Business Communication and General Awareness
Core concepts
Communication is the transfer and understanding of meaning. Learn the process: sender, encoding, channel, decoding, receiver, feedback and noise. Classify communication as formal or informal, verbal or non-verbal, and upward, downward, horizontal or diagonal. Know the grapevine as an informal channel, and barriers to communication: semantic, psychological, organisational and personal, with remedies such as clarity, feedback, active listening and appropriate channel choice.
Business correspondence concepts include the purpose and structure of memos, notices, agendas, minutes and business letters, and the principles of effective writing: clarity, conciseness, correctness, courtesy and completeness. Report writing distinguishes informational from analytical reports.
General awareness covers institutions and current developments relevant to business: central banks, stock exchanges, regulators, trade bodies, and the broad functions of international bodies. Focus on functions rather than memorising dates, and verify any specific fact before relying on it.
Traps in questions
- Treating communication as complete once a message is sent; understanding is required.
- Confusing downward (instructions) with upward (feedback, reports) flow.
- Assuming the grapevine is always harmful; it can carry useful early signal.
- Choosing a rich channel for a complex message; complexity demands richer media.
Rule of thumb
Complex, sensitive messages need richer channels (face-to-face, meeting); routine, factual messages suit lean channels (email, notice).
Worked example
A manager emails a redundancy notice. The channel is too lean for the message's sensitivity, and noise (misinterpretation) is likely. The correct approach is a face-to-face meeting followed by written confirmation.