Business Communication is one of the important kinds of communication which is a backbone of

any industry. There are certain kinds of Business Communication like Internal, External, upward,
Vertical, horizontal communication which play an important role in any organization.

There are certain functions like informational, integrative, persuasive function etc. that play an
important role in carrying out day to day business activities.

Communication is key to your success—in relationships, in the workplace, as a citizen of your

country, and across your lifetime. Your ability to communicate comes from experience, and experience
can be an effective teacher, but this text and the related business communication course will offer you a
wealth of experiences gathered from professional speakers across their lifetimes. You can learn from the
lessons they’ve learned and be a more effective communicator right out of the gate. We all share a
fundamental drive to communicate. Communication can be defined as the process of understanding and
sharing meaning. Pearson, J., & Nelson, P. (2000). An introduction to human communication:
understanding and sharing (p. 6). Boston, MA: McGraw-Hill. You share meaning in what you say and how
you say it, both in oral and written forms.

When you were an infant, you learned to talk over a period of many months. When you got
older, you didn’t learn to ride a bike, drive a car, or even text a message on your cell phone in one brief
moment. You need to begin the process of improving your speaking and writing with the frame of mind
that it will require effort, persistence, and self-correction.

As you study business communication, you may receive suggestions for improvement and
clarification from speakers and writers more experienced than yourself. Take their suggestions as
challenges to improve; don’t give up when your first speech or first draft does not communicate the
message you intend. Stick with it until you get it right. Your success in communicating is a skill that
applies to almost every field of work, and it makes a difference in your relationships with others.

Remember, luck is simply a combination of preparation and timing. You want to be

prepared to communicate well when given the opportunity. Each time you do a good job, your success
will bring more success.

Oral and written communication proficiencies are consistently ranked in the top ten desirable
skills by employer surveys year after year. In fact, high-powered business executives sometimes hire
consultants to coach them in sharpening their communication skills. According to Human Resources and
Skills Development Canada, people need the following nine essential skills for work, learning and life.
Human Resources and Skills Development Canada (2011, October).

communicate not just with words but also with their body language—facial expressions, hand
gestures, head nodding or head shaking, and posture. These subtleties of communication can be key to
determining how group members really feel about an issue or question. Meeting in real time can be
important, too, as all group members have the benefit of receiving new information at the same time.
For purposes of our present discussion, we will focus on meetings taking place face to face in real time.

The importance of communication in business becomes even more apparent when we consider
an organization’s communication activities from an overall perspective. These activities of
communication are classified under different classes of communication which are explained in detail
below:
 Oral Communication Oral communication is one of the most common functions in business.
Consider, for example, how limiting it would be if a manager could not attend meetings, ask questions
to colleagues, make presentations, appraise performance, handle customer complaints, or give
instructions.

Oral communication is different from written communication in that it allows more ways to get a
message across to others. You can clear up any questions immediately; use nonverbal clues; provide
additional information; and use pauses, emphasis, and voice tone to stress certain points.

For oral communication to be effective, a second communication skill - listening - is also required. No
matter how well crafted the content and delivery of an oral presentation; it cannot achieve its goal if the
intended audiences do not have effective listening skills. Some research has found that nearly 60% of all
communication problems in business are caused by poor listening.

Written Communication

Writing is more difficult than speaking because you have to get your message correct the first time; you
do not have the advantage of immediate feedback and nonverbal clues, such as facial expression to help
you achieve your objective. Examples of typical written communication, in industry include the
following:

• Memo: A memo is a written message sent to someone working in the same organization.

• Letters: A letter is a written message sent to someone outside the organization; it also can be sent by
computer via commercial electronic mail networks, such as MCI or CompuServe.

• E-mail (electronic mail): E-mail is a message transmitted electronically over a computer network most
often connected by cable, telephone lines, or satellites. The recipient's computer receives and stores the
message almost instantaneously after it is sent. The recipient may read, respond to, file, or discard the
message - all without the use of paper.

• Reports: A report is an orderly and objective presentation of information that assists in decision-
making and problem solving. Examples of common business reports include policies and procedures,
status reports, minutes of meetings, financial reports, personnel evaluations, press releases, and
computer printouts.

• Miscellaneous: Other examples of written communication include contracts, sales literature,

newsletters, and bulletin - board notices.

Intro

The word “communication” derived from the Latin word ‘communicare’ that means to impart, to
participate, to share or to make common. It is a process of exchange of facts, ideas, opinions and as a
means that individual or organization share meaning and understanding with one another. In other
words, it is a transmission and interacting the facts, ideas, opinion, feeling and attitudes. It is the ability
of mankind to communicate across barriers and beyond boundaries that has ushered the progress of
mankind. It is the ability of fostering speedy and effective communication around the world that has
shrunk the world and made ‘globalization’ a reality. Communication had a vital role to play in ensuring
that people belonging to a particular country or a culture or linguistic group interact with and relate to
people belonging to other countries or culture or linguistic group. Communication adds meaning to
human life. It helps to build relationship and fosters love and understanding. It enriches our knowledge
of the universe and makes living worthwhile.

The term business communication is used for all messages that we send and receive for official
purpose like running a business, managing an organization, conducting the formal affairs of a voluntary
organization and so on. Business communication is marked by formality as against personal and social
communication. The success of any business to a large extent depends on efficient and effective
communication. It takes place among business entities, in market and market places, within
organizations and between various group of employees, owners and employees, buyers and sellers,
service providers and customers, sales persons and prospects and also between people within the
organization and the presspersons. All such communication impacts business. Done with care, such
communication can promote business interests. Otherwise, it will portray the organization in poor light
and may adversely affect the business interest. Communication is the life blood of any organization and
its main purpose is to effect change to influence action. In any organization the main problem is of
maintaining effective communication process. The management problem generally results in poor
communication. Serious mistakes are made because orders are misunderstood. The basic problem in
communication is that the meaning which is actually understood may not be what the other intended to
send. It must be realised that the speaker and the listener are two separate individuals having their own
limitations and number of things may happen to distort the message that pass between them. When
people within the organization communicate with each other, it is internal communication. They do so
to work as a team and realise the common goals. It could be official or unofficial. Modes of internal
communication include face-to-face and written communication. Memos, reports, office order, circular,
fax, video conferencing, meeting etc. are the examples of internal communication. When people in the
organization communicate with anyone outside the organization it is called external communication.
These people may be clients or customers, dealers or distributors, media, government, general public
etc. are the examples of external communication.

Thus by studying various types of business communication and their role in an industry, we
come to know how important it is to have effective business communication which acts as a tool to
make progress in any business endeavour. Communication is the lifeline of day to day living as well as
business. Any successful organisation creates a formal communication structure to enable smooth
functioning. New employees are indoctrinated on the various aspects of organisational communication.