Professional communication is an indispensable condition that allows company employees to effectively interact with each other. The speed of work of the entire enterprise directly depends on how quickly and easily information transfer takes place.
Professional communication plays an important role in making the manager the most effective decisions and communicating them to the team. If they are poorly established, this threatens with the occurrence of negative consequences, which can result in errors in the selected decisions, in the occurrence of misunderstanding between employees and the manager, as well as in the deterioration of interpersonal relations.
Definition of a concept
Professional communication is an interaction carried out in the field of official relations. Their main goal is to achieve the intended results, the solution of tasks, as well as the optimization of certain activities. Moreover, each of the participants in professional communications has its own status, being a boss, subordinate, colleague or partner.
In those cases when people who are at different levels of the career ladder (executive and manager) communicate with each other, we can talk about subordinate communications. After all, the vertical relationship is clearly visible here. In the implementation of interaction based on the principle of equal cooperation, we can talk about horizontal communications.
Relevance of the issue
People face professional communication daily. It takes place at work and in schools, universities and official institutions. This is a communication of students and teachers, subordinates and superiors, competitors, partners and colleagues. In order to achieve his goal, each person should be familiar with the means and principles of such communications, because partners need to communicate in one language (both literally and figuratively), have a common social experience and understand each other.
Compliance with the basic conditions of business communication
How to make communication in professional activity as effective as possible? This will require the fulfillment of a number of conditions. First of all, communication should have an understandable goal. Moreover, the interest of all those involved in this process is important in its achievement. An example is the conclusion of an agreement, networking, coordination of events, development of the most favorable conditions for cooperation, etc.
All participants in professional business communication need to contact each other, and do this regardless of personal likes or dislikes. At the same time, compliance with subordination, job roles, business etiquette and formal restrictions is mandatory. The latter concept implies not only the implementation of various protocols, routines and regulations, but also the banal need for control over the power of one’s own emotions and respect for the interlocutor.
In addition, one of the necessary conditions for the most effective implementation of business communication in professional activities is its controllability. The head of the company should first take care of such a moment as the person most interested in solving the tasks facing the team. It is important for him to motivate his employees to find the best solution, because otherwise they will remain passive observers who do not offer any ideas.
Business Communication Tools
Professional communication is the meaningful desire of one person or a whole group of people to motivate one employee or the whole team to an action that can at least somehow change the situation or turn the conversation in a different direction.
There are a number of tools available to implement this. So, professional communication tools include:
- Regular mail. Of all the means of business communication, it is the oldest. And in this regard, traditional mail has a number of disadvantages. They consist in a low speed of message transfer, more complicated design of letters (in comparison with other types of communications), etc. And this is not to mention that this system does not always work at the proper level. But regular mail is still used today as a means of professional communication. Its main advantage is a very acceptable way of transferring important documents between partners. In business relations , a method such as telegram transmission can also be used. This service is also provided by mail.
- Telephone communications. This is a very efficient means of business communication. However, negotiating by telephone is not legally binding. This point should be taken into account when applying professional communications, using other means.
- Email. This relatively new means of business communication is well-deserved. One of its main advantages is the combination of the form of written communications (fixed text) with the qualities that oral communication possesses, in the form of the speed of information transfer and the possibility of obtaining an almost instant response. Such qualities make email one of the main means used to transmit informal messages.
- Fax. Using a special device, you can very quickly transfer a copy of any document to your partner. Speed is a definite advantage of faxing. However, documents transmitted in this way do not have legal force, because they do not have genuine signatures and seals. That is why in most cases, fax as a means of communication finds its application only for the efficient transfer of documents. They can be accepted for execution only when the originals are sent by regular mail. It should be borne in mind that using faxes it is forbidden to transmit documents with the stamps "For official use" or "Secret."
Business conversation
The basis of professional communication has always been and is verbal contact. It is carried out between people who are interconnected by the interests of the case, and also have the necessary powers to solve problems and establish partnerships.
Such conversations are a means of professional communication, embodying all the virtues that telephone communications and the exchange of written information are deprived of. The fact is that business communication:
- carried out in close contact, when it is possible to focus on only one interlocutor or on a small group of people;
- creates conditions under which the establishment of personal relationships is possible;
- involves direct contact.
A business conversation is primarily understood as spoken language. And she, in comparison with writing, has a number of significant differences. During such a conversation, it becomes possible to directly influence the interlocutor or a group of people. In this case, gestures and facial expressions, intonation and so on are used. In addition, direct communication leaves no time for preliminary reflection. That is why in a business conversation often used informal forms of communication, as well as some stylistic and grammatical features.
The business conversation used as the basis of professional communication is distinguished primarily by the logical construction of thought. Based on existing practice, it can be argued that businessmen who perfectly operate with judgments and concepts, are able to convincingly prove and make correct conclusions, succeed much faster than those business people who do not possess these skills.
A professional conversation is characterized by its own psychological culture. It consists in the ability of the interlocutors to make a good impression on others, create a friendly atmosphere of the meeting, apply special techniques that protect against incorrect questions, listen to their opponents to the end and, if necessary, refute their arguments, use the technique that allows for conflict-free communication.
Intercultural communication
Today, the world is increasingly embracing the process of globalization. That is why intercultural professional communication is highlighted. Its implementation requires specialists who do not just know a foreign language. They need to own it in terms of business communication.
Most often there are similar professional communications in English. It is the main means of communication at the interstate level.
English in the field of professional communication is a modernized and simplified version of the English language as a whole. It is characterized by the presence of standard cliche phrases, as well as all kinds of templates. They need to be known to a specialist and be able to use in certain situations.
If a translator is invited by a businessman to a business meeting, such a specialist in professional communication will not proceed only from his life experience and the behavior that is customary in his native cultural environment. Taking into account the peculiarities of the behavior of other peoples will help to avoid misunderstanding, mistakes and problems in the conversation.
With intercultural professional communication, it is necessary to know the interpersonal norms of relations that are accepted in a particular society. Namely - non-verbal and verbal languages of communication. The first of them includes various dumb signals that communication participants send to each other. They often do this simply unconsciously. It should be borne in mind that knowledge of non-verbal and verbal languages in professional communication of an intercultural nature is the key to a successful meeting. The specialist should be aware of the accepted timbre of speech, loudness of pronunciation, intonation, facial expressions, postures, etc. The norms for their use during a conversation may have some differences. A prime example is a traditional American smile. In Russia, it is considered insincere and artificial. The Americans, by contrast, believe that the Russians are too morose, rude and serious.
Specialist training
How are problems with interstate business communication resolved? Successful negotiations require the presence of a highly qualified translator in the field of professional communication, who has both specialized and general cultural knowledge. The training of such specialists is carried out by Russian universities.
At the same time, the program is actively used, which is called "Translator in the field of professional communication." It allows you to acquire skills that allow you to communicate effectively within the framework of a modern exchange of business and cultural ties.
Main functions
Among the features of professional communication, its rather complex system is distinguished. It consists of many levels, covering not only a specific organization, but also the external environment. Consider the main functions of professional communication.
- Informational. Professional communications are called upon to play the role of a specific intermediary. With its help, employees exchange ideas, decisions and messages. The information function of business communication is necessary to achieve the goals of the organization, as well as to eliminate the problems that arise during this process.
- Motivational. Professional communications contribute to the desire of employees to better fulfill their tasks. This is the motivational function of professional communications. In this case, the leader uses such means as an order, persuasion, suggestion and request.
- Control. Using hierarchical subordination, this function is designed to monitor the behavior of company employees.
- Expressive. Using this function, professional communication helps to meet social needs by expressing feelings and feelings about what is happening.
- Communicative. This function is very specific. With its help, typical errors and problems that arose during business communication are identified and resolved, and the principles of optimal behavior are formulated.
The functions of professional communications can be considered from the point of view of ensuring the life of the company as a whole. In this case, the following takes place:
- Regulatory function. When communicating, there is an indirect or direct impact on the employee, which is the object of management. Such a function contributes to the organization in a team of joint actions, coordination and optimization by the leader of all actions performed by the team.
- The function of social control. Any of the ways to solve the problems of the organization, as well as its forms and principles of work, have a pronounced normative character. The regulation of all these provisions, which is in the instructions and instructions of the head, helps to ensure the organization and integrity of the institution, as well as the coherence of the joint actions of each member of the team. To maintain this direction, professional communications exercise their social control.
- The function of socialization. She is one of the main in the work of any leader. This function allows young employees who begin to master communication skills to learn how to navigate in a communication situation, speak and listen, to join in a joint activity. All this is very important not only for the purpose of interpersonal adaptation, but also for the implementation of professional activities. At the same time, young people acquire a tolerant, interested and friendly attitude towards other employees and the ability to act in order to fulfill a collective task.
- Socio-pedagogical. In the process of professional communication, there is a process of training, education and development of the employee’s personality while transferring practical experience to him. Thanks to the systematic contacts that appear during joint activities, all communication participants receive knowledge both about themselves and about partners, as well as about optimal options for solving the tasks facing the team. The acquisition of practical skills sometimes becomes for some employees a possible compensation for the lack of professional knowledge. And this is ensured by the socio-pedagogical function of communications.
Basic principles
Professional communications proceed on the basis of:
- Interpersonalities. Such communication is characterized by versatility, openness of human interaction. This principle is based on personal interest in each other. And this is despite the fact that communication has a business orientation. Such communication inevitably carries the features of interpersonal contact.
- Purposefulness. This principle of professional communications is multi-purpose, because the process of business communication at the same time as the intended information load carries an underlying goal. For example, the leader, informing the team about the statistics available to him, wants to indicate the problem points of a particular activity. Moreover, most likely, at an unconscious level, he seeks to demonstrate to those present his eloquence, erudition and intelligence.
- Continuity. This is another principle of professional communications. It consists in the fact that, falling into the field of vision of our business partner, we become the initiators of continuous contact with him. Moreover, communication takes place not only at the verbal level. The partner constantly receives behavioral messages from which he can draw the appropriate conclusions.
- Multidimensionality. In the course of professional communications, at least two aspects of interpersonal relationships are realized. The first of these is the transfer of business information and maintaining established contact. The second is the translation of the emotional attitude to the partner (it can be positive and negative).
Moral norms of professional communications
Each of the participants in business communication must have:
- Honesty.Having such a character trait, people abstain from deceitful acts and deceit. However, even those who consider honesty an indispensable norm of business conduct, sometimes still have to lie. In this case, people have to choose between non-satisfying alternatives. However, you must always tell the truth. A lie is justified only when choosing from two evils the lesser, when circumstances so require.
- Decency. This characteristic inherent in man finds expression in the unity of his actions and beliefs. Decent behavior is the exact opposite of duplicity and hypocrisy. Such a person will always fulfill what he promised. For example, an employee will certainly help his colleague in carrying out a job. This will happen even when it is not so easy for him to do it, but he made a promise.
- Justice. This character trait implies a lack of bias and objectivity in evaluating other people and their actions.
- Responsibility This feature of a participant in business relations is manifested in how much he is responsible for his words, complies with moral standards and fulfills his obligations.