interpersonal and inter- cultural elements of communication

8/3/2019 Interpersonal and Inter- Cultural Elements of Communication

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MODULE 1 BY Kasturi Bose


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1.1.What is Business Communication ?

Communication is the mutual exchange of understanding,originating with the reciever. Communication needs to be effective inbusiness. Communication is essence of management. The basicfunctions of management (Planning, Organizing, Staffing, Directingand Controlling) cannot be performed well without effectivecommunication. Business communication involves constant flow ofinformation. Feedback is integral part of business communication.

Organizations these days are very large. It involves number of people.There are various levels of hierarchy in an organization. Greater thenumber of levels, the more difficult is the job of managing theorganization. Communication here plays a very important role inprocess of directing and controlling the people in the organization.Immediate feedback can be obtained and misunderstandings if any can

be avoided. There should be effective communication betweensuperiors and subordinates in an organization, between organizationand society at large(for example between management and tradeunions). It is essential for success and growth of an organization.Communication gaps should not occur in any organization.


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Business Communication is goal oriented. The rules, regulationsand policies of a company have to be communicated to people

within and outside the organization. Business Communication isregulated by certain rules and norms. In early times, businesscommunication was limited to paper-work, telephone calls etc.But now with advent of technology, we have cell phones, videoconferencing, emails, satellite communication to supportbusiness communication. Effective business communicationhelps in building goodwill of an organization.

Business Communication can be of two types:

Oral Communication - An oral communication can be formalor informal. Generally business communication is a formalmeans of communication, like : meetings, interviews, groupdiscussion, speeches etc. An example of Informal businesscommunication would be - Grapevine.

Written Communication - Written means of businesscommunication includes - agenda, reports, manuals etc.


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Organizational communication is the ability of anindividual or group within a collective establishment

to transmit and receive information within thatcollective establishment. Usually organizationalcommunication is premised on common set goals thatthe collective establishment attempts to execute.

Basically organizational communication flows in threedirections; upward, downward and lateral. Upwardimplies from those who are the bulk of theorganizations workforce up to the management andupper hierarchy. Downward implies from the upperranks down to the workforce and lateral meanscommunication back and forth almost as asimultaneous process.


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As with all forms of communication, organizational communicationhas problems at times too. Some of the problems are as follows. Themain problem management often illustrates is the assumption because

they and a few staffers may have some information at their disposalthat the rest of the organization has it as well. Usually the workforce ofan organization is not aware of information unless the management orleaders make it available to them in the first place. Some organizationstry so hard not to be bureaucratic that they bombard the work force

with written instead of verbal communications. A lot of the workforcemay not even bother to read what is written or dont have the time to doso, so they may miss important information as a result.

Sometimes an organizational leader may forget whom he has toldsomething of importance to and it gets lost for that reason. One mustbe aware of what is being said and to whom it is said to. This is crucialto avoid major miscommunications. With that in mind often a leaderor manager may say something that was not understood correctly andmisinterpreted because of it. In organizational communication it is

very important that when communicating things that they are madeextremely clear. The information should also be reinforced by asking ifthe parties understand or not.


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Another problem is data versus information and opinion. If youare executing information that is communicated it should bebased on factual data rather than assumptive opinions. This canquickly alienate the population of the organization because of

your lack of credibility.

When communicating downwards the hierarchy, everyone

down the chain of command should receive a copy of theorganizations mission, values, and strategies and how these goalswill be met. This way everyone in the organization has the samegoals in mind set for the organizations progress. Make sure thateveryone down the line has all the up to date rules andregulations of the organization. There should be a routine of

basic tasks procedures to follow. Individual job descriptions andprocedures for individuals working in the organization shouldalso be specified. You should hold management and staffmeetings on a regular basis even if there is nothing tocommunicate to keep the channels of communication opened.


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In upward communication the staff should feelcomfortable with meeting those up the organizational

ladder. Staff workers should be able to meet withorganizational leaders to discuss their concerns and beheard. Leaders should solicit feed back from the staffand make notes to improve any situations of

contention.When upward and downward communication runs

smoothly in an organization lateral or horizontalcommunication back and forth develops between the

staff and management making for a more efficient goaldirective organization.


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Grapevine Communication (Informal Business Communication)

Grapevine is an informal channel of business communication. It is called sobecause it stretches throughout the organization in all directions irrespectiveof the authority levels. Man as we know is a social animal. Despite existence offormal channels in an organization, the informal channels tend to developwhen he interacts with other people in organization. It exists more at lowerlevels of organization.

Grapevine generally develops due to various reasons. One of them is that when

an organization is facing recession, the employees sense uncertainty. Also, attimes employees do not have self- confidence due to which they form unions.Sometimes the managers show preferential treatment and favour someemployees giving a segregated feeling to other employees. Thus, whenemployees sense a need to exchange their views ,they go for grapevine networkas they cannot use the formal channel of communication in that case.

Generally during breaks in cafeteria,the subordinates talk about their superiorsattitude and behaviour and exchange views with their peers. They discussrumours about promotion and transfer of other employees. Thus, grapevinespreads like fire and it is not easy to trace the cause of such communication attimes.


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Examples of Grapevine Network of Communication

Suppose the profit amount of a company is known. Rumour is spread that thismuch profit is there and on that basis bonus is declared.

CEO may be in relation to the Production Manager. They may have friendlyrelations with each other.

Pros and Cons of Grapevine Communication

Advantages of Grapevine Communication -

Grapevine channels carry information rapidly. As soon as an employee gets toknow some confidential information, he becomes inquisitive and passes thedetails then to his closest friend who in turn passes it to other. Thus, it spreadshastily.

The managers get to know the reactions of their subordinates on their policies.Thus, the feedback obtained is quick compared to formal channel ofcommunication.

The grapevine creates a sense of unity among the employees who share anddiscuss their views with each other. Thus, grapevine helps in developing groupcohesiveness.

The grapevine serves as an emotional supportive value.

The grapevine is a supplement in those cases where formal communication

does not work.


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Disadvantages of Grapevine Communication-

The grapevine carries partial information at times as it is more based

on rumours. Thus, it does not clearly depicts the complete state ofaffairs.

The grapevine is not trustworthy always as it does not follows officialpath of communication and is spread more by gossips andunconfirmed report.

The productivity of employees may be hampered as they spend moretime talking rather than working.

The grapevine leads to making hostility against the executives.

The grapevine may hamper the goodwill of the organization as it maycarry false negative information about the high level people of the

organization. A smart manager should take care of all the disadvantages of the

grapevine and try to minimize them. At the same time, he should makebest possible use of advantages of grapevine.


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1.2. Internal and External CommunicationCommunication may be broadly classified into 2 types. They are

1) Internal Communication2) External Communication

Internal Communication- It may be defined as an exchange facts, ideas,opinions that individuals or departments of an organisation relating to purelyinside matters. Information transmission of various pieces concerning whathappens within an organisation rather than its relationship with the othersoutside an organisation. This implies the concept of internal communication.Thus internal or inside communication is concerned which impliestransmission and reception of information clearly, accurately and speedily.

As generally used inside communication meant giving and receiving

information by all hierarchical levels. It includes vertical communicationcovering downward, upward and horizontal communication. It includescommunication flowing at any intermediate level as well at operating level,or top management level, because internal communication is indeedrequired by all who work together in an organisation to accomplish commongoal.


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Internal Communication may either be oral or written. Oral or verbalcommunication may be face to face conversion; telephones, meetings,conferences, group discussions, personal instructions, lecturers, interviews;counselling, public address system, grapevine, gossip, social affairs, etc.Written internal communication may be through orders, memos, letters, houseorgans, bulletin boards, posters, information, racks, manuals, handbooks,annual reports, grievance, union publications.

External Communication- In addition to the internal communication everyorganisation irrespective of its nature of functioning has to havecommunication links or network outside the organisation structure. The biggerthe enterprise is, the more elaborate the external communication system mustbe in such organisations. It would not be out of way to emphasise that theabove channels of communication work within the organisation. But in real

world situation, every organisation is also linked with the outside parties in theform of suppliers, customers, government, departments, financial institutions,holding and, subsidiary companies , creditors, debenture holders, registrar ofcompanies and other body corporates etc.


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Under all circumstances, it should be kept in mind that for the effectiverunning of the organisation an uninterrupted communication channelexternal to the organisation be maintained to keep the organisationalive and active.

External communication is equally imporant as internalcommunication to provide a link between the employees and theshareholders and other third parties. As a matter of fact, externalcommunication is considered as lifeblood of the modern business.External communication can be arranged by oral or verbalcommunication as well as through written media. Television,telephone, tele- printer, transmitters, STD, ISD, and other modernsophisticated communication technologies can be used for externalcommunication. Written media like letters, circulars, memis, notices,

legal notices, newspapers, magazines, manuals, periodical reports,pamphlets etc., are also used towards external communication.External correspondence is mostly in written form except inextraordinary cirucmstances resorting to telecommunication services.

interpersonal and inter- cultural elements of communication

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