IMPORTANCE OF EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION IN BUSINESS

IMPORTANCE OF EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION IN BUSINESS

Communication is the life blood of business. No business can develop in the absence of  effective  internal  and  external  communication.  Besides, communication skills of the employees are given high weight age at the time of their appointment as well as promotion. The effective communication can be understood into following ways:

Internal communication

Effective internal communication is considered important for the following reasons:

Business has grown in size: Large business houses have a number of branches within the country and even abroad. Some of the multinational corporations are no smaller than huge empires. The central organisation of a large business house is its nerve centre. For its healthy and even growth, it is extremely important that the central organisation maintains a thorough and up-to-date knowledge of the various activities at the branch offices, keeps the branch offices well acquainted with the activities at the centre, and some kind of link is maintained among the various branches. This calls for an effective and efficient network of communication.

Business activity has become extremely complex: This being an age of specialisation, planning, production, sales, stores, advertising, financing, accounts, welfare, etc., are handled by different departments. If these departments do not communicate with one another as well as with the management, there will be no coordination among them. This may give rise to some awkward and embarrassing situations for the management. When production is fully geared up the stores department may report shortage or non-availability of raw- materials. The planners, having spent one full month to work out the details of a new  project, may suddenly discover that there are no finances available to execute the

project.

Effective communication promotes a spirit of understanding and coop-

eration: If the effective communication exists between the management and the employees, it helps to bring about an atmosphere of mutual trust and confidence. The employees know exactly what is expected of them; the management is aware of the potentialities and limitations of the employees and knows how to exploit the first and make up for the latter. This mutual understanding is extremely beneficial to both the parties. The management gets better returns; the employees get job satisfaction. They also develop a sense of belonging and loyalty to .the enterprise.

External communication

External communication includes communication with the government agencies and departments on the one hand and distributors, retailers, individual customers and general public on the other.

Government agencies and departments: Business organisations are required to deal with licensing authorities, foreign trade offices, customs authorities, banks and other financial institutions, income-tax and sales tax offices, post offices, transporters, etc. Quite frequently they find themselves in formidable and tricky situations that can be handled only through tactful negotiation and negotiation is nothing but communication.

Distributors, retailers, individual customers, etc: Modern business is a highly competitive phenomenon. Each product of common consumption is available in myriads of brands, not all of which sell equally well. Marketing research has revealed that the organisations that can communicate better can also sell better. Sales are promoted through persuasion and persuasion is another aspect of communication.

Communication skill a job requirement: Some areas like personnel, public relations, marketing, sales, and labour relations call for exceptional communication skills. Editors, writers, teachers, advocates, researchers also need a highly developed ability to communicate. Executives are also expected to make speeches, prepare pamphlets, brochures, souvenirs, and give interviews to the media in order to project a favourable image of their organisation. Thus the ability to communicate effectively has become an important job requirement.

Important factor for promotion: The ability to communicate as the most essential requisite for promotion of the executives. It is higher than essential attributes as the capacity for hard work, the ability for making sound decisions, academic qualifications and ambition-drive. Generally, we can say that possessing communication skill is an important qualification at the time of both appointment and promotion.