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Did you know that employees who feel included in more detailed communication are nearly five times more likely to report increased productivity or that poor business communication costs more than $12 thousand per employee for a typical US company per year? This cost will surely increase as we continue to make our way in the internet and knowledge era and those with the best business communication practices both within (internal) and outside (external) their organizations will hold the key to a more productive and permanent future.
Business communication is the process of sharing information within (Internal) or outside (External) a company. Both the Internal and External Business Communication are key to a company’s success.
In the past, quite often, communication efforts were overlooked by top managers and belittled. However, with the beginning of the information age and the development of the technologies by which information is shared, communication started to earn its deserved place. The increase in the volume of information both within the organizations (due to increase in the number of channels to communicate) and outside (big data accumulation via online channels and customer tracking abilities) gave power to those who mostly knew how to benefit from it or make use of it.
Today’s business communication necessitates constant flow of information in a very organized manner. Feedbacks coming from within and outside the organization should be acutely processed and shared. Internally, this becomes more important if the organization is big and has various levels of hierarchy since instant feedback plays a greater role in the management of people and the operations. Externally, it becomes more delicate since there are many touchpoints with customers and the intense competition favors those with better customer relations management and have higher customer satisfaction.
Source: https://www.grammarly.com/business/learn/communication-cost-infographic/
Did you know that employees who feel included in more detailed communication are nearly five times more likely to report increased productivity or that poor business communication costs more than $12 thousand per employee for a typical US company per year? This cost will surely increase as we continue to make our way in the internet and knowledge era and those with the best business communication practices both within (internal) and outside (external) their organizations will hold the key to a more productive and permanent future.
Hence, in today’s knowledge and information age, effective internal and external business communication processes should be a part of company culture to stay in the game and attain higher productivity and growth.
Business Communication can primarily be separated as external and internal communication. While most people are familiar with external communication methods like press releases or social media posts many tend to get confused about internal communication.
However, internal business communication is as much as or sometimes can be much more important than external communication. It can increase business productivity and job satisfaction by decreasing employee turnover and resentments. Yet, 60% of companies don’t have a long-term strategy for their internal communications. Internal business communication can further be categorized as “internal downward”, “internal upward” and “internal lateral” communication.
Hence, business communication in general can be categorized under four classes:
Internal downward communication is the one way business communication from superiors to one or more subordinates. This communication should have a professional, precise and clear format.
This flow of information is in its core used to keep employees updated with complete information. Transferring crucial information, providing instructions, sharing marketing research outcomes, motivating staff and encouraging discussions between people are the most common cases of downward communication.
Internal downward communication plays an important role in company culture. Especially, if a company wants its employees to embrace and adopt its core company values, regulations and policies, it should rely more on internal downward communications. The organizational goals of a company can also be more aligned with core company values if the internal downward communication is working effectively. Any new merge or acquisition should be communicated with employees as soon as possible in the most appropriate time.
A Gallup poll points out that 65% of employees feel “disengaged” in the workplace. Internal downward communication is an important part of forging employee relationships. Employees should always be enlightened about uncertainties when needed. One of these major uncertainties for employees all around the world was the future of pandemic work. While some companies were good at shedding light on this issue and kept its employees constantly updated, others couldn’t. According to a McKinsey report nearly half of the employees told that this was causing them concern or anxiety. Anxiety is known to decrease work performance, reduce job satisfaction, and negatively affect interpersonal relationships with colleagues, among other ills. (According to the same report the loss of productivity because of poor mental health—including anxiety—might be as high as $1 trillion per year for the global economy)
Lastly,performance feedback forms are another important element of the internal downward communication. A regular performance check can provide employees appreciation and rewards in both monetary and non-monetary terms for their better performance. This in turn will enhance employee loyalty and satisfaction.
Communication works both ways. So, another important part of a solid company culture should be internal upwards communication. The employees at every level should be able to share their thoughts and suggestions and raise their questions in an effective and easy way. Internal upwards business communication should have participative characteristics.
This is also necessary in order to have a true understanding of the company’s operations. Especially when the organization is big in size, the increasing number of departments and hierarchy levels places a very important role on upwards communication. Because most of the time internal upwards communication is used to provide timely feedback, suggestions, requests and escalating issues or concerns - where superiors are informed or turned to.
With an effective internal upward communication immediate feedback can be obtained and misunderstandings can be avoided.
Internal lateral communication is the most used type of business communication that takes place among employees in the workplace. It can be within or among departments.
All the correspondence and information share within and among departments fall into the category of internal lateral communication. Communication gaps, especially the internal lateral communication gaps are dangerous for any organization and they can lead to misunderstandings and big losses in productivity. And if it is done right it can boost engagement & productivity levels in an organization. Maintaining a flowing and effective internal lateral communication has become much more important after the Covid-19 pandemic. The tools to connect employees also increased in variety in the same period.
E-mail correspondence is no longer enough and keeping up with these new technologies and tools for internal communication can promote employee empowerment and connectivity. Instant messaging apps, webinars, collaborative platforms and online management and analytic tools are some of the tools essential for companies to invest in internal communications.
Despite all these facts, 60% of companies don’t have a long-term strategy for their internal communications. Here are some trends to follow if you are convinced to lean more over it.
Millennials represent half of the workforce worldwide and they are projected to represent 75% of the workforce by 2025. This generation as well as gen Z employees, are tech-savvy and mobile-oriented. Hence to engage with these employees both the ways and tools as well as the content of business communications should be adjusted to mobile-first preferences.
In the past, intranet communication was mostly conducted over the intranet. However, today, only 13% of employees use their intranets on a daily basis and the intranet is no longer enough to catch employees’ attention.
Hence, to improve employee communication and to make sure that the entire organization has an aligned access to important information most of the companies are embarking on the mobile technologies and apps.
The mobile world and mobile apps are developing rapidly and the users have an increasing number of different devices and apps to help with their daily tasks. Hence, visionary organizations should start embracing mobile technology for their internal communications. Going mobile is also important since our lives became more remote.
A typical workday from 9 to 5 or 8 to 6 became less defined after the Covid-19 pandemic. The pandemic had a transformative power over business and everyday life. Most of the people are traveling and working remotely more often and they want to see new communication platforms and apps that enable them to get their work done from everywhere and at any time.
According to an Expert Market survey conducted with 100 businesses based in North America and Europe, %74 of companies have all staff currently working remotely (as opposed to 26% pre-covid) and 82% of companies expect its staff to request remote working after they have returned to the office.
Another research by McKinsey shows that employees will continue to demand flexibility. 64% prefer a hybrid model rather than fully onsite (17%). Communication is the key here. As per research results employees who feel included in more detailed communication are nearly five times more likely to report increased productivity.
Hence, managers should conduct a thoughtful, open, ongoing, and two-way dialogue with employees, to shape the solution from the onset. With internal downward communication employers should share their broad direction, aspiration, and key principles now and ask for employees suggestions and feedback with upward communication.
Any communication with external parties including; customers, government officials, prospects, communities, stakeholders, vendors or partners is called external business communication. External communications should be part of the business and marketing plans.
From press releases to annual reports, purchase orders to newsletters, brochures, emails and magazines all the material and content shared with the third parties falls under this category.
All external communication content should be aligned to reflect the same values and should most of the time have the same tone. Consistency of the materials shared externally is very important to create a positive impact on the company’s public persona and reputation. All the outside businesses, customers, partners, investors, and the rest of your audience perceive your business and your brand through your external communication.
Since communication with customers also falls under this category, external communication requires extra care and diligence. Customer feedback and customer relations are key to customer satisfaction, hence the success and growth of the company.
When external communication is poorly executed your customers and stakeholders can get conflicting messages which can tarnish your company’s reputation. A wrong data, a careless quote can bring down all the marketing campaigns and can have an adverse lasting impact on your brand image.
A good external communication targeting your audiences relies on “Know Your Customer” principles. Knowing your audience will enable you to set the right external messaging, as well as the right language, tone, images, and channel.This is especially true when it comes to press releases or the content supporting your marketing strategies like white papers, presentations, social media posts, website content or blog articles.
An effective business communication requires a highly experienced approach
While an effective and flowing business communication can benefit your company in every aspect, leaving your business communication to inexperienced hands can yield risky and irreversible outcomes. These can vary from employee and productivity losses to brand image disasters.
Hence, especially if you are a juvenile company or an SME with limited sources you might consider outsourcing some part of your external business communications and get help from an experienced agency. Covid-19 has expedited the expansion of SaaS companies and there are many credible companies you can turn to.
