Communication in Business

Communication is a central part of doing business – communicating with customers, communicating with suppliers, communicating with business partners, and colleagues within a company communicating with each other. When people communicate well with each other, they can do their work effectively and in a pleasant, harmonious way. But when people communicate badly, not only does the work suffer, but it can be an unpleasant, even stressful work environment. There are many ways of communicating in business; and many strategies for ensuring we communicate effectively. The sections that follow explore these in more detail.
Communication Media
A way of passing information from one person to another is also referred to as a medium of communication. The main media include written, oral, visual, electronic, social and  media. In business, the most common types of written communication include letters, emails, web pages, reports, press releases and advertisements. Oral communication includes conversations, interviews, meetings, and presentations. Visual media include diagrams, charges, photographs, and non-verbal communication. Electronic media include video, phone, email and internet. Social media include forums such as Facebook, and twitter. Finally, mass media includes television, radio, newspaper and magazines (=the press) and film. Whichever media a company uses, it needs to ensure it sends a clear message that can be easily decoded by the people receiving the message.
Encoding and Decoding
Communication is a process that happens between two or more people or organisations. The person giving the message is the sender or messenger. That person writes or speaks (= encodes) the message. The message is sent through speaking, writing or body language (= the channel) to the person who receives the message (=recipient). The recipient understands or makes sense of the message (= decodes) the message. The recipient may then reply/respond to the message (= feedback). See figure 1 below.

Figure 1: The communication process
Principles of Effective Communication
To communicate well in business, it is important to bear in mind the following general principles:
1.    “Think carefully about your objectives before communicating
2.    Put yourself in the receiver’s shoes
3.    Choose the right medium
4.    Organise your ideas and express them carefully
5.    Consider the context
6.    Check for feedback”
Conventions for Effective Business Writing
A convention is a normal, or typical, or usual way of doing something. There are many conventions that a business writer can follow to make his/her writing more easily understood. For example, a business letter in English needs to have the sender’s address in the top-right corner of the page, followed by the telephone number and date. The recipient’s address needs to be on the left-side, followed by the reason for writing, etc. When you follow the conventions of business writing, you make it easier for the reader to recognise your message and make sense of it.
There are many other conventions for effective business writing, e.g., ways of writing a typical email, invoice, or webpage. On other occasions, a business may prefer to be unconventional, i.e., more creative or unusual in their message. For instance, to create a new and exciting type of advertisement, the business may prefer to break away from convention.
Conclusion
To conclude, communicating well is a key part to succeeding in business. We have seen how there are many channels of communication (including writing, speaking). Communicating is a process that involves encoding and decoding a message and replying with feedback. There are several principles to follow to make sure you communicate effectively, and these involve thinking about your message, the medium you wish to use, communicating the idea(s) clearly and getting feedback. Finally, there are conventions in business communication to be aware of, although there are times when a business may prefer to break the conventions.