Communication is extremely important for a company. A company without internal communication cannot properly function, as each employee will be completely independent from each other, so nothing can ever be coordinated. Also, companies will have to communicate with one another, and other parties such as ordinary people and the government, to do things such as advertise products, order goods or request services. Therefore, if any company is going to be productive communication is vital. In order for internal communication to be used effectively, leaders and workers of the company will have to decide on an appropriate method in each situation.
There are three main methods for internal communication that you need to know about for the IGCSE syllabus:
- Verbal Communication- This is the fastest method for communication. In effect, it means talking to someone, and passing information along by word of mouth. This can be useful for quickly spreading tasks throughout workers. However, it can be easily misinterpreted, and there is no formal record of any information being passed along, so it can be easily denied. Direct feedback (i.e, instantly giving your opinion of whatever information was passed along) is also very quick and easy.
- Written Communication- This is a much slower method of communication, where the communicator sends information in a text format: emails, letters, memorandums (memos). Despite the decreased speed and the fact that feedback is a much slower process, written communications have definite advantages. It is in "hard" form, so there will always be a copy of it. This makes deniablity hard: the recipient can never say they did not understand or receive the work. Failures in communication is also less probable, as the recipient can just read over the information multiple times if not understood
- Visual Communication- This involves putting up posters or other visual display (PowerPoint presentations, charts, fliers), so people can read it at their will. This makes the information look more appealing and attractive than other forms, which can make it more persuasive. However, no feedback at all is available, so if the reader does not understand, then no help can be easily provided. Also, there is no guarantee that the desired audience will see the display in most cases, so only non-essential information should be given through visual communication.
ICT is also making communication faster: where once it would have taken days for a letter to travel an email can do it in just a few seconds. Skype and video conference software can allow verbal communication between employees and companies thousands of miles away. But the equipment for this can be expenisive and hard for businesses to obtain.
With so many forms of communication, it is ultimatley up to everyone's descrestion what type of of communication is best for their situation.
