Business Communication: Its Needs and Characteristics



 The question that must immediately arise in our mind after reading the above paragraphs is how important is communication. The 1977 aviation disaster that is considered to be the worst in the history was an outcome of miscommunication between the captain of a KLM flight and the air traffic controller .So it is obvious that the importance of communication in a few sectors of organizations is as important as the business itself.

 No group can exist without communication. However communication is thought to be the transference and the transmission of the meaning of information and ideas. But this interpretation of communication is not always considered as proper. This can be concluded because if in an organization two people, having the knowledge about two different languages have to interact then there is no utility of the transference of meanings .Therefore communication must include a dual process of transference and the understanding of meanings. An idea no matter how great it might be is of no practical use Communication, thus is not only about imparting the meaning of a particular idea.

An idea, however great it might be has no practical use without unless it is transmitted and interpreted by others. Perfect communication, if there was such a thing would exist when the idea pictured by the sender would be exactly the same as that envisioned by the sender.

Functions of communication

   Communication serves four major functions within a group or an organization, control, motivation, emotional, expression and information. Communication acts to control member behavior in more ways than many. Communication acts to control member behavior in several ways. Organizations acts to control member Organizations have authority hierarchies and formal guidelines that employees are required follow. When employees for instance, are required to first communicate any job related grievance to their immediate boss to follow their job description, or to comply with company policies, communication is performing a control function .But informal communication also controls behavior. When work groups tease or harass a member who produces too much and makes the rest of the group look bad .They are informally communicating with and controlling the member’s behavior.

 Communication can be used as a major tool for motivation by clarifying to the employees what is to be done and what is not to be done and how to improve performance to attain better rewards.

Communication process

Before communication can take place, a purpose, expressed as a message to be conveyed, is needed. It passes between a sender and a receiver .The message is encoded, that is converted into a symbolic form and passed by way of some medium or channel. The result is the   transference of meaning from one person to another.

 The communication process starts when the sender initiates a message by encoding a thought; The message is actually a physical product from the sender’s encoding. For example when we speak the speech is actually the message. The channel is the path through which the message propagates which is selected by the sender.

Last Updated ( Monday, 28 February 2011 00:38 )