Introduction
Every task in a professional environment requires effective communication, for its smooth execution. Lack of effective communication has caused embarrassments for big companies, for instance, NASA’s satellite which vanished on mars, a project that valued over 125 million dollars. This caused a big shame accompanied by huge losses in terms of time and input. Interestingly, the problem was quite simple; improvement in communication would have saved them the loss. Programmers in Britain used metric units while their engineering counterparts in the United States used English: this resulted in a lost satellite and underlines the importance of effective business communication. Business communication trends have shifted to allow for consistency between employees, and a better understanding between managers as well as customers (Locker & Kienzler, 2008, pp. 2-64). This communication paper will attempt to explore the contemporary business communication trends, their role in daily activities, examples, and message types.
Contemporary communication business trends
Business communication is a process that involves the relay of information or data to promote a service, firm, among others. It can also imply the transfer of information between different chains of supply, or even in legal deals. It, therefore, encompasses almost all business activities that cannot be ignored. Besides, it includes various topics ranging from customer relations, through employee engagement, to interpersonal relations. These are generally categorized in two wide areas known as technical and professional communication. Moreover, it embraces different communication channels namely, print, which is in form of hard copies, oral, which could be through face to face or by use of other technological methods like telephone, ambient media, radio, and television among others (Locker & Kienzler, 2008, pp. 2-64).
Trends in business communication are constantly shifting as do the businesses. The changes cover both public and private sectors, among these trends that have shifted include, technology, entrepreneurship, diversity, the flexibility of work, teamwork, those that focus on the needs of customers and their quality, among others. The current advancement in technology has brought in everyone, as it covers all areas of life. Communication has been made closer than before, with employees utilizing e-mail, databases, and software to execute their tasks. Businesses acquire contemporary technologies as they focus on improving their productivity through communication. Examples of such are Wikis, which work as the modern knowledge management tool, digital assistants, also known as Pads, like blackberry, which allow users to perform multiple tasks on it. Others include media devices like iPods that can be used to record minutes in a meeting, and telepresence, which has made meetings much easier as consultants and other business professionals do not have to travel to have a life-like meeting (Locker & Kienzler, 2008, pp. 2-64).
Another trend that is currently experienced with the new technology is information overload, this is because workers are increasingly weighed down by data, and this is unmanageable as they have the information whenever they need it. Estimations by IDC show that e-mails sent daily are about 84 billion, security and privacy of data is also a major concern. This has led to close monitoring of electronic contents using digital surveillance methods like GPS, Cell phones, and chips, among others.
Businesses can now employ the use of keystrokes to monitor customer satisfaction; this trend has helped improve their service delivery. Entrepreneurship skills have been improved through the years with thermo electron methods and Xerox in which workers write proposals aimed at securing corporate funds, a trend taking shape in many forms. Teamwork has also been emphasized in the current communication trends as businesses utilize different skills, cultures, and nationals in their projects. Other trends have seen globalization as well as business outsourcing and diversification (Locker & Kienzler, 2008, pp. 2-64).
Role of business communication
Improved businesses communication helps in saving time; this is possible because the information is well understood the first time, and there are minimized revisions, or explanations (Kaur, 2010, pp. 1). Business communication improves understanding between employees, managers, and their customers, this is essential in improving efficiency. Efficient communication helps in building business ethics and organizational culture as well as effectiveness; this gives a good outlook on the business to the customers. Business communication is vital when results are required, for instance, messages should be direct, and not ambiguous as to bring the desired results (Locker & Kienzler, 2008, pp. 2-64).
Trends witnessed and message types
Effective communication requires clear, correct, and complete messages to improve service delivery and save time on results. Trends witnessed in IT Industry included sending memos through e-mails, blogs, and websites as communication channels (Kaur, 2010, p. 1). Other uses include Tele/video conferencing as opposed to former utilization of posters, and presentations, which are rarely used. Messages used in emails are usually digitized this is because processing digitized materials are faster. These added with Tele/videoconferencing have seen barriers to face-to-face communication conquered. Commonly used messages exchanged in a business setup are usually positive/negative or informative (Kaur, 2010, p. 1).
Conclusion
Effective business communication is essential in any area as it helps in the execution of data. Several changes in trend have been eminent over the years, most notably in technology, Employees find themselves overwhelmed by information, which is just a mouse click away, and this has led to faster communication, globalization as well as diversification. Outsourcing has been one of the beneficiaries of the shift in business trends since different skills can be accessed at the business’s convenience. Trends have also seen entrepreneurship skills sourced online from different people around the world.
Reference List
- Kaur, M. (2010). Business Communication Trends. Modes of Communication in Modern office Scenario: Standards. Office-software.
- Locker, K. & Kienzler, D. (2008). Business and Administrative Communication, Eighth Edition. Mc Graw-Hill Companies, Inc.