Psychology

Effective communication in an organization is the platform on which the sustainable prosperity of the organization is build. Communication in business serves much in relaying information among the workforce of an organization thus realizing effective and reliable duty coordination for the improved productivity of the organization (Hartley  Bruckmann, 2002). External communication on the other side serves to ensure a sustainable competitive advantage in the marketplace through engaging in reliable customer relations services (Harvard School, 2003). Unless potential customers and an organization workforce are sufficiently engaged, market and productivity can never be guaranteed.

This paper is a discussion on communication as it relates to the business world. The author gives a discussion on the types of communication and ways of enhancing effective communication in business. A discussion on advantages of having effective communication skills andor system in an organization is also given.

Definition and types of communication in the business world
Communication in business can be defined as any form of communication that seeks to promote good and service production andor market for the purposes of maximizing profitability in an organization (Blalock, 2005). Business communication can either involve communication between employees and management or communication between the organization and the general public. The conveyance of message during business can use various channels including word of mouth, non-verbal, publications, internet and mass media communications.

Internal communication in the business world involves the communications within the organization. This type of communication can be formal or informal, but is the sole aim of enabling the sustainable execution of organizational strategic objectives. This includes upward communication which aids in informing the seniors of the progress or grievances by employees (Mize, 2009). Another type is downward communication which involves the flow of crucial information on the objectives of the organization from the management to the low ranking employees.

The last form off internal communication is lateral communication which aims at achieving effective coordination of information with collaboration between different people in the organization (Mize, 2009). External communication on the other side involves the communication with individuals who are not part of the operations of the company. This communication mainly involves communication with customers, vendors and investors. External communication aims in realizing organizational goals particularly sustainable market and customer satisfaction (Blalock, 2005).

Advantages of communication in business
Effective communication is crucial function in overseeing the efficient flow of information in an organization. This reduces chances of misunderstanding between managers and employees. Poor communication is a source of frustrations to employees (Mize, 2009). Just as much as employers value profits, so should be to their employees. This is because human resource is the most important resource in realizing sustainable success of a company. Effective communication avoids conflict between managers and employees.  Failure of clarity by a manager on what employees should do means failure by the workers to delivery sufficiently (Kondrat, 2009). Due to such an occurrence there will be reduction of job satisfaction, an element which can compromise the productivity morale of employees.

Another advantage of effective communication is that it enhances cooperation among workers (Kondrat, 2009). Team work is a quite common and important practice in an organization. This means that there is need for clear coordination of information and activities among team members as well as sharing of information with other teams. This calls for effective communication as it increases understanding and cooperation among team members and the organizations workforce as a whole.

Lastly, communication aims at nurturing and protecting the reputation of an organization in the marketplace (Oliver, 2004). What this simply means is that the company will be able to maintain andor grow its consumer base thus ensuring a sustainable long term competitive advantage in the market.

Barriers to effective communication
The realization of effective communication in business is compromised by a number of things. First is language. Language has been identified as a reason for communication failure. As a medium of communication, language gives room to individual interpretation and can lead to distortion of meaning (Harvard School, 2003). Perceptual biases particularly stereotyping compromises communication in an organization. This is because stereotyping presumes character of others.

Interpersonal and intercultural relationships are other barriers to effective communication (Harvard School, 2003). Present and past relationships andor experience with others determined how we interpret or perceive communicated information. A business is marked with culture, ethnic and personality diversity among its workforce. Therefore, failure to appreciate this diversity during communication can evidently compromise the effective of the communication.

A contradiction between verbal and non-verbal communication cues. True to the word, non-verbal expressions during verbal communication speak more on the intended message. This means that non-verbal expression, if not well selected and coordinated with the words, can contradict the intent of the speaker thus distorting the received message (Oliver, 2004).

Ways of realizing effective communication
The realization of an effective communication in an organizations calls for a number of strategies. First is that the manager or communicator must be quite clear on their communication objectives (Kondrat, 2009). The communicator should have in mind the main points they want the audience to remember and articulate on how best to put them across. Another requirement is having clear knowledge of the target audience (Mize, 2009). Most business communications failures are due to lack of appreciation to workforce diversity by the communicator. Effective communication should be more on the positive reception of the communicated message.

There is great need for communication to be reflective of the relationship between the audience and the communicator as well as the underlying organizational environment. Failure to consider the credibility your audience has for you can compromise reception of your message (Hartley  Bruckmann, 2002). Organizational environment concerns include whether or not the organization is centralized. All these have implications which the communicator should capitalize on to maximize effective reception of the message. Audience is always ready to hear benefits. Therefore, it is a common practice for communications to open with motivational statements as such improves the overall audience reception.
Still, the medium for communication is critical. One should evaluate the advantages of is communication medium choice and best channel should be the one most preferred by the audience (Oliver, 2004). As an example, complex information usually require written communication medium. This enables the audience to enhance their understanding of the message by constantly referring to the notes. On the other hand, sensitive organizational information transmissions are best executed by word of mouth, particularly when on recordings are necessary.

Conclusion
Business communication has been established as the most important element for successful businesses. This is because it leads to reliable cooperation among the management and staff members thus maximizing productivity of the organization. Effective business communication also leads to protection and nurturing of a stronger reputation for the organization, an act which maximizes its market base. Therefore, managers and other employees should strive to ensure effective communication skills and practices.