7 C's of Effective Communication

TERM PAPER ON RELEVANCE OF 7 CS OF COMMUNICATION

SUBJECT: BUSINESS COMMUNICATION

Prepared by : SUKHWANT SINGH TEGA INDUSTRIES LIMITED KOLKATA Registration No. B11310213

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WHAT IS COMMUNICATION

Communication (from Latin "communis", meaning to share) is the activity of conveying information through the exchange of thoughts, messages, or information, as by speech, visuals, signals, writing, or behavior. One definition of communication is “any act by which one person gives to or receives from another person information about that person's needs, desires, perceptions, knowledge, or affective states. Communication may be intentional or unintentional, may involve conventional or unconventional signals, may take linguistic or nonlinguistic forms, and may occur through spoken or other modes. Communication is neither transmission of message nor message itself. It is the mutual exchange of understanding, originating with the reciever. Communication needs to be effective in business. Communication is essence of management. The basic functions of management (Planning, Organizing, Staffing, Directing and Controlling) cannot be performed well without effective communication. Business communication involves constant flow of information. Feedback is an integral part of business communication. Business Communication is goal oriented. The rules, regulations and policies of a company have to be communicated to people within and outside the organization. Business Communication is regulated by certain rules and norms. In early times, business communication was limited to paper-work, telephone calls etc. But now with advent of technology, we have cell phones, video conferencing, emails, satellite communication to support business communication. Effective business communication helps in building goodwill of an organization. SEVEN C’s OF EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION Communication can be effective only if Receiver receives the Message on the same form and context as is sent by the Sender. When there is no mistake in interpretation and the Sender gets the correct Feedback, the communication can be termed as Effective. Communication is not an end in itself, rather it is a means to attain other ends or goals. Hence, it has to be effective to be able to attain these goals or Objectives. So, it can be examined in relation to the following Criteria : • Fidelity of Communication : The distortion free quality of a message is called fidelity. An effective person gets the message across to others with minimal possibilities of misunderstanding.

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Economy : In an effective communication a minimum of energy time, symbols and cues are used to encode message without losing its fidelity & impact. Congruence : An effective communication integrates both verbal & non-verbal cues. Influence : The most important criterion of effectiveness is the influence that the communicator is able to exercise over the receiver of the communication. Influence means the communicator achieve the results he intended. Relationship Building : An effective communication contributes to the building of trust & better relationship between the source & the target.

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There are Seven C’s of Effective Communication

SL# C’s
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Courtesy & Consideration Clarity Credibility Correctness Completeness & Consistency Concreteness Conciseness

Relevance
Improves Relationship Makes comprehension better Builds Trust Builds Confidence Introduces stability Reinforces Confidence Saves Time

1. Courtesy & Consideration Courtesy involves being aware not only of the perspective of others, but also their feelings. Courtesy stems from a sincere you – attitude. It is politeness that grows out of respect & concern for others. Courteous communication is friendly, open, and honest. There are no hidden insults or passiveaggressive tones. You keep your reader's viewpoint in mind, and you're empathetic to their needs. Consideration means preparing every message, after keeping the receiver in mind, by putting ourselves in the place of receiver. The Sender has to be tactful & sincere, use expression that show respect, emphasize the fact & has to be aware of the feeling of others. In business world, almost everything starts and ends with courtesy & consideration. A considerate person does not loose temper, does not accuse others and is aware of the desires, circumstances, emotions & requests of the receiver. True consideration & courtesy is a result of integrity & ethics in communication.

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2. Clarity : Accurately is purpose of clarity. I n e f f e c t i v e b u s i n e s s c o m m u n i c a t i o n t h e m e s s a g e s h o u l d b e v e r y m u c h c l e a r , S o t h a t r e a d e r c a n understand it easily. For clarity of Communication we must follow certain points : • We should always choose precise words. • We must pay attention in choosing familiar and easy words. • We should construct effective sentences and paragraphs. • In business communication, we should always use precise words rather longer statements. • We should always choose the shorter words. • We should try our level best to use familiar /easy to understand words so that reader will quickly understand it. When writing or speaking to someone, be clear about your goal or message. What is your purpose in communicating with this person? If you're not sure, then your audience won't be sure either. To be clear, try to minimize the number of ideas in each sentence. People shouldn't have to "read between the lines" and make assumptions on their own to understand what you're trying to say. 3. Credibility If the Sender can establish his Credibility, the Receiver has no problem in accepting his statement. Establishing Credibility is not the outcome of a one shot statement. It is a long drawn out process, in which the Receiver through constant interaction with the Sender understands his credible nature and is willing to accept his statement as being truthful, honest and thus, trustworthy. 4. Correctness The Message should be specific instead of general. Message should not contain any wrong information. It should be authentic. Misunderstanding of words creates problems for both parties (sender and receiver). When we talk to our client always use facts and figures instead of generic or irrelevant information, and there should be accuracy in stating the same. The guideline for assuring correctness in the message :• Use of right level of language : Formal or Informal, & avoid substandard language or words. • Accuracy of Facts, Figures & Words • Maintain acceptable writing mechanics • Choose image building words

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5. Completeness & Consistency The business message is complete when it contains all the facts the reader or listener needs for the reaction the sender of the message desires. The sender & receiver differ in their mental filters; they are influenced by their backgrounds, viewpoints, needs, experiences, attitudes, status & emotions. Because of these differences, communication sender needs to assess his message through the eyes of the receiver to be sure that he has included all relevant information. While striving for completeness, the following guidelines need to be observed: • Provide all necessary information • Answer all questions asked • Give something extra, when desirable 6. Concreteness : When your message is concrete, then the audience has a clear picture of what a speaker is telling them. There are details (but not too many!) and vivid facts, and there's laser like focus. The message is solid. It means that message should be specific instead of general. Misunderstanding of words creates problems for both parties (sender and receiver). While talking to a client, we should always use facts & figures instead of generic or irrelevant information. The following guidelines should help you to achieve the Concreteness. • Use of specific Facts & Figures • Put Action in Verbs • Choose of vivid, image building words

7. Conciseness : Conciseness means wordiness, i.e, communicating what you want to convey in least possible words without forgoing the other C’s of communication. Conciseness is a necessity for effective communication. Concise communication has following features: It is both time-saving as well as cost-saving. It underlines & highlights the main message as it avoids using excessive & needless words. Concise communication provides short and essential message in limited words to the audience. Concise message is more appealing and comprehensible to the audience. Concise message is non-repetitive in nature.

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CONCLUSION We communicate with people throughout during the day. We write emails, facilitate meetings, participate in conference calls, create reports, devise presentations, debate with our colleagues……the list goes on. We can spend almost our entire day communicating. So, how can we provide a huge boost to our productivity? We can make sure that we communicate in the clearest, most effective way possible. This is why the 7 Cs of Communication are helpful. The 7 Cs provide a checklist for making sure that our meetings, emails, conference calls, reports, and presentations are well constructed and clear – so recipient gets our message. Communicating effectively is critical in the modern business world. Learning and using the seven Cs of effective business communication is a great way to improve our professional communication skills and increase the likelihood that your messages will be received and understood the way we intended.

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