Meaning and Process of Business Communication

What is the actual meaning of  Communication ?

Communication, in simple terms, is the transfer of information or ideas from one person to another through any medium of exchange, whether it is verbal, written, third person, or any other means of communication.

Business Communication  is a two-way process. It cannot be conducted among a single identity.

In the process of communication, the one who transmits or sends the message is known as the ‘sender,’ and the one who receives the message is known as the ‘receiver.’ However, this might look very simple process, but basically, communication is a very complex process. It involves the correct sending of information from the sender and correct receiving of information from the receiver; otherwise, the information would be distorted, and this will lead to miscommunication of information or misinterpretation of information which can lead to serious conflicts.

The information can be affected by a range of things which can include the way of conveying the information, the tone used to communicate, the facial expressions, etc.

What is the definition of ‘Communication’?

Defining communication, ‘Communication is nothing but the transfer of words from one person to another without any kind of distortion, misinterpretation or miscommunication.

There are two persons involved in the communication process: the sender and the receiver. The sender usually encodes the message and sends it to the receiver, which further decodes the message encoded by the sender. The encoding done by the sender can be done as a verbal or written encoding which the recipient or the receiver decodes.

As the level of communication gets wider, the chances of the information getting distorted increases. It is possible that there is more than one recipient of the information, and all of them get to have different information, which will further be communicated differently. This is known as ‘Miscommunication.’ The tone, style, and way of conveying the message might be different of two different personalities. The body language while communicating, the expressions, etc., all matters while communicating.

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Categories of Communication

Communication is a wide term that involves various categories like verbal, non-verbal, written, visualization like pictorial representations including graphs, diagrams, etc.

Let’s discuss all of them in detail:

1. Verbal Communication

Verbal communication is also known as spoken communication. Verbal communication can be done by means of direct face-to-face contact, telephonic conversation, television, FM radio, and any other means of verbal or spoken communication.

2. Non-Verbal Communication

The second type of communication category is the opposite of verbal communication, which is non-verbal communication. Non-verbal communication includes the body gestures which a person makes, how a person is dressed up for a particular thing like dance, drama, thriller, etc. The tonal expressions or the mood of a person are also an example of non-verbal communication.

3. Written communication

The other kind of category of communication is the written communication which includes writing letters to someone for conveying the message, sending proposals or postcards to communicate. Internet or web writings is also another kind of written communication.

4. Visualizations

Communication can also be established between the sender and the receiver via visuals like pictorial representations and graphs etc. To communicate something related to stats or data and to make some kind of analysis, communication through visuals helps.

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Process of Communication

Communication is a dynamic process that involves transmitting information from the sender to the receiver through a channel which in turn gives the feedback in the form of some message within a given time frame.

There is a total of seven major elements involved in the process of communication; they are:

1. Sender

The person who initiates the communication in the form of sending the encoded message to the receiver of the information is known as the sender. The sender is the first person involved in the process of communication. The sender is the one who is responsible for the transmission of the correct information and convey it to others.

2. Encoding

Encoding is the second element in the process of communication. The encoding is done by the end of the sender so that it can be decoded by the receiver in the correct form. The sender encodes the message in the form of certain words or some certain symbols, body language, some signs or gestures to translate the information into a message. The way the sender encodes the message denotes the perception, background, competencies, skills, or knowledge of the sender.

3. Message

As the message is encoded now, it is ready to be formed into a message by the sender to be further conveyed to the receiver. The message can be oral, written, verbal, graphs, gestures, signs, mood, sound, etc.

4. Communication Channel

The sender then chooses the channel/ medium through which the information will be conveyed to the receiver or recipient. This is a very important channel as the right, and most appropriate channel needs to be chosen to be able to convey the message in the most right and effective manner.

The channel may be oral, written, verbal, internet, web, gestures, signs, symbols, newspapers, etc.

5. Receiver

The receiver or recipient is the one for whom the message is intended. How the receiver decodes the message purely depends upon the knowledge which he or she has.

6. Decoding

Decoding is done by the receiver of the message. Decoding is done to interpret the message in the correct means in which it is intended.

7. Feedback

The final step of the communication process is the feedback step. The feedback intends that the sender has sent the right message and the receiver has received and decoded the right message and understood that in the best possible way. Feedback is necessary as it increases the efficiency and permits the encoder to know the efficacy of the message.

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Businesses need to communicate properly as in the age of the digital era; global businesses have a large number of employees working under them, so having a proper channel of communication is important to ensure effective communication.