Different Types Of Business Communication – Everyone’s heard the phrase “communication is key,” and it rings especially true in business. Whether you’re an executive delivering internal goals to your team or a virtual receptionist serving customers, clear and effective business communication can make or break a company’s success.
Effective communication is essential in business, but the trick is to ensure that your team is always communicating successfully. We understand it’s not easy, but we’ve been voted the best business client/customer communication services specialist in America, so we’ve broken down different types of business communication to help your business communicate more effectively.
Different Types Of Business Communication
We’ll teach you about the four types of business communication and their strengths and weaknesses, so your team can better tailor their communication to each situation.
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Business communication involves the exchange of information between members of an organization and from outside the organization. The four major types include upward contact, downward contact, lateral contact, and external contact.
Upward, downward, and lateral communication types refer to internal business communication or information exchanged within an organization. This differs from external business communication, which refers to interactions that occur between an organization and an external party.
We’ve outlined the strengths and weaknesses of each type of business communication and how to communicate successfully in each situation.
As the name suggests, upward communication refers to any interaction that raises the bar for your company. The most common example is when a direct report interacts with a supervisor or manager. Another example is when a manager communicates with senior directors or managers.
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This type of business communication allows higher-ups to stay abreast of what’s going on in the company. It also provides an opportunity for employees to ask questions, raise concerns, or make suggestions.
Downward communication refers to the exchange of information from higher levels of an organization to lower levels of the organizational hierarchy. Although the direction is opposite to the above communication, the two types often work hand in hand.
An example of downward communication is when a manager gives instructions to a direct report in an e-mail or communicates a manager’s business goals to a manager. Such communication allows management to disseminate information, assign responsibilities, and enforce standards.
When employees communicate with peers at the same level in a department or organization, it is considered lateral or horizontal communication. An example of peer communication is a colleague calling another colleague or a team of managers to discuss a new hire.
Different Types Of Communication
The purpose of collaborative communication is to promote cooperation and coordination in an organization. Without effective lateral communication, an organization cannot achieve its business goals.
External communication involves the exchange of information within the organization and outside the organization. For example, a group in your company may send out invitations for a promotional campaign to customers, or your organization may issue a press release to promote a new product or service.
This also includes electronic communications from your organization to consumers, customers or other parties via the website, email or social media. Your organization’s external communications should be a top priority because it governs your company’s reputation and external relationships.
Now that you know the different types of business communication, it’s helpful to recognize the common communication channels that companies use. There are three main methods of communication in the work environment: face-to-face, electronic and written communication.
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This type of synchronous communication occurs when two or more people communicate with each other while they can see each other’s faces. Traditionally, this refers to face-to-face interactions where two parties share a physical space (eg, face-to-face). However, with the rise of the virtual workplace, this also means face-to-face interaction online (e.g. video conferencing).
Any form of communication that takes place via electronic media (such as a telephone or computer) is classified as electronic communication. Electronic communications can be real-time or asynchronous.
Common examples of e-commerce communications include email, live web chats, Facebook chats or other social media communications, and communications on project management platforms.
Information exchanged in one direction, using only written words, is classified as written communication. This channel is widely used in business and comes in the form of reports, memos, contracts, proposals, manuals, standard operating procedures (SOPs), and press releases.
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Emails, websites, and blog posts are also considered electronic forms of written communication due to their one-way nature.
There is overlap between these channels, and it is important to recognize that some methods of communication are not purely suited to one project. For example, email is a form of both electronic and written communication. You can use these items as a guide for your workplace communication.
Furthermore, whether verbal or non-verbal, synchronous or asynchronous, communication varies across channels depending on various factors such as formality. These factors affect business communication, so pay attention to them and adjust as needed.
Practicing effective business communication will help your organization succeed and grow. Here are some of the key benefits of good business communication inside and outside your organization.
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Open and accessible internal communication promotes a positive culture in your company. Leadership’s bottom-up communication influences how employees are engaged and helps keep morale high, while open-top communication listens to employees.
In addition, collaborative communication reduces interdepartmental competition and promotes intergroup cohesion. Problem solving and conflict reduction are also helpful.
It is said that innovation only comes through communication, and companies can drive innovation by encouraging interaction. Lateral communication, in the form of brainstorming sessions and meetings, encourages teammates to exchange ideas and unleash their creativity.
Open upward communication also helps employees communicate with seniors and innovate within the company at risk, while downward communication clarifies leadership goals for innovation. Lateral and upward communication also promotes knowledge sharing, and external communication is used to share innovative ideas with the public.
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Another advantage of using good corporate communications is that it can improve your business. Effective bottom-line communication is critical to communicating business goals to employees and helping your organization achieve greater success.
Business communication also helps employee performance and productivity. The report found that 60% of business professionals face a communication crisis every month. Upward communication helps employees guide when they need it, and lateral communication promotes collaboration and cooperation so teams can solve problems and achieve greater results.
Finally, external communication helps to build good working relationships with other organizations so that your company’s work flow is not obstructed by others.
Internal communication is also a tool that makes employees happier, happier at work, and less likely to lose their jobs. One study found that employee satisfaction with internal communications predicted better employee engagement and greater attraction to employers.
Kinds (types) Of Communication Employed By Business Organisations
Keeping the lines of communication open between employees and management fosters a good working relationship and helps managers better understand the feelings of employees.
Specifically, facilitated upward communication provides feedback to employees about pain points in the work process or employee experiences. Based on all feedback, management can improve processes and increase employee retention.
External communication is critical to creating engaging and valuable customer experiences. When companies respond, they get more leads and customers.
Providing helpful and informative customer service through chat services such as Live Chat is critical to increasing customer satisfaction. It also helps with problem solving and customer retention, as your external contacts can help resolve customer issues.
What Is Business Communication?
All forms of business communication are essential to the success and growth of your business. Take the time to understand the nuances of upstream, downstream, lateral, and external communications so your organization can better adapt to any situation.
Use our success tips to help your team with every communication, both internal and external, and don’t forget to use key resources when it comes to business communication.
Maddie Martin is vice president of sales. Over the past 15 years, Madi has built her expertise and reputation in small business communications, lead conversion, email marketing, partnerships and SEO.
Get 3 months of free live chat when you sign up for a hosting plan – now through June 30, 2022 Internal business communication is at the heart of a company’s success. It affects everything from employee happiness and customer relationships to brand identity and the bottom line.
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But despite its importance, 57% of US companies surveyed don’t have a dedicated internal communications specialist, and 60% of business professionals say they don’t measure their internal communications performance.
Considering these numbers, according to a Gallup poll, 65% of employees are “disengaged” in the workplace.
A report by the Economist Press explains why this is most likely due to the added stress of bad work (52 percent), procrastinating or not being able to complete a project (44 percent) and low morale (31 percent). .
To improve these findings, business leaders need to advance in their full understanding of the four key business interactions. We also go down