Roles and New Trends of Business Communication in Workplace - Essay Example

Roles and New Trends of Business Communication in Work Place Running Header: Business Communication Name : College: Trends in Business Communication Introduction Communication involves sharing, expressing and conveying messages, ideas, concepts etc. The basic model of communication process which consists of elements of sender, receiver, medium, message, encoding and decoding is common to any form of communication. Furthermore, with the vast changes taking place in the world of communications, the trends in organizational communications are changing dramatically. With such trends emerge new forms of communications and messages that reach the target audience in the most effective manner. Business Communication at Work Place Communication at work place takes many forms. It can be either verbal or non-verbal whereby the message is composed with written or spoken words in verbal communication. In non-verbal communications such as logos, body language, signage, graphical information etc. the message is communicated without words (Weise, 2000). Organizational communication is targeted towards two types of audiences, namely the internal and the external audiences. The internal audience consist of colleagues, subordinates, superiors, and owners. The external audience consist of customers, suppliers, other business partners, unions, press and public. Each of these groups needs to be communicated with using different communication modes and techniques. Therefore, communication plays many different roles in an organizational work environment. Role of Business Communication in the Work Environment Communication plays multiple roles in organizational setting. In general, it plays the role of information provision and secondly as a tool of persuasion. It also the role of building good will and motivation among its employees, contractors and even the customers. In most occasions, the communication consists of multiple roles. When it comes to interpersonal communications in business and organizational environment, the need for increased collaborations and wide spread global outsourcing increase the importance of communication function. Work teams located in two corners of the world need to take a collaborative mode so that miscommunications are minimized, along with the costs of ineffective or wrong messages (Hill, 2003). In its informative role, communication is used for disseminating information to employees, customers, stake holders and the general public. When it comes to more specific forms of communication such as marketing communications, the organizations convey messages which promote good will while being informative and persuasive at the same time. Communication in Daily Work Life Communication can aid the daily work activities of any employee regardless of their status in the organization structure. However, as one progress in to senior positions, the usefulness of communication increases. As a manager, communication of both verbal and non verbal forms comes to increased use. The way department is laid out, and how long a visitor must wait to see a senior manager will communicate nonverbal cues of the organizational culture as well as the manager’s work and social attitudes (Schein 2004). Informing the work force or the new targets of the month, and then circulating email memos of an internal meeting schedule will all rely on communicational process. There can be employee evaluations to be carried out in which case the manager must provide written as well as verbal feed back. A public presentation may be involved for an employee such as a marketing manager or director in a press briefing or in a sales convention scenario. In a daily life, individuals also engage in company grapevine or the informal communication. This is a very important medium of transmitting and sharing information and must not be ignored by managers and employees alike. Finally the work environment’s cohesive harmony also depends upon good interpersonal communications such as listening, speaking and staying socially connected (Killing, 1982). New Trends in Workplaces With the advent of the internet and vast developments in the communications and information technology, the trends in communication has changed dramatically. IN the past, memos were type written and circulated by hand or by courier or mail for distant locations. But today, with the development of IT, the messages incorporate images, sounds, spoken and written words to convey strong messages to targeted audiences. Images are life like and in full colors and communications are highly personalized compared to the bland communications which the past decades had experienced. Collaborations in formal and informal manner are promoted through instant messaging systems such as yahoo messenger and MSN live messenger. Employees stay connected whole throughout their work times, across the globe and share information at a press of a button. Sharing files and file transfers from one corner of the world to the other takes less than few seconds. Email is the other major transformation in communication where paper and snail mail is being substituted up to 70% in most work places. Employers are using communicational tools such as portable media players, palm top, PDAs, to stay connected throughout the day. Modern day employees do not work an 8-5 shift with these communicational developments. They are accessible almost 24 hrs a day, with information at their hand even while they are out attending other tasks. Telepresence is another major trend which has facilitated global outsourcing, cross cultural collaborations and international business. Message Types Resulting From New Trends Few examples of communication messages which is generated by new communication trends can be discussed to highlight how these new methods operate. For instance, a sales person does not wait to go back to head office and get a secretary to type out a quotation on a company letter head, sign it by a superior and then fax it across to a major client. They use their Personal Digital Assistant and mail their client a quotation instantly filled out from where ever they are. They may seek approvals from their CEO’s directly by calling or sending a cryptic informal text message. Some other results of new trends of communication involves telecommuting employees who work flexi hours from homes and take part in internal meeting meetings through Telepresence. There are fewer meeting minutes and a larger amount of mp3 digital recordings of the meetings. Communications are also increasingly taking digital format. Newsletters reach customers, distributors and suppliers with embedded video links which they can play and receive important and useful demonstrations, information and instructions. Such massages can be reused and replayed for a wider audience by the recipient as well. Collaborative communication messages receive instant feedbacks as per new trends of interactive web forums and blogs operated by companies. This allows for candid information from the market which most marketing research is unlikely to provide. In summation, it is rather evident that communication plays a number of key roles in an organizational setting. It helps people in conducting their day to day work life effectively. With the dynamic changes and new trends in communication taking place in the work place, more innovative and highly effective communication messages are being produced in the communication process. Staying abreast of these will make sure the individuals are successful communicators which is critical for better work performance and career success. Reference: Weiss, J.W. (2001) Organizational Behavior & Change, 2nd ed. Ohio: South-Western Collage Publishing. Killing, J. P. (1982) "How to Make a Global Joint Venture Work.” Harvard Business Review, Vol. 60 (May/June), 120-­27. Schein, E.H. (2004). Organizational Culture and Leadership. 3rd ed. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass Publishers. Hill, C.W.L. International Business. (2003). 4th ed. New York: McGraw-Hill. Read More