Effective Communication in Business Meetings

Abstract

Effective communication will increase productivity in business meetings. It is the oil that greases the business machinery. When one cannot communicate effectively, business meetings are unsuccessful. The competitive environment demands that communication should be prompt and more informal than ever before. Communication methods are among those that workers find most vital, and they play a major role in each functional field of business.

Strong verbal communication skills are just as necessary as writing skills to help a person to contribute to the success of a company. Many people have an inborn fear of speaking in the presence of others. By practicing and using several simple rules, one can overcome such fears and present effective verbal presentations.

The simple recommendations describe how to obtain organizational objectives with particular focus on communication rules for effective meetings. People call meetings for a common goal. A clear process will make a meeting efficient and useful for the benefit of everyone.

Be an attentive listener, show people that you are really interested in the topic. Listening to the interviewer is an activity; it is not a passive process. Show your interviewer that you fully understand his or her point of view, that you are filled with his or her feelings, thoughts and the reasons of his or her actions. When your interviewer sees that you fully understand his point of view, he starts trusting you. Good listeners are people who can communicate successfully and who know how to show their respect and understanding for others. Owing to this, a person becomes friendly and frank. Consequently, if one wishes to communicate successfully, he or she should stick to this rule: take an interest in other people.

Communicating in business

Communication plays a great role in making advantageous or disadvantageous impressions. If one were to recall a positive or negative experience that he or she has encountered in a business - one would see that someone's methods in communicating or lack of them helped create that experience.

Communication is of primary importance since the earliest times. Nowadays effective communication is significant in everyday life and in business meetings in particular. Therefore, the problem arouses: how to make the communication in business effective enough that it would help to achieve professional goals? What methods and techniques should be used in solving this problem?

The purpose of this research paper is in applying all the recommended communication techniques that are examined in the given paper when considering this problem. The considered effective skills and techniques in this paper are naturally based on the knowledge of psychology.

Many researchers and psychologists have dealt with the problem of effective communication in business. When writing the paper such works have been used as: "Communicating in Business: an action-oriented Approach" by F. Wayne and Dauwalder; "How to Win Friends and Influence People" by D. Carnegie; "International Dimensions of Organizational Behavior" by Adler and others (Adler and Gundersen, 2008).

As the success of business meetings is in effective communication, the paper forecasts the development of the given problem and includes the following points: communication in business in general, effective communication techniques, skills and methods, practical recommendations in particular.

Communication techniques

From a business outlook, "communication is the oil that greases the organizational machine and makes it run easily" (Wayne and Dauwalder 1994, p. 4). Effective communication in business meetings keeps the potential partner coming back. When we associate with people in business, or they associate with us, all parties desire to gain some objective.

The skills achieved in studying communication methods will help people do their job well. Effective communication skills will help a speaker effectively deliver his or her point of view to others. Carrying out verbal presentations well will expand a person's opportunities. Knowing how to communicate to encourage productive action is important.

The definition of an organization is "a group of people with a special purpose, such as business" (Active Study Dictionary of English 1983, p. 420). Communication techniques, consequently, are necessary to make an organization work well.

A person will have to apply strong communication techniques in any job he or she holds. Survey results conclude that communication techniques - written, verbal, and nonverbal - are among those that employers find most necessary in potential employees. By improving these techniques, one will learn how to organize his or her thoughts, and effectively communicate with people. A speaker will conduct his or her presentations with confidence, and the intended message will be communicated.

Communication in management. Almost every individual in a business institution is a part of management in one way or another, whether it is by leading people, guiding projects, or directing activities. Managers at all levels scheme, organize, guide, and control institutional activities. Each of these functions rests heavily on communication to achieve desired goals.

Planning requires good communication. Planning, whether for the strategic instructions of a company or for good communication, contains the same activities: collecting information, interpreting information, drawing conclusions, and defining what communication actions to undertake.

Effective communication skills

Verbal communication skills are significant in effectively contributing to your firm and gaining profit. Verbal reporting includes everything from formal meetings with different types of exhibits, to informal, unprepared question-and-answer presentations.

The value of obtaining strong verbal skills. Many presentations that take place in business include oral reports. Those who listen to speeches may remember the successful speeches, but most likely will never forget the unsuccessful speeches.

In presenting a good speech or presentation, it is necessary to apply the same techniques as applied for other types of communication. Nevertheless, a person needs to know and practice additional techniques if he or she wishes to excel in presenting a good speech or presentation.

Improve your entire communication package. By mastering the techniques of effective oral presentations, a speaker can diminish the anxiety that surrounds presenting a speech. When a speech is presented, the words used and the way in which they are used influence