Introduction
Business communication is vital for success
in all business. Success in this context means, being able to accomplish a
particular task or to achieve a specific objective. Good business
communications in relationships either with fellow staffs or customers is
needed in order to prosper. Business success can be measured in terms of the
practicability of business relationships which is directly proportional to the
quality of communication. In this paper I will look at the ways of achieving
successful communication.
Steps in Achieving Successful Business
Communication
The first step in successful business
communication is to identify the communication weaknesses in a business. This
can be through brainstorming where challenges facing the business can be
identified. Such challenges can be obtained through reviewing the day to day
activities of the business. Some questions may serve as a guideline, these
include: Have employees been provided with a good working environment? Are they
happy with what they are doing? Has the business been able to satisfy all the
clients? Is proper information provided to all stakeholders? Is there good flow
of conversations?
After reviewing the above issues, then the
business has to address these challenges giving the first priority to the most
troublesome. By addressing the challenges one by one the relationship in
general is strengthened. There is need to develop proactive and constructive
communication skills in order to tackle these challenges. Once a challenge is
chosen, one has to consider the issues that make it a challenge then address
them systematically. For example, a business may be faced by a challenge of
unsatisfied employees; issues causing this may be inadequate communication,
lack of a safe working environment or poor organization structure. If such
issues are addressed, then that challenge will be tackled.
Communication means more than just giving
out messages; it involves speaking, listening, sending, and receiving messages.
In communication, listening is the key to success and most of the time
listening gets people into problems because they do not practice it. For
business communication to be successful, listening has to be proficient.
Listening simply means holding back one's judgment and allowing answers to come
from outside. When a business is faced with challenges, there are people who already
know what the problem
After listening and taking notes from the
suggested solutions, a business can now move forward and define what it wants
to achieve. This is a very critical stage and one has to be proactive in order
to achieve success. One has to think about the benefits to be achieved and how
they will affect the success of the business. A suggested solution may be to
improve the business's relationship with its customers. Strategies to achieve
this includes but not limited to answering calls in a polite manner, addressing
all concerns, listening to customers, responding to complaints, providing
information, and thanking customers for their support. This helps in earning
customers' confidence.
The next step is to prepare a communication
plan that is proactive. This is a plan that is prepared after defining a
business success and getting solution from the listening activities. Things to
be included in the plan include: taking employees to seminars that cover topics
such as customer care, organizing get together between employers and employees,
rewarding employees, holding regular meetings, including major stakeholders in
business decision, assurance to personal service among others. This plan does
not concentrate in solving past troubles but in laying down a good foundation that
guarantees business future success (Pride et al 2009:169). A communication plan
should take into consideration the availability of resources and whether the
business aims at a long term or short term objective.
Once a communication plan has been prepared,
the business now focuses on the implementation. The expected result should be
kept in mind and the main constitute of the plan reviewed to make sure they are
in line with the expected result. The implementation process should involve as
many people as possible but it should have one person who is accountable to it.
Once the implementation process is complete, the business should take time to
reflect on what it has just done and consider whether it has been able to meet
the objective of the plan.
The final step of a successful business
communication is evaluation of the results. One should go back two steps and
review what was the objective and aim of carrying out the plan. The results
should be evaluated to make sure that they are in line with the expectation.
Once the business is satisfied with the result, it should take time to thank
everyone who participated in the whole process and reward itself.
Conclusion
Business
communication is vital in business success. For communication to be effective
it should embrace good relationships with major stakeholders of a business. One
has to establish the weakness in business communication, address these
weaknesses and allow room for listening. Communication means more than just
giving out messages; it involves speaking, listening, sending and receiving
messages. Listening simply means holding back one's judgment and allowing
answers to come from outside. The next step is to prepare a communication plan
that is proactive. This is a plan that is prepared after defining a business's
success and getting solution from the listening activities then evaluate the
results of the plan.