Business Communication

Organizations, at times, go through a challenging phase due to unorganized communication practices. Such disarray in the communication might cause a negative image for brands or may see a communication gap among the employee. This is why business communication plays a 'saving grace' in keeping this possibility less probable.

What is Business Communication?

Communication is one of the vital processes of all living beings in one form or the other. However, when we talk about 'communication' in a business context, it becomes an entirely different ballgame. Business communication comprises the sharing of information, thoughts, ideas, and feelings in a formal manner with a minimal sense of colloquialism. Although this strict sense of business communication is not too functional these days, it's always good to stick to the nearest possible way.

Why do we need to have Business communication in the first place?

Often, people tend to ask this question as to why they need to have a unique form of communication in their workplace. Also, why can't they have a normal conversation while communicating to their clients, or among themselves, over the mails, etc.? The answer to this converges to one focal point, a sense of professional attitude and a consistent workflow. It is pretty recurrent to spot inconsistencies and lagging in work due to 'informal gear.' Business communication ensures (maybe somewhat) that the principal ethics of a workplace are not elbowed down the hill.

Types of Business Communication

Business communication, by itself, is a broad poster term for different contextual conversations that take place in a professional setting. Some communication occurs among the employees, while some happen through the hierarchy of an organization. Depending upon the people involved in a conversation, business communication can be divided into various types.

Internal Communication

Business communication among the employees of an organization is called Internal Communication. This does not include a third party's intervention and is a closely-knit conversation.

It further may be subdivided into Upward Communication and Downward Communication.

Upward Communication

Upward business communication occurs between employees and their managers (basically, someone an employee reports to). Hence it goes from bottom to top in the hierarchal ladder of the organization. It includes surveys, customer feedback reports, research, polls, etc.

Downward Communication

Downward business communication is the exact opposite of what we saw in the case of upward communication. In downward communication, the sender of a message is someone who stands at a higher hierarchy, and the message is passed down the hierarchy. It includes employee feedback, a plan of action, the next task to be done, updates on the previous task, and so on.

Lateral Communication

Lateral communication happens among the employees at the same hierarchy level within the same department or between the employees of different departments. This may include general information related to HR, finance, IT, operations, and various other departments of an organization.

External Communication

External communication refers to the conversation between the employees of an organization and the people outside of the organization. This includes the interaction between the customers and the CR executive, vendors and the coordinator, etc.

Apart from the types mentioned above, communication in a workplace can be further divided into verbal and non-verbal communication.

Verbal and Non-verbal Communication

Verbal communication denotes any communication that takes place through spoken language. It includes meetings among the staff, telephonic conversation, presentations, e-mails, and so on. However, communication in a formal setting is not restricted to having oral communication. It includes non-verbal cues such as intonation, body language, personal presentation, posture, humility, facial expressions, the inflection in the voice, etc.

Business communication is often touted as one of the most crucial factors contributing to an organization's success. Therefore, knowing about its essence and following principles of workplace communication is inevitable.