official work. The communication between the employees in the workplace adhere to the rules that uphold the best interest of the organization in fostering unity and reduce the areas of conflict. The communication between the superior and their subordinates are authoritative in nature and have to confirm with the work place culture (Lesikar, 2005, p.35). However, the business activities include collection of information about the competitors, market trends and the customers. Thus the accuracy of the information collected and presented in the business communication is important. The activities of marketing and promotion and use of social media requires communication of messages that accurately address the needs of the target market. This is only possible when the business communication is accurate (DiSalvoa, LarsenandSeilera, 1976, p.265). The coordination of business stakeholders is also important so that the common interests of the organization are fulfilled. The stakeholders of the business which includes the managers and employees should exhibit skills of coordinating with each other and reduce the areas of conflict. The confirmation by the parties to whom the work has been delegated is also an important skill that needs to be exhibited in the business communication process (Jones, 2008, p.64). Also the business communication processes should be information rich and also timely. The written communication, presentations and public messages are required to have rich content of information and also need to be delivered timely. For example, the business should communicate timely messages about their business to the customers and the investors in order to attain sustainability of the business and the market share. Recommendation At the time of studying different modules of the course, the following could be recommended to the undergraduate students of WBS so that they could help themselves in improving the skills required for business communication. The students should first be able to understand the process of general communication and the essential factors required for good communication. The students should take note of the non-verbal communication techniques and its contribution that influences the perception and understanding of messages delivered in the process of communication. This would lead them to train themselves on the acceptable body language, dresses and expressions that are interpreted in a healthy fashion (Conrad and Newberry, 2012, p.66). It is suggested that the undergraduate students should build up the listening skills that is required for carrying out effective communication. Next, the undergraduate students would need to apply the communications with certain modification in context to business cases and scenario set up in the academic curriculum. The students should voluntarily take up practices on various modes of communication like writing business letters, presentation and public speeches, marketing activities, etc. In these activities the students practice implementation of various business communication skills like the information content delivered in the communication, the accuracy of the information shared during the process of communication, coordination between the fellow students in case of team activities and completion of the assignments within the set deadlines (Gallagher, 2013, p.71). The undergraduate students of WBS are recommended to carry out tasks of information gathering before writing business letters or delivering presentations on the assignment. The students would themselves realize the difference made in case of communication that is rich in information content. The ability to coordinate among the fellow employees is required to be developed over a period of time and this could be learnt by participating in team activities among the entire class of students at WBS. The students should also engage themselves in the role plays of simulated business case studies and understand the importance of confirmation of the messages delivered by the superior authorities in business (Roebuck, 2005, p.48). The students need to apply the lessons on the communication skills learnt from the books in the business case studies that are practiced in the undergraduate courses. Conclusion The business communication skills are important from the point of delivering the right message to the stakeholders at the right point of time. The business letters or the presentations made by the business to the target audience need to contain accurate information for addressing the concerned business matter. For example, the customers need to be communicated of the changes in the product offerings at the right point of time which are in line with the market demands. Thus the timeliness of the business communication is important for attaining the goals of communication. The business communication between the internal stakeholders should possess the skills of effective coordination and understanding. This would reduce the areas of conflict and pave the path of conformation of the business strategies and the subsequent communication process. The nature of business communication varies between the depending on the level of power and control of the stakeholders which is, however, aimed at the fulfilment of the best interest of the business. References Barker, A. 2013. Improve Your Communication Skills. New York: Kogan Page Publishers. Conrad, D. and Newberry, R. 2012. Identification and Instruction of Communication Skills for Graduate Business Education. Journal of Education for Business. 87(2), pp.56-68. Di Salvo, V. S. 1980. A summary of current research identifying communication skills in various organizational contexts. Communication Education. 29(3), pp.283-290. DiSalvoa, V.,Larsen, D. CandSeilera, W. J. 1976. Communication skills needed by persons in businessv organizations. Communication Education. 25(4), pp.263-270. Gallagher, K. 2013. Skills Development for Business and Management Students. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Jones, D. 2008. Advanced Communication Skills for Business Professionals. New York: Lulu Enterprises Incorporated. Lesikar. 2005. Basic Business Communication: Skills For Empowering The Internetgeneration. New Delhi: Tata McGraw-Hill Education. Nielsen, J. 2008. Effective Communication Skills: The Foundations for Change. USA: Xlibris Corporation. Roebuck, D. B. 2005. Improving Business Communication Skills. New York: Pearson Prentice Hall. Appendices Appendix 1 Appendix 2 Read More