What is Business Communication?

How Business Communication Can Help Eradicate Company Problems

Hopefully, it is becoming clearer that a company that is proficient in business communication has more of an advantage in nearly every category. From teams to managers, from employees and workers to executives, dynamic business communication compels everyone to perform their duties as well as they possibly can and remain diligent about fulfilling their responsibilities to the company.

One aspect of business communication that is overlooked is that the process is inspired by the tools that one chooses to use. These tools, many of which we have already touched on, vary based on the type of the business, the business sector, and even the nature of the employees. The heads of the company, then, should be familiar with the interests, skills, and overall culture of their employees and able to tailor their communication plans to these traits. When the tools given to a particular set of employees are wrong, there is no ongoing flow of information, and some employees are left out. Business communication is about cohesion.

Many problems facing companies these days focus on this lack of cohesion or flow. Especially these days, as many of us work remotely; it can be difficult to build a brand aesthetic and create a group of employees who share the same work ethic and set of beliefs. When some employees are simply not receiving all of the office information or reading or seeing a different set of guidelines and rules than others, the business can suffer in a variety of ways. Businesses without clear communication have no sense of unity or togetherness, and this translates to apathetic and dissatisfied workers, unhappy customers, and lost profits.

How can establish an improved send of business communication aid your business? In a variety of ways. Let’s take a look.

1) Customer Services that Suffers

When a company’s employees do not communicate clearly or effectively, customer service suffers. There is a clear link between communication within a company and communication between the company and its customers and prospective customers. Here is the chain of events that can impact a business based on a lack of emphasis on communication. First, employees lack information, feel out of the loop, and overall lose a sense of investment and fulfillment in their jobs. Second, the customers—the most important aspect of a business, perhaps—easily sense this lack of motivation and begin to share in the negativity. Third, the cycle perpetuates itself and worsens. Research tells us, in fact, that overall customer satisfaction is influenced by the attitudes of workers. It also tells us that happy customers are directly related to profits and revenue.

2) Employee Engagement and Turnover

If employee engagement is low and employee turnover is high, it is not an overstatement to say that business communication could get things back on track. Losing employees who you rely on instantly jeopardizes a business, and it is important to take a hard look at the reasons why this occurs and what an employer can do to stop it. Constantly having to search for new employees is expensive and time-consuming as well, since losing one worker can cost a business as much as twice their salary. However, instituting new methods of clear, concise business communication can help to fix these lingering problems and give the company a chance to recover, reset, and move forward. Research tells us that when companies practice effective business communication, they are more than 50% more apt to report lower turnover levels than the average in their respective industry.

3) Vertical and Horizontal Communication

One of the hallmarks of fluid business dialogue is that different teams and unique departments talk to each other regularly. Sometimes, a company can become divided among departments through no fault of its own, especially in larger corporations. When departments and different teams do not exchange information and dialogue with each other, common goals can become erased.

Another issue that involves vertical conversation occurs when an employee feels uncomfortable about or is unable to reach out to a manager or supervisor. In the worst cases, these workers are ignored. When these isolation chambers occur, they are often called “silos” of communication, and it is important to address them in any business communication plan.

4) Excess Emails, Poor Productivity, and Unclear Goals

If you ask most modern-day office workers, they receive upwards of hundreds of emails per day. This is obviously overwhelming and can lead to a lack of daily progress. One of the keys to an effective business communication system is that it can reduce digital distractions. Learning to reorganize email and separate personal from work-related is a solid first step and can create valuable space not only in our inboxes but in our heads, to be replaced with new ideas and positive thinking.

5) Remote Employees and Office Interaction

Pandemic or no pandemic, remote work has landed, and it is surely here to stay. One only has to look at the nature of office workers across America’s cities and see that office spaces are shrinking, and remote productivity and satisfaction are rising. One of the largest obstacles within the field of remote work is maintaining clear communication with remote employees who are often on different schedules than others. With the right communication plan, companies can improve collaboration with their growing list of remote workers and make sure they still feel like part of the team.

Setting Up A Business Communication Plan

As is true with anything else business-related, a solid plan and outline will save time and money in the long run. When companies seek to improve the overall satisfaction of their customers and employees, they should look no further than a comprehensive, concise business communication process.

A good plan begins with an honest appraisal of what is working and what is not. Often, an employer can simply ask workers, in the form of messages (which can be anonymous) or surveys, why they feel that communication is difficult or nonexistent at the company and how they feel things can be improved. Often, employees are eager to weigh in and cite things like dishonesty, irrelevant information around the office, exclusion, formation of cliques, lack of vertical/horizontal dialogue, lack of access to crucial information, and an overall failure to create an open environment of cohesion.

In fact, research tells us that close to 86% of educators, employees, and even top executives cite a lack of efficient communication as the main reason behind problems, misunderstandings, and failures at work. For a long time, the importance of team chemistry and communication has been emphasized in sports fields but underemphasized in offices across America. However, businesses are beginning to wake up to a new era, where communication is not only key but king.

Here are a few ways to ensure that a business can meet its communication goals and even surpass them.

1) Do Not Use the Tools at Your Disposal: Use the Correct Tools

There is no recipe for employers to follow that identifies the correct tools, programs, platforms, or devices for a specific office or industry. This is because as much as we can make generalizations and attempt to collect data about business dialogue, every office is different, and what works for one may simply not work for the others. Each workplace is a collection of unique individuals with different talents and preferences. One person or group may work more effectively with Google Drive, while another will find Dropbox has the features they need. Outlook might produce great communication for one workplace, while another will swear by Gmail. It is important not to overemphasize these contests, though, because an employer with a quality business communication plan will be able to get the most out of their team regardless of the strengths and weaknesses of different tools.

As an employer and their teams begin to develop a new business communication philosophy, however, they will need to make some important choices. The specific brands and plans you use are up to you, but here are some suggestions regarding how to set up a clear, simple, and user-friendly plan.

• To start, put in place a uniform phone system in all of your offices, and if you conduct more than half of your meetings remotely, choose a system that is specifically set up for that.
• Employing one single tool for chatting and inter-office messaging is a good start. Division within the ranks can grow as some people are on Gmail Hangouts and others are congregating and sending important messages on Slack. The key is to find something that is easy for everyone is able to use that promotes cohesion and togetherness.
• A cloud storage system can help to save important documents, recordings, and other crucial data. Backing up this information and syncing it automatically will ensure that you will never spend all day searching for one idea, just to remember that you never saved the memo from the meeting. Calendars and emails should also be collected on one platform, such as Outlook, as opposed to two or three.
• One thing we have continually emphasized here is that all communication must be unified, from employer to supervisor, from internal sources to external sources. One message, one community, and one company ethos should coordinate the efforts and aims of the brand. Consistent editorial guidelines should be followed, and all writers should use a consistent tone and voice. Unity is key in communication and elsewhere.

2) Delineate Clear Methods of Communication

Next, consider what communication means to sync with your specific company goals. The key here is to facilitate quality interactions among the intelligent, motivated individuals who make up your company. Each business is different, but below is a checklist to consider. You will probably not want to focus on all of these, especially as your prepare your first communication plan.

• Surveys of Employees, Customers, and Clients
• Meetings Done Face-to-Face
• Video Conferences
• Telephone Calls / Video Calls
• Forum Boards
• Official Documents and Reports
• Presentations
• Customer Management Activities

Questions to Ask:

Which of these will help your company achieve its goals?

Which of these might create resistance among your employees?

Which of these are too risky, based on simply adding too many tools or too much information too fast?

For example:

A startup consisting of six people where everyone works in the same office will likely focus on:

• Web-based Dialogue
• Managing Customers
• Face-to-face Meetings
• A 100-person company that has gone fully remote will focus on:
• Video and Phone Conferences
• Document Organization and Tracking

A significantly larger, perhaps global corporation will use all of these tools and more, yet they will still have a well-prepared business communication plan that coordinates employees and teams, remote and otherwise, into one cohesive unit.

3) Use Auditing to Set Realistic Goals

By now, it should be fairly obvious what kinds of advantages a business communication plan can provide for your company. It does not matter the stage, level, or size; communication can transform an average business into one that performs at a high level. This is based on an efficient flow of information that places everyone on the same page and begins with a plan that is both comprehensive and unique to your company.

To start, an employer should focus on the areas that are in need of the most significant improvements, then create a one-, two-, or five-year plan to address the rest of the issues or areas of growth going forward.

If your business suffers from any of the issues listed below, it is time for a new business communication plan:

• Overall lack of transparent information, based on remote work
• Low outputs of productivity in most/all areas of the business
• Poor employee satisfaction, poor customer satisfaction
• Speedy growth accompanied by more and more disorganization

Perhaps your business is not experienced any of these issues, but you can indeed identify 3-4 different problems that are setting you back. Make a list, and then set goals for overcoming these information-based issues. You might focus on:

• Increasing interactions among departments
• Completing more projects per day, month, or quarter
• One particular employee satisfaction or turnover rate
• Rate of customer satisfaction and happiness

These are obviously not strict guidelines or prescriptions, but they should provide a sense of how business communication is strongly related to company performance.

4) Identify The Groups and Teams that Make Up Your Company and Become Familiar With How They Interact

When an employer understands how their workplace is set up, they can work on improving a sense of synthesis among the different groups and offices. Each group might be working on different aspects of the business and possess different goals—but they should all have access to the same information and be able to speak freely with each other. This is sometimes a rarity in the business world, but it will allow the company to function as a cohesive whole. Your company’s groups may vary, but here are a few big-picture categories:

• External groups: partners, customers, suppliers, and more
• Vertical classification: team leaders, managers, executives, and more
• Horizontal classification: departments (design, operations, human resources, sales, marketing, customer support, finance, and more)

When you examine these groups, consider the work they accomplish on a day-to-day basis. What role do they play in the company? What do you expect of these different leaders and groups, and have they been equipped with the correct tools to aid them in their pursuit of company goals?

Now, outline the different connections between these groups. How can they communicate with each other in a more advantageous fashion?

An employer’s questions might include:

• Which processes or projects can only be completed with approval from other people in the company? How are approvals facilitated, and can the process be streamlined?
• Are there any problems with the reporting process, and are leaders and supervisors progressing in their day-to-day tasks? What about common goals?
• Which teams and people need to communicate about sensitive matters daily? What about monthly, weekly, or bi-weekly?
• What horizontal or vertical dialogue occurs only when the office is facing an emergency?
• Is there a way to reduce unnecessary meetings and conversations, such as the use of new technology? Do employees/workers have suggestions?

Asking employees questions such as this not only provides answers and suggestions—it shows workers that they matter. It also shows them that their company cares about the information they receive and how difficult or easy it should be to locate information relevant to their work.

5) Documentation Really Is Communication

As you devise a dynamic new plan for office communication, take note of all the changes you implement. Whether your plan works flawlessly or you find you need to make some adjustments, you will be glad you have the records to fall back on. Even more importantly: make these notes transparent for everyone involved in your company. You can even have them add their own notes, depending on the size of your business.

Once you have a document representative of your business communication plan, you will have a map of the changes that you have made and a list of the tools you have decided to implement. In situations of adversity, employees will be able to refer to the plan when they are not sure what to do and ask others how they dealt with similar situations. The sharing of ideas is one of the best aspects of business communication, and the more it is practiced, the easier it becomes.

News Flash: Business Success Starts with Direct Communication

When a company is mired in poor communication and dialogue, they are susceptible to risks. These can include a lack of trust, poor productivity, unhappy employees, and unsatisfied customers. A lack of dialogue within and across a business creates a wealth of problems.

On the flip side, excellent communication has been linked to new ideas, better output, increased profits, happy employees, and higher revenue. It would be impractical to ignore the proven results that come with improved business communication.

Regardless of whether you are searching for a brand-new company communication plan or looking to improve your current plan, here are our last few recommendations. If you have ore questions about business communication or are still dealing with business problems based on a lack of communication, contact Nakase Wade. Our California business lawyers and corporate attorneys can help you deal with any lasting problems plaguing your business, so you can start improving your sense of company-wide communication with a clean slate.

• Analyze and document the needs of your employees. Seek out ways to help them communicate with each other more easily and identify methods that make this new flow of information possible.
• Identify every worker who is involved in the processes that make your company succeed and grow on a daily basis.
• Return to your communication goals often, based on the current state of communication performance in your company. Allow your employees to tell you, through surveys and other dialogue, how things are going.
• Search out the most suitable and cutting-edge platforms and tools, but make sure they fit in with your chosen methods.
• Share your plans for business communication with the entire organization.

As a result of these actions, you will arrive at work each day to be greeted by motivated people who are full of new ideas and anxious to get started. Good luck with all of your business communication goals.