BUSINESS COMMUNICATION
Business communication in the world of work.
Definition of business communication: communication used to promote a product,
service, or organization; relay information within the business; or deal with
legal and similar issues. It is also a means of relying between a supply chain,
for example the consumer and manufacturer. Business
communication needs to become interpersonal again. No matter how we believe our
human forms came into existence, we were built to need personal contact and
function best with face-to-face communication. As children, we desired comfort
from touch, a hug from our mothers. As teenagers, we held hands with our
boyfriend or girlfriend. As adults in the workforce, we still need to feel that
connection and comfort with our families and the people we work with. As Susan
RoAne (2008), owner of a speaking, consulting, and coaching business, discusses
one way we feel this connection is through getting to know and building trust
by communicating in-person. Through this interpersonal interaction, we not only
feel more comfortable around the people we collaborate with, but can better
share thoughts and understand what those people are saying verbally and on
paper (p. 60). Do you trust someone you have never met in person? Most people
say no, because there is no connection with you and the person until you meet.
Why do you choose this topic? I
chose this topic because it`s a very big field in the industry of the world. It
consists of so many event in one field which you can`t find in any other field
and it is also a wide scope where you can find so many things to experienced.
This is what makes it so special.
What are the requirements you need?
Requirements communication is the process is the process of informing the
project team, suppliers, sponsor and stakeholders of the content, meaning and
status of requirements. The first stage of requirements communication is
identifying and inviting people to participate in the requirements elicitation
process. This continues when managing the constraints identification and
analysis activities. When requirements are defined and documented they should
be communicated back to the people who provided inputs to ensure the
information has been property captured, interpreted and analyzed. Requirements documents should also be
validated by the sponsor of their representatives.
It
is important for employees to feel a connection in their job and feel what they
do matters to the business and fellow co-workers. Employees feel a connection
when participating in regular face-to-face interactions with co-workers.
Connections are important in business because as David Ryback (2010), an
internationally acclaimed speaker and consultant, states: “Business cannot
exist in the absence of people relationships, the stronger the relationships,
the more potential for success in the business.” (Ryback Cathcart, &ump;
Nour 2010, p.19). The strength of relationships with co-workers correlates with
the connection employees have in their job. When a connection is made,
confidence follows. With confidence, employees do their best and most effective
work. Through knowing and trusting their co-workers and finding the purpose in
the business as a whole, every employee contributes greater successes, whether
for business growth, increase in profit, better relationships with customers,
etc.
For
the greatest success of the business, employees need interpersonal
communication to connect with their co-workers. A leadership expert, John C.
Maxwell (2010) says: “Connecting goes beyond words.” (p. 41). Physically being
in the same room, verbally speaking thoughts, engaging in eye contact, and
being able to see nonverbal responses are all important and add to a person’s
understanding of the message being communicated and feeling a connection.
Overall, communicating face-to-face is more natural for employees. An employee
knows who is hearing what they are saying and seeing their nonverbal gestures.
The employee can either get immediate feedback whether or not the person
understands or agrees or disagrees. The communication does not have to be
formatted as it does on paper. An employee should still present themselves
professionally, but communicating face-to-face is a process, instead of format.
Through
in-person communication, employees will be able to not only build needed
connections, but relationships and trust with co-workers in the business.
Maslow’s hierarchy of needs is like a staircase, a person needs to satisfy the
lower stairs to easily reach and fulfill the higher staircases. If you refer to
Figure 1 on page 9, social needs, feeling connections with people around you,
are needed to fulfill the staircase above it: the greatest confidence,
achievement, and creativity (“Communication Theory” 2010, para. 2). We work and
understand best when meeting face-to-face with co-workers because we need that
connection with employees, not with the communication technologies. Social
needs cannot come from the communication technologies, fulfillment comes from
the people. We need to build the relationships with co-workers to earn trust to
best work together.
Figure
1: Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs
Balancing
Act
For
supervisors to encourage employee connections, the business needs to decide
when it is appropriate to communicate face-to-face. The author of the text
book, Mary Guffey (2010) writes: “One-dimensional communication technologies
cannot replace the richness or effectiveness of face-to-face communication” (p.
308). Face-to-face communication is appropriate when employees are in the same
building, need opinions, or courses of action. Especially when the co-worker is
not familiar, in-person communication will be more beneficial and effective for
employees than through communication technology. If an employee is asking for
records, it is more appropriate for both employees to use a communication
technology, such as email.
In
effect, a business also needs to decide when it is appropriate to use each type
of communication technologies, also called channels (email, fax, phone, etc.)
to communicate with co-workers. Some of these channels, instant messaging and
videoconferencing, are instantaneous, and other channels are still fast and
easy, like email and fax, but offer no immediate feedback. Most channels have
the ability to communicate over long distances quickly and to have permanent
records of the correspondence. For those who have worked in the business for a
few years, you understand how important it is to use the best channel. Every
business defines what channel to use differently and some do not even define
when to use any. I think it is important that businesses define what channels
to use for specific purposes clearly and as said before, this should include
face-to-face communication.
Dependence
on Technology
To
assess whether or not your business has a dependence on technology, the
following are example of what I consider to be dependence on technology or a
lack of connection with all employees.
What
You Can Do
There
are many things you can do, as a supervisor, to fulfill your responsibilities
to take dependence off communication technology and promote positive in-person
communication. A supervisor is responsibility of being a good example and
encourager to employees for what is most beneficial for the business as a whole
and each employee. They need to consider its greatest advantage employees who
can communicate the same, without the communication technology aiding them,
instead of technology. When this is the mindset, employees are more likely get
the needed encouragement to communicate in-person and embraced their
communication skills. Eventually, each employee will feel the connections and
engagements with their jobs and the business.
As
supervisors, you are the leading examples to the people who are under your
chain of command. Robert Mai (2003) who is former vice president of Fleishman
Hillard, Inc., speaks “Leadership cannot exist in the absence of dialogue” (Mai
&ump; Akerson 2003, p. 14). If there is no effective communication and
dialogue between employees, no real leadership exists. Employees need to see
the examples of a leader to follow, not just hear about them. As a supervisor
who acts as a leader, employees will follow, look up to, and are affected by
the examples you set.
These
are important jobs and ways to encourage employees lower in the line of
command. Encourage face-to-face communication when filling out employees’
performance evaluations. Include a section about the employees’ communication
skills with co-workers through all the channels. Discuss with the employee in a
private meeting their evaluation as you normally would, including their
communication skills. Encourage employees by praising them for their good
in-person communication and ways to improve even more. If the employee has a
poor review, discuss ways to improve and work with the employee. Explain it is
important to feel connected with the business and how communicating in-person
will help them feel so. Do not force communication methods upon anyone. Make
sure they understand the point is to find the balance where they feel most
connected and comfortable in the business.
Facilitate
face-to-face communication with employees by approaching them. Ask the
questions about how they are doing with their job and leave an opportunity for
them to communicate any questions back. Remember to be consistent. When
employees see consistency of more face-to-face immediate feedback responses,
they will start to consider it the norm. Make meetings a priority, especially
if there are employees working on projects that are new or unusual for the
business. Doing so will allow more interpersonal contact with people and a
greater chance they will communicate in a way that receives immediate feedback.
A
way to both encourage and facilitate interpersonal, face-to-face, communication
is by rewarding the behavior. A simple compliment of how they are displaying
satisfactory communication is good. This allows the employees to know they are
doing a good job. Compliment employees who communicated well and effectively in
a meeting. If passing by an employees’ office, stop to say a quick comment
about how they are doing great work and communicating well. One compliment can
brighten employees’ entire day, giving them more confidence to work even better
and more effectively. The employees will be happy, confident, and continue to
communicate well.
Another
way to reward good face-to-face communication is by having a lunch meeting.
This is both facilitating seeing each other in-person and giving you an
opportunity to discuss in-person with them and to thank them for their positive
communication. Show appreciation for their effort in how they communicate with
co-workers and how they have built connections and lead with trust. Employees
may even have a good time and become friends with some co-workers. The business
will benefit even more because employees who are friends will be more prepared
and willing to help each other. In the process, the positive behavior has been
rewarded.
One
of the most important things you can do to be a good encourager is to not take
it too far. Do not rush the process or assume your ways or methods to get
everyone where they need to be are the best or only way. The process needs to
bring you together as a business, not separate employees more. If an employee
is uncomfortable communicating face-to-face do not rush them. Allow them to
adjust their comfort zone to communicating face-to-face. The point is for the
business as a whole, including you, to feel better connected and engaged in
your job and specifically, the people working with you.
Some
businesses regard and utilize teams, because teams get work done better than an
individual person, and add more engagement to each employee’s job. Normally, in
a business when people are working as a team, they meet every workday to
discuss the task at hand. A team brainstorming, discussing information, and
meeting not only is very beneficial for the business, but also builds
connections and trust for the people in the team and displays regular face-to-face
communication. Teams play to each other’s strengths. Another way teams function
well is how they use communication technologies to only aid in their
communication within and outside the group. The team members do not rely on the
technologies, because it is expected that if you are in the team, the employee
is committed to working in-person with the team. Teamwork adds individual job
engagement by allowing team members to see how their work contributes to the
project and later see how the team’s completed project contributes to the whole
business.
REFERENCES
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