Effective Business Communication and Decision-Making

Effective Business Communication

Communication within the company has definitions applicable to the organization:

• To share a project.
• To interact with other-oriented behavior that develops fulfillment of pre-established objectives.
• A process by which ideas are transferred from one person to another to develop a specific outcome.

Leadership = Communication. It is influencing others through communication processes to achieve objectives. Communication can be external or internal.

• External Communication: Occurs between the company and other companies or the environment.
• Internal Communication: Occurs between members of the organization.

External communications aim to ensure that customers and the environment understand what the company offers. This leads to satisfied and engaged customers who are committed and love to talk about their commitments.

Types of Communication

The types of communication depend on the media used:

• Verbal Communication: Uses words. It allows for direct interaction between sender and receiver, saving time and reducing misunderstandings. It can be individual (between two people) or collective (a group of people).
• Written Communication: Reflected directly on paper. They are divided into internal documents, such as notes sent by email, or verbal mail.
• Nonverbal Communication: Includes body language and demonstrations.

Communication Flows

• Vertical Communication: Established between superior and subordinate, or vice versa.
  • Downward Communication: From a superior to a subordinate. Provides information on targets and tasks within the company.
  • Upward Communication: Informs higher levels of achievement.
• Horizontal Communication: Established between two departments at the same hierarchical level.

Horizontal communication is divided into:

• Formal Communication: Information shared between departments.
• Informal Communication: Established outside the formal business structure.

Communication Objectives

• Operational: Aims to perform work to achieve an objective and is the key component of effectiveness.
• Motivational: Its goal is to make employees feel like doing work and achieving goals; it is the key component of trust and integration of personal communication.

Difficulties in Communication

Effective communication is achieved only if the recipient receives the message. The more intense the message, the more the emitter should influence the receiver. The stronger the claim of validity in what the sender says, the stronger the barriers for the receiver. Emotional components play an important role, and it is the person who gives meaning to words.

5 Steps in Decision-Making

A decision is the choice of one possible alternative solution to a problem.

1. Problem Definition: Requires a detailed study of the real business situation, beyond overt symptoms or external causes.
2. Analysis of Available Information: The second phase. Data can be internal or external. Combine quantified information with accurate information based on experience and intuition.
3. Development of Alternative Solutions: Through a logical process, formulate possible models of explanation for the problem. A model is a simplified representation of reality that shows the cause-effect relationship in the problem.
4. Decision Selection: Evaluate the alternatives and, based on the objective, select the alternative that is considered most adequate.
5. Implementation: The final stage is the practical implementation of the chosen alternative. The implementation of the chosen strategy is vital and depends on the success of the entire process.