Business Communication Issues - Essay Example

Business communication Student’s Name: Instructor’s Name: Course Code: Date of Submission: Meeting communication Communication in meetings is where there is communication when two or more people gather together to share information and ideas. This type of communication can be formal or informal depending on the circumstance of the meeting (Jennifer et al 2012). Planned meeting becomes formal while unplanned meeting becomes informal. There is a structure which should be followed and it is laid down in the organizational constitution book showing the meeting structure and a standing order showing the procedure of the meeting. Some terms used in the meeting communication includes abstention which is the act of not voting in any way. Acclamation is the vote made by clapping. Ayes and Nos which are words used to support or to oppose the motion where ayes means yes while Nos means no. casting vote is which is a vote used to break the standstill of the meeting and is usually held by the chair of the meeting. In any meeting there has to be a chairman and a secretary. The role of the chairperson includes giving information to members, interpreting the procedure for the meeting, acts like the problem solver and helps the members in the meeting to follow the meeting procedures (Vanessa & Anthony 2006). He or she ensures effective communication by keeping law and order in the meeting, ensure that the meeting does not deviate from the main agendas and helps meeting members to forget their differences and find solutions to issues by emphasizing on the importance of the meeting. On the other hand, the secretary does note taking of the meeting, marking the attendance of the meeting, keep all the records of the meeting and previously and records the results of the voting at the meeting. Many meetings fail because the members are not motivated to generate viable ideas, the goals of the meetings may not be clear, thus no specific objective to achieve, lack of trust among members leading to lack of disclosure of information (Vanessa & Anthony 2006). Decisions can be made by voting where the members vote to find a solution, consensus where the members agree without voting, brainstorming where the solution is made based on the past and future experience and finally the Delphi method where opinions are collected by questionnaires. The nominal technique can also be used where members provide solutions through writing. Team communication This is communication which takes place between groups or within a group of people. Groups can be small or large and official or unofficial. Groups are important because they provide quality decisions as they share ideas. They also lead to the exploration of a wide range of ways of finding a solution (Geraldine & Lu 2005). There are many people involved in decision making which gives greater chances of the decision being accepted and finally groups motivate employees as the employees are involved in decision making hence they feel part of the management. Groups can perform better than individuals because they share ideas however some members may not participate effectively as they think their efforts are not noticed. There are various roles that people play in groups which include task roles including expertise knowledge, members to implement the solutions and representatives of the team among others. Socio-emotional roles include providing encouragement, peacemaker among team members and releasing tension person among members. Destructive roles include seeking recognition, victim and special interest pleaders. There are formal and informal groups in the groups. A norm is a way in which people behave in a group. Formal norm is where employees are responsible for their actions like reporting to work on time while informal norms is where the employees are not responsible for their actions like reporting to work late. Decisions are made based on the group thinking whose characteristics include stereotyping, rationalization and self censorship (Geraldine & Lu 2005). To reduce groupthink impacts, there is need to increase the size of the group, eliminate barriers leading to isolation and appointing the devil’s advocate. A group can be formed in the following stages forming stage where the tasks are identified, storming where the leadership is considered, norming stage, performing stage where the tasks are carried out and finally the adjourning where the group is disbanded after accomplishing the task. Nonverbal communication Non verbal communication is the communication through writing, symptoms, gestures, body movement and posture. Nonverbal communication can be ambiguous because it may not be understood by all people. It compliments verbal communication especially when explaining complex structures (John & Mark 2003). Nonverbal communication can contradict itself hence the receiver can take time to find the true meaning of the message. The following are some of the non-verbal communications. Head movement or gesture can mean a yes or no which is not universal thus difficult to know the exact meaning of the gesture. Head nodding can provide feedback either to agree with the point or disagree. There is facial expression which can indicate the emotional expression of the sender. For example smiling can indicate a positive or negative expression because from the facial expression, one can easily tell if the person is happy or is under pressure to smile. There is also Eye communication. Eye contact can communicate different messages to different messages for example in Euro American gazing indicates honesty while in other cultures like the Japanese a gaze indicates respect therefore there could be misunderstanding (John & Mark 2003). Voices like pitches can also mean different things to different people. Pitches can deceive because even men can have high pitches like females and females can lower their pitches like males hence they can be misleading. Gestures can indicate confidence like putting hands on the hips and can also show despair by wringing hands on hands. There are five types of touching which include professional touching, social, friendship, love and sexual touching. Nonverbal communication can also be done through environment like building and furniture which convey the culture of the people. Despite non verbal communication having many drawbacks, it is important because it supplements other forms of communication like verbal communication. It clarifies aspects which could not be communicated through verbal communication. Organizational communication Organizational communication is the communication which takes across the organization both external and internal environment. The communication channels in the organization include memos, formal and informal meetings, suggestion boxes, notice boards and grapevine among others (Tracy & Paul 2011). These channels can be one way or two way channel. Can be individual or group communication, formal or informal. The communication channels can be interpersonal where communication is specifically meant to meet the needs of an individual. Some organizational structures have hierarchy which shows how communication should undergo for instance from the top management down to servicemen. There is horizontal communication which takes place between departments of the same level. Vertical communication is another type of communication where messages are sent and received according to hierarchy. There is also downward communication where communication comes from the top level. In this type of communication, the message is communicated downwards from the top level management and high hierarchy to lower levels of management (Geraldine & Lu 2005). Finally, there is upward communication where communication is upward to the top management. This is the communication that comes from the low levels of management to top level of management. In the organizational communication there is network analysis which promotes communication. For instance there has to be an opinion leader who influences the people in the communication process. In organizational communication there is grapevine which is the communication that spreads fast without the formal communication or the sender of the message is not known. Grapevine is faster, incomplete, and preferable in organizations which keep their secrets tightly (Tracy & Paul 2011). Grapevine is used to send messages out using more than one channel. Organizational culture influences the organizational communication and it is evident how leaders communicate and how communication rules are used to control communication with their employees. Organizational culture can be communicated through stories, newsletters and languages used in meetings. Intercultural communication Culture is the social characteristics that form the way people behave over a given period of time. It includes social, political, economic, religion, language and education of people. Macro culture is the culture that characterizes a community while micro culture is the behavior that characterizes an organization (John & Mark 2003). Because an organization comprises of many people from different cultures, there has to be intercultural communication because the people of the organization has many similarities and differences. Acculturation is the process that comprises meeting different cultures and any changes that may occur in the organization as a result of such meetings. There are four models for understanding intercultural communication which are Hofstede, House, Hall and Huntington. Hofstede model explain culture as the special programming which distinguishes one organization from another. Hofstede model has five dimensions of culture which are power distance, uncertainty avoidance, individualism vs collectivism, masculinity vs femininity and long term vs short term orientation. The model has a low power distance culture and high power distance culture, low uncertainty avoidance and high uncertainty avoidance, individual and collective cultures and long term orientation and short term orientation (John & Mark 2003). House’s globe model on the other hand classifies culture into nine dimensions which include assertiveness, power distance, future orientation, gender differentiation, uncertainty avoidance, collectivism, humane orientation and performance orientation among others (John & Mark 2003). Hall context model defines culture as the tangible and visible words and the way in which things occur. Culture can be understood as high which communicated message is important or low context in which communicated message is not as important as the message itself. Intercultural communication can be approached in two ways which are culture specific approach where an organization focuses on specific understanding about another culture and cultural general approach where a broader approach to culture through cultural awareness and behavior flexibility is. Intercultural communication’s diversity covers gender, age, language, ethnicity and religious beliefs (John & Mark 2003). References Geraldine, D & Lu J 2005, Communication and the Learning Effectiveness of Multinational Teams, Minneapolis, Lominger Jennifer, B. Steve, M & yvind, I 2012, Organizations Behaving Badly – The Role of Communication in Understanding CSI and CSR, Emerald publishing group John, L. G & Mark, L 2003, Intercultural communication, Harv Bus Rev, Vol. 81, No. 10, pp. 82-91. Tanja, S & Gorazd, J 2013, Social Media in Internal Communications: A View from Senior Management, Boston, Shambhala Tracy S & Paul, D 2011, The Inherent Challenges of Knowledge Transfer Across Countries and Cultures, Emerald publishing group. Vanessa, U. D & Anthony, T. P 2006, The impact of emergent leader's emotionally competent behavior on team trust, communication, engagement, and effectiveness, San Francisco, Barrett-Koehler. Read More