FIVE YEARS QUESTION PAPER SOLVED

BUSINESS COMMUNICATION

PREVIOUS FIVE YEARS                 

QUESTION PAPER SOLVED 

FOR ALL THE TERMS

WORDS USED IN QUESTION PAPER

7c

The seven C’s are: clear, correct, complete, concrete, concise, considered and courteous.

Circular

A letter or advertisement that is distributed to a large number of people.

Notices

Are a means of formal communication targeted at a particular person or a group of persons.

Memorandum (a memo)

It is a short message or record used for internal communication in a business

Application letter

A letter of application, also known as a cover letter, is a document sent with your resume to provide additional information about your skills and experience to an employer.

Kinesics

It is the study and interpretation of nonverbal communication related to the movement of any part of the body or the body as a whole; in layman’s terms, it is the study of body language.

Objectives Of Communication

• Stronger Decision Making

• Increased Productivity

• Steadier Work Flow

• Strong Business Relationships & Enhanced Professional Image

• Provide Advice

• Provide Order, Suggestion, Education ,Warning

• Raising Morale

• Motivation To Give And Receive Information

• To Improve Discipline

Process of Communication

• Sender

• Message

• Encoding

• Channel

• Receiver

• Decoding

• Feedback

Memo

Memorandum, more commonly known as a memo, is a short message or record used for internal communication in a business.

Circulars

In every organization, irrespective of their size, communication among the employees is crucial. Internal communication in an organization between superiors and employees, between departments, amongst the department, is one of the keys to their success. One such tool of official communication is circulars

Importance of good Communication Skills

Having strong communication skills aids in all aspects of life – from professional life to personal life and everything that falls in between. From a business standpoint, all transactions result from communication. Good communication skills are essential to allow others and yourself to understand information more accurately and quickly.

Essentials of good business letter

• Sender’s Address The sender’s address usually is included in letterhead. Date The date line is used to indicate the date the letter was written. Inside Address The inside address is the recipient’s address. It is always best to write to a specific individual at the firm to which you are writing

• Salutation Use the same name as the inside address, including the personal title. If you know the person and typically address them by their first name

• Body For block and modified block formats, single space and left justify each paragraph within the body of the letter. Leave a blank line between each paragraph. When writing a business letter, be careful to remember that conciseness is very important.

• Closing The closing begins at the same vertical point as your date and one line after the last body paragraph.

• Enclosures If you have enclosed any documents along with the letter, such as a resume, you indicate this simply by typing Enclosures below the closing.

Common Note-taking Methods

• The Cornell Method

• The Outlining Method

• The Mapping Method

• The Charting Method

• The Sentence Method

Principles of effective communication

• Written

• Verbal

• Non verbal

• Visual

Effective speaker

• Confidence. Confidence is huge when it comes to public speaking. Being confident in your delivery will allow you to be seen as an expert on your topic.

• Why would an audience want to hear about your story if you yourself don’t seem passionate about it? Let your audience know why you do what you do.

• Ability to be succinct. Even if you’re one of the most entertaining and engaging public speakers, it’s important to keep your presentation short and to the point

• Ability to tell a story. A presentation is more effective and engaging when it doesn’t feel like a presentation. Know how to tell your story to your audience.

• Audience awareness. Make sure before going into your presentation that you know the audience that you’re presenting to. You should know who they are and what they do.

Formal communication-Explain

It refers to the flow of official information through proper, predefined channels and routes. The flow of information is controlled and needs deliberate effort to be properly communicated. Formal communication follows a hierarchical structure and chain of command. The structure is typically top down, from leaders in various departments and senior staff in the organization, which funnel down to lower level employees. Employees are bound to follow formal communication channels while performing their duties.Formal communication is considered effective as it is a timely and systematic flow of communication.

 Informal communication

It refers to communication which is multi-dimensional. Informal communication moves freely within the organization and is not bound by pre-defined channels and communication routes. Informal communication is particularly quick. Informal communication is far more relational than formal communication and is by nature, a very natural form of communication as people interact with each other freely and can talk about a diverse range of topics, often extending outside of their work duties.

Oral Communication Definition:

In oral communication, spoken words are used. It includes face-to-face conversations, speech, telephonic conversation, video, radio, television, voice over internet.

In oral communication, communication is influenced by pitch, volume, speed and clarity of speaking. Oral communication means spoken communication or communication through speech.

 Written Communication

It refers to the process of conveying a message through the written symbols. In other words, any message exchanged between two or more persons that make use of written words is called as written communication.

Body language

Body language is the unspoken element of communication that we use to reveal our true feelings and emotions. Our gestures, facial expressions and posture, for instance.When we are able to “read” these signs, we can use it to our advantage. For example, it can help us to understand the complete message of what someone is trying to say to us, and to enhance our awareness of people’s reactions to what we say and do.We can also use it to adjust our own body language so that we appear more positive, engaging and approachable

Note on telephone etiquette:

• Friendly greetings Answering an office phone properly requires a positive and cheerful disposition. Allow the positivity to resonate in your voice, offer a salutation, thank the customer for calling, introduce yourself and your business by name and then extend your help.

• Body language Body language plays a major role in communication, both in-person and on the telephone. When you speak on the phone, your body language still communicates how you are feeling.

• Tone of voice Adopt a confident tone of voice to limit interruptions and maintain a professional engagement. You want the caller to know you are taking the time to understand their questions, while also delivering prompt service

• Tact  Unfortunately, there will be times when you must deliver potentially upsetting information to a customer over the phone. Remaining calm while considering your word choice is the key to delivering messages tactfully to your caller.

• Active listening To achieve excellent phone etiquette, it is necessary to develop active listening skills. Give the customer your undivided attention by minimizing distractions. Taking notes and repeating requests back to the caller lets them know that you care and are listening to only their needs at that moment

• Appropriate closing Remember that closing a call can be just as important as the way you begin one. Before saying goodbye to your customer, thank them again and ask if you can assist them with anything else.

Barriers To Effective Communication

• Linguistic Barriers The language barrier is one of the main barriers that limit effective communication. Language is the most commonly employed tool of communication.

• Psychological Barriers There are various mental and psychological issues that may be barriers to effective communication.

• Emotional Barriers The emotional IQ of a person determines the ease and comfort with which they can communicate.

• Physical Barriers to Communication They are the most obvious barriers to effective communication. These barriers are mostly easily removable in principle at least.

• Cultural Barriers of Communication Different cultures have a different meaning for several basic values of society. Dressing, Religions or lack of them, food, drinks, pets, and the general behaviour will change drastically from one culture to another.

• Organisational Structure Barriers As we saw there are many methods of communication at an organizational level.

• Attitude Barriers Certain people like to be left alone. They are the introverts or just people who are not very social. Some people have attitude issues, like huge ego and inconsiderate behaviours.

• Perception Barriers Different people perceive the same things differently. This is a fact which we must consider during the communication process. Knowledge of the perception levels of the audience is crucial to effective communication.

• Physiological Barriers Certain disorders or diseases or other limitations could also prevent effective communication between the various channels of an organization.

• Technological Barriers & Socio-religious Barriers Other barriers include the technological barriers. The technology is developing fast and as a result, it becomes difficult to keep up with the newest developments. Hence sometimes the technological advance may become a barrier.

Horizontal communication

It is the communication that flows laterally within the organization, involves persons at the same level of the organization. Horizontal communication normally involves coordinating information and allows people with the same or similar rank in an organization to cooperate or collaborate.

Grapevine

It is an informal channel of business communication. It is called so because it stretches throughout the organization in all directions irrespective of the authority levels. Despite existence of formal channels in an organization, the informal channels tend to develop when he interacts with other people in organization. It exists more at lower levels of organization.

Paralanguage

It is nonverbal communication such as your tone, pitch or manner of speaking

Office Order

It is an order issued by the employer or the authority or senior employees. Office orders contain instructions about work-related information indicated by the organization.

Advantages of Oral Communication

• Time-saving Where rapid action is necessary, in that case, it is the best way to send a message orally. On the other handwritten communication takes a long time to reach the sender. But oral communication through telephone calls or conversations with the subordinates makes savings of time which are so important in the business world.

• Reduction of cost Oral communication doesn’t require any expenditure in the collection and maintenance of pens, papers, typewriters, or computers or any other materials as are needed for written communication. So, it is time and money savings.

• Easiness It is an easy means of communication because it needs little preparation for transmitting a message. Like written communication, it does not require any pen, pencil, and other writing equipment.

• Effective for illiterate persons Illiterate people cannot read but they can hear and understand any information or message. So, this is the most appropriate means of communication for the illiterate people.

• Quick Feedback Another primary advantage is that it provides quick feedback in the form of oral messages or information. Thus sender or speaker can take further decisions.

• Maintaining Secrecy In oral communication, the speaker and listener can maintain secrecy because there may not be any additional person involved. It is the willingness of the speaker and listener to keep their communication out of reach from others.

• Reliability It is true that employees feel more secure when they communicate through oral communication. Oral communication can provide immediate feedback and clarification.

• Co-ordination An Organization to attain its goal requires full coordination of all departments or divisions. Such coordination is possible through oral communication because it can quickly instruct advice or motivate the employees as required by the situation.

• Motivation In oral communication, superiors and subordinates can sit face to face and exchange their views directly; such arrangement motivates and inspires the employees to work with great care.

• Avoidance of slowcoach The speaker should not be formal when he sends a message in oral communication. So, he can talk to anybody at any time without any formalities required for written communication.

• Flexibility Oral communication enjoys the benefits of flexibility. Any communication if written cannot be changed quickly and if the message is already sent then it is out of control of the sender.

• Special Application In the case of the seminar, conversation, meeting, group discussion, assemblies, and telephonic conversation, the apple of these kinds of communication bears significant appeal.Besides the above merits, oral communication is also found to be helpful in developing human relations, creating understanding, settlement of disputes, correction of information, and others.

Disadvantages of Oral Communication Oral communication suffers from various drawbacks or limitations which are listed below:

• No Record In oral communication, messages are not preserved and hence they are not found in the record book. These messages cannot be retrieved in the future.

• Misunderstanding Due to the limitations of human memory, oral messages cannot be kept in mind in full context. Because of inattentiveness in hearing the oral messages, the communication will be barred.

• Distorted meaning As oral messages are not filed, their meanings may easily be distorted. Such distortion may lead to a rumor which will move faster than wind.

• Lack of accuracy There is every possibility of an inaccurate message to reach the destination. It may be because of noise or the receiver forgets part or whole message.

• Limited Use  If oral messages are lengthy then they are not suitable for transmission because of the probability of missing some important; messages.

• Confused Speech If a receiver of the message has a hearing problem, then the purpose of oral communication becomes difficult to be achieved. The partial hearing will obviously produce partial communication. As a result, there will be confusion among all parties involved in a communication.

• No Legal validity Oral messages have any legal validity. As oral messages are not kept in record, so it can be denied easily by the speaker if the situation goes against him.

• Leakage of secret information When a speaker speaks he may not be careful about the speech. So, secret information can be leaked out.

• More importance is given on presenting the speech  In oral communication, a speaker always tries to be a good speaker. So, naturally, the communicator gives more importance to presenting the messages with style. As a result, important messages can be ignored.

• Emotion While delivering any speech, the speaker may become emotional. This may make the message difficult and complex for the receiver of communication.

• Less effectiveUsually, an oral message carries less weight than written messages. In certain cases like programs, policies, instructions, oral communication is less effective.

• Expensive To transmit oral messages at a distant place, we need to use the telephone, radio, television, etc. Such things are costly mechanical devices. So, the receiver needs to spend money on such devices for participating in oral communication

• Late Decision Here, Speaker requires spending much time on discussion and explanation. As a result, decision making is delayed.

• Not easy to fix Responsibility In oral communication, if any mistake occurs, then it is very difficult to make someone responsible for the mistake as there is no evidence for such communication.

• Possibility of conspiracy Oral communication has no evidence, so there may be interested persons to take the advantages of such a thing to fulfill their ill motive. Therefore, oral communication may lead to conspiracy sometime.

Difference # Formal Communication & Informal Communication:

Formal Communication’ is the transmission of information in formal organizational structure and in specific direction.

The purposes of formal communication are to give orders, convey instructions and fulfill the objectives of the organisation through some pre-determined rules and regulations.

Letters, reports, memos, speeches, e-mail, internet, website, etc. are used in the case of formal communication.

In the case of formal communication feedback requires some time due to completion of formal procedure.

Formal communication is time-consuming and costly.

It is official and formal in nature.

It requires sanction of the higher authority.

Flexibility is not found in it. It is generally rigid in nature.

Information is reliable, correct, factual and standard in it.

Formal communication is routine type and systematic.

It is generally written.

Formal communication being written and structured is transparent. Hence it is reliable.

Formal communication flows in a systematic manner according to the procedure. It takes its own time.

Generally formal communication moves both downward and upward.

Personal influence is almost nil in such communication

Person giving wrong information can be located and be made responsible or the offence.

Difference # Informal Communication:

1. ‘Informal Communication’ is the communication on the basis of informal relations and understanding among the people at the same or different levels.

2. The purposes of informal communication are to build up informal relationship through personal contacts, sharing of information, etc.

3. Usually verbal channels (e.g., face-to-face conversations, telephone calls, gossip, etc.) are used in the case of informal communication.

4 . In informal communication feedback is immediate.

5. Informal communication being verbal is less costly and immediate. Of course, gossip may consume productive working hours.

6. It is unofficial and informal in nature.

7. No sanction of the higher authority is required.

8. It is loose and very much flexible.

9. There is every possibility of information being inaccurate and half true in it and hence it is not dependable and trust¬worthy.

10. Informal communication does not follow any struc¬tured route or process.

11. It is mostly verbal.

12. Informal communication is less transparent because gossip generates concocted stories and rumor. It lacks reliability.

13. Informal communication is fast-flowing specially in the case of rumors.

14. Informal communication moves towards any direction —upward, downward, side- wise, parallel, etc..

15. Personal influence is the basis of such communi¬cation. Personal opinion, suggestion, views, liking, etc. are very important here.

16. No one can be made responsible for any distorted information or rumor as the source of information is difficult to locate here.

Difference Between Verbal And Non-Verbal Communication

COMPARISON PARAMETER	VERBAL COMMUNICATION	NON-VERBAL COMMUNICATION
Definition	Verbal communication involves the use of words or speech or auditory language to express emotions or thoughts or exchange information.	Non-verbal communication involves the use of visual or non-verbal cues such as facial expressions, eye or body movements, gestures, and many more without speaking.
Communication Type	Formal as well as Informal	Informal
Impact of the Message	Very impactful as it is documented.	Very comprehensive as it shows the actual emotions of the person.
Communicates	Precise information.	Required and at times more information.
Conveyed Through	Emails, letters, notes, reports, i.e. Anything in written and oral format where words are used.	Through Body posture, gestures, eye contacts, face expressions i.e. any form of expression.
Transparency Status	Clear and Concise.	Complex and sometimes confusing.

Role Of Feedback In Communication

• Feedback is the final component and one of the important factors in the process of communication.

• It is defined as the response given by the receiver to the sender.

• The sender needs response of the receiver in order to decide effectiveness of communication.

• Feedback can be negative or positive. Positive feedback indicates that the sender can continue his communication in the same manner as before. Negative feedback on the other hand, indicates a need for a change in the manner of communication.

• The feedback tells the sender many things such as whether the message is received successfully or not, whether the receiver liked it or not, whether the choice of channel/medium was appropriate etc.

• If the appropriate feedback is given by the receiver to the sender, then the sender can modify, remodel, his strategy of communication.

There are different types of feedbacks. These are:

• Positive feedback

• Negative feedback

• Deliberate positive

• Deliberate negative

• Immediate feedback

• Delayed feedback

• No feedback

• No feedback is also feedback in itself. It would indicate disagreement or a reluctant acceptance of ideas.

• Feedback can also be verbal or non-verbal. A smile would be a positive non-verbal feedback, whereas a frown would indicate a negative feedback.

• Each type of feedback has its own features and messages hidden inside them for the sender.

Essential Rules of Phone Etiquette

• No more than three rings

• Speak clearly

• Immediately introduce yourself

• Be sensitive to the tone of your voice

• Use proper language

• Stay positive and remain cheerful

• Actively listen and take notes

• Nice or lighter colored ingredients as the base.