Business communication: basics, types, principles and features

Communication can be different - personal, formal, business, ritual. All of them have certain differences from each other in the relations of the participants, goals and forms of behavior. A special type of communication is business. It is based on the interaction of people pursuing the goal of exchanging information in the process of their activities. In addition, business communication has a specific result, which is a product obtained as a result of joint activities. Its capacity may be power, career, information, as well as emotional experiences and intellectual analysis.

Definition of a concept

Business communication, like any other, has a historical character. Its manifestation takes place at all levels of the social system, and in a variety of forms. When studying the theoretical foundations of business communication, it becomes clear that it arises in connection with a certain type of activity taking place, the result of which is the release of a product or the receipt of one or another effect. Each of the parties entering into such interconnections among themselves needs to adhere to the standards and norms of human behavior, including ethical ones.

The basics of business communication are processes that allow the exchange of work experience and certain information. In a market economy, this allows you to get maximum profit. What else underlies business communication? Such interaction is impossible without physical and psychological contacts, as well as the exchange of emotions. That is why the importance of building relationships with people and finding an approach to a specific person is so important.

On the one hand, it might seem that business communication is not such a complicated process. After all, from early childhood, people begin to get acquainted with communicative connections. Nevertheless, business communication, however, like any other that exists in society, is quite multifaceted. It has various types, has many directions and functions. The study of its certain aspects involved in various sciences, including ethology, sociology, philosophy and psychology.

Consider the basics of business communication, its types, principles, as well as features.

What it is?

Business communication is an interaction, each participant of which has its own status. So, he can be a boss, subordinate, colleague or partner. In the case when people standing on different steps of the career ladder communicate with each other (for example, a leader and an employee), we can talk about the vertical in relationships. In other words, such communication is subordinate. Business communication can take place with equal cooperation. Such relationships are considered horizontal.

Business communications are constantly taking place in official institutions, in schools, universities and at work. This is a dialogue of subordinates with superiors, students with teachers, competitors and partners. And the achievement of the goal depends on how well the interlocutors are familiar with the basics of business communication, its methods, forms and rules.

Features

Business communication differs from all other types of communications in that it has:

1. Regulation The basics of business communication are the established rules for restricting communications. They are determined by the type of interaction, its tasks and goals, the degree of formality, as well as cultural and national traditions. At the same time, business etiquette, as the basis of modern business communication, serves as the main tool for organizing the process of business relations.
2. Strict adherence by all participants in the communication of their role role. It must comply with the requirements of the specific environment. Also, all participants in business communication need to fulfill their specific role (partner, subordinate, boss, etc.).
3. Strictness regarding the use of speech means. Each of the participants in business communication should be proficient in professional language and know the necessary terminology. Speech should not include colloquial expressions and words, dialecticism and abuse.
4. High responsibility for the result. All participants in business communication should be punctual, organized, true to their word and obligatory. In addition, they should steadily comply with the ethical standards of communication.

Functions

In a production environment, business communication allows each person to satisfy their need for communications, exchange experiences, learn something new, and evaluate their own professional qualities. The importance of such communications in negotiations. Knowledge of the psychological foundations of business communication allows you to maintain your reputation and image, as well as achieve success in the business sector.

Among the main functions of this kind of communication, the following are distinguished:

1. Instrumental. This function considers communication as a control mechanism.
2. Interactive. In this case, communication is a means of bringing together colleagues, business partners, specialists, etc.
3. Self-expression. Conducted business communication allows a person to assert themselves and demonstrate their psychological, personal and intellectual potential.
4. Socialization. Through communication, a person develops the skills of his business etiquette and communication.
5. Expressive. It is expressed in emotional experiences and demonstrations of understanding.

All of the above functions are closely interconnected with each other. Moreover, through their implementation, they make up the essence of business communication itself.

Principles

In order for negotiations to be as successful as possible, a certain atmosphere must be created. Achieving this goal is possible only when partners, communicating with each other, will feel as comfortable as possible. And this will help knowledge of the principles of the psychological foundations of business communication. These include:

1. The exercise of control over emotions. This point is quite important. The fact is that surging emotions literally in a matter of seconds can destroy those relationships that were built over the years. After all, they will show the person from a clearly negative side. And even in the case when the interlocutor allows himself unrestrained behavior, it is not worth reacting to it. Everyone should realize that emotions and work are incompatible things.
2. The desire to understand the interlocutor. Adhering to the basics of the psychology of business communication, the parties need to be careful about each other's opinions. Indeed, in the case when one of the negotiators will only discuss their interests, without listening to the other side, this will not allow to come to a single agreement and get positive results from the meeting.
3. Concentration of attention. Often business communication is a monotonous process. This leads to the fact that a person is able to miss some fundamental moments of negotiations. That is why during a conversation it is necessary to focus the attention of partners on the topic, when it becomes obvious that they have ceased to concentrate on really important things.
4. The veracity of the conversation. The success of a business is largely determined by trusting relationships. Of course, opponents can say something or intentionally a little cunning to enhance their dignity. Nevertheless, with regard to fundamental points, it is necessary here to say things that are true. This is how businessmen earn their reputation.
5. The ability not to express subjective opinions. The fundamentals of ethics and psychology of business communication imply the presence of the ability to separate the interlocutor from the subject of negotiations. In other words, a personal attitude towards a person should never have an impact on working moments. This is the main difference between personal and business communication. It often happens that an opponent who is extremely unpleasant to the interlocutor can be very useful for business. In this case, you should not miss the benefit. After all, it often happens that very nice and good people turn out to be insolvent in business terms.

The principles listed above must be considered by every person who wants to acquire the skill of proper negotiation and earn a good reputation as a business partner.

Moral Foundations

In which case is it likely that a positive solution will be reached during negotiations? For this, a businessman needs to know the moral foundations of business communication. Communication between people pursuing commercial goals should comply with the following principles:

1. The basis of business communication should be the interests of the business, and not their own ambitions and desires. Despite its obviousness, people violate this principle most often. Indeed, not every person is able to find in himself the strength to sacrifice his personal interests, which contradict the benefit that will be obtained for the cause. This is especially evident in those moments when something can be done with impunity, and your own conscience will become the only judge.
2. Decency. What is the basis of business communication? Organic inability of a person to commit a dishonest act. Decency is always based on moral qualities such as a heightened sense of conscience, when there is a realization that silence or inaction will become dishonest, as well as a constant desire to preserve one's honor in the form of nobility, integrity and self-esteem.
3. The ability to behave equally with any person, regardless of their social or official status.
4. Principle. A person should not only have strong beliefs, but also actively strive for their realization and implementation. This is manifested in the fact that he will never sacrifice his own principles, even with a threat and the presence of obstacles to personal well-being.
5. Goodwill. This principle lies in the organic need to do good to people, which is the main category of ethics. All professional activities are aimed at meeting the social needs of a person. And in this sense he produces useful things, that is, does good. Adhering to this principle, a professional performs not only what is included in his duties, but also does much more than that, receiving emotional satisfaction and appreciation in return.
6. Respect for human dignity. A similar principle can be realized thanks to such moral qualities brought up in a person as delicacy and politeness, caring, courtesy and tact. Moreover, all this should be combined with poise, endurance and correctness. Here, the ethical foundations of business communication are in close contact with morality. This should also be the case in statutory relations, which in no way allow humiliation of the dignity of a subordinate by a leader. Respect for the person, which underlies the ethics of business communication, allows people not to experience mutual insults, irritation and discontent. It protects against nervous shocks, stress and other negative consequences of communication. Ignorance of the foundations of the ethics of business communication by a person or inability to apply them in practice can negatively affect the opinions of others around him.
7. Expediency and reasonableness. This principle underlies all ethical rules and norms. Moreover, it is especially necessary in those forms of human communication in which it is very important to adhere to etiquette. Subject to expediency and reasonableness, a favorable moral and psychological atmosphere is created in the work team, which greatly increases the efficiency of employees.

Norms of a culture of behavior

Consider briefly the basics of business communication etiquette . Knowledge of the rules and norms of behavior, and, of course, their observance, brings pleasure and benefit to their owner. A person, if he is well-brought up, will feel confident everywhere, easily overcoming the psychological barriers of communication, without experiencing an inferiority complex and getting the opportunity to constantly expand the circle of communication.

The rules of etiquette that underlie the foundations of effective business communication are a set of rules necessary for a polite treatment of people. In official communications, in this case, the correspondence of appearance, manners, gestures, speech, posture, posture, facial expressions, clothing and tone, as well as the social role that is inherent in a person and his social and business status, is considered. Such requirements become especially important during participation in any strictly regulated event requiring the observance of rigidly established boundaries. Failure to comply with etiquette in this case will be considered as an insult to the dignity of the participants in communications, which will cause their disapproval.

But it is worth noting that even with a thorough knowledge of the basics of professional business communication, it is not always possible to avoid some mistakes. After all, the rules of etiquette should not be applied mechanically. In each specific situation, they are subject to some adjustment. And this will allow professional tact. Only he will protect the employee from errors.

Consider how to behave the head of the company during a business conversation. Welcoming its participants, it is necessary to politely greet them, shaking each hand (without squeezing it too much). Before you start the conversation itself, you should offer tea or coffee to your interlocutors. A similar tradition appeared not so long ago. Nevertheless, today almost everyone adheres to it. A cup of a fragrant drink will allow a person to get rid of some tension and positively tune in to a conversation.

Knowing the basics of business communication ethics will help prevent an unpleasant situation. If a mistake occurs during the negotiation process, you should apologize to the interlocutors for the inconvenience caused to them. And only after that the conversation can be continued.

Compliance with the ethical foundations of business communication implies that when discussing business issues with partners, you should try to answer all their questions. In cases where for one reason or another it is impossible to do this directly during the conversation, you should apologize and ask for time to think about it, indicating a certain date.

When negotiating, you need to keep a notebook with a pen, writing down all the most important voiced information. Do not raise your voice. You need to speak clearly and clearly. The style of clothing must be necessarily business.

Types of business communication

The main objective of official communications is always to achieve a specific goal.

At the same time, you can solve work issues using various types of business communication. Among them:

1. Business correspondence. This type of official communication is considered in absentia. When using it, all information is transmitted to the opponent in writing. No personal meeting is scheduled. Despite the fact that a lot of people are engaged in correspondence every day, the compilation of business letters is a rather difficult task, because they must be drawn up taking into account all the necessary requirements and sent out on time. When presenting information in such a letter, it is important to adhere to the basics of the psychology of business communication and its ethical standards. The concreteness of the text and its brevity are appreciated. It should be borne in mind that conducting such correspondence allows partners to draw some conclusions about each other.
2. Business conversation. This type of communication is the most common form of official communication. The leaders of all companies must conduct interviews with staff. Such conversations should have a positive impact on the team and business development. This kind of business communication allows you to find out some working points, which facilitates the fulfillment of the tasks facing the company.
3. Business meeting. This type of official communications allows you to increase the effectiveness of the company. The meetings address urgent issues and achieve the most effective interaction between employees or partners. Sometimes meetings are not held with the boss and his subordinates. They come together to discuss current issues, sometimes only the heads of departments or organizations.
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One of the main features of such communications is that the spiritual qualities of people find their manifestation in them. All interconnected partners are subjects of interpersonal business relationships. They are people of different ages with different moral, physiological, psychological and intellectual properties. Each of them has its own volitional and emotional mood, worldview, value orientations and ideological attitudes. The manifestation of any of these properties allows to a certain extent to reveal the spiritual world of the partner and acts as an element of the content of interpersonal spiritual interaction.

Communication professionals

Maintaining tolerance towards each other is quite difficult. Nevertheless, each of us must perfectly understand that all people are different, and it is necessary to perceive the other person as he is.

This is also indicated by the moral and psychological foundations of professional and business communication of a teacher who, when in contact with his student, must, first of all, show tolerance. The essence of such communication is reduced to the application of such principles in the learning process that allow you to create optimal prerequisites for the formation of children's self-expression and for learning a culture of dignity, while eliminating the fear of an erroneous answer. Tolerance in the 21st century is one of the ways to create harmonious relationships that make it easier for a person to integrate into society.

Pedagogical communication with students should be, first of all, productive. Its main goal is to enrich the two sides spiritually. That is, both the teacher and his pupil. But obtaining positive results is possible only if the teacher will show:

• respect for the spiritual world of the child;
• interest in what the student considers to be valuable;
• respect for the individuality of the pupil with all the qualities inherent in his personality.

The business communication of the teacher must adhere to the following principles:

• non-violence (to give the student the right to be what he is);
• respect for the work of knowing the child;
• respect for the tears and failures of the pupil;
• unconditional love for the child;
• respect for the identity of the student;
• compromise;
• reliance on the positive character traits of the child.

Healthcare

As an example of professional communications, let us consider the basics of business communication in the work of a medical registrar. This person has to communicate with people seeking help. That is why it is so important that this specialist work as competently as possible. He should remember that any negotiations constitute a dialogue. When they switch to a monologue (on one side or the other), there can be no talk of any productive cooperation. And for this, the medical registrar needs to have the ability to listen, asking the right questions on time. They should not take the conversation aside and will make it possible to clarify the topic under discussion as much as possible.

In order to begin to listen effectively to a visitor, a medical registrar will need:

1. Stop talking. After all, making a speech and listening at the same time is simply impossible. The speaker should be helped to relax, so that a person has a feeling of freedom.
2. Show the visitor his willingness to listen to him. In this case, you need to be as interested as possible. Listening to a person, you must try to understand him, and not try to look for reasons for objection.
3. Eliminate annoying moments. To do this, you will need to stop tapping the table, shift papers, not be distracted by phone calls.
4. Empathize with the speaker and try to enter his position.
5. Be patient. In this case, you do not need to try to save time and interrupt a person.
6. Restrain your own emotions. If a person is angry, then he will most likely begin to give the words the wrong meaning.
7. Avoid criticism and controversy. Otherwise, the speaker will take a defensive position, because of which he will simply shut up.
8. To ask questions. They will encourage the visitor, as he will understand that they are listening. Moreover, it is necessary to ask questions during 30% of the conversation time.

As you can see, the nature and content of business communication in each field of activity have their own characteristics. All of them are studied by specialists working in the field of philosophy, ethics, sociology and psychology. It is no accident that a discipline has appeared in the program for university students, which is called “Business Communication”. It allows you to consider the ethical and psychological, and to be more precise, the organizational and moral problems of official communications. This discipline has its own textbooks. One of them is written by A.S. Kovalchuk. The basics of business communication in this manual are described quite accessible.

The book reveals the conditions and factors of optimal work aimed at creating a charming image. Also in this work, which is called "Fundamentals of Imageology and Business Communication," the author considers the possibility of using the results of such activities. In addition to university students, such a manual may well interest people who are looking for a way to express themselves, as well as representatives of professions whose success depends on the realization of creative abilities.