Why is business communication important?
The process of sharing information between people within and outside your company is business communication. Business communication is important because of the ways it can help your company thrive and become better. Below are some reasons why business communication is important.
1) Bad effects of email overload
In many companies, people are overwhelmed by the large number of emails and messages they receive every day. It then becomes very easy for you and your staff to suffer the bad effects of email overload when you do not have effective business communication. Losing track of important information or completely overlooking important messages becomes more of a possibility. This would in turn affect both the internal running of your business and your external relations with your clients. When you have a business communication system in place, you can reduce the digital distractions and have enough time and space to improve your business. Small businesses, in particular, need the extra space to thrive and develop new ideas.
2) Communication Silos
In a business with a defined structure and different departments, a lack of a business communication system often means that teams and departments may forget to exchange important information. It also means that there might be difficulty in communicating information from team members to managers when there is an issue that needs to be handled by the manager. These communication silos are formed easily and often go unnoticed for so long till a major issue happens. The good news, however, is that a good communication system can fix this.
3) Communication difficulties with remote workers
In the wake of the Coronavirus and the lockdowns around the world, it is pretty obvious at this point that remote is now a part of work as usual and that it is here to stay, whether on a full-time basis or as an option for employees of companies that are reopening who would like to work remotely some of the time. According to a report on the State of Remote Work by Buffer, two of the major issues people who work remotely face are collaboration and communication. This is often because they are used to systems where it is as simple as getting up from your desk and moving to another desk to get the information you need. With the right communication systems in place, start-ups and other businesses that essential choose to operate remotely can eliminate collaboration and communication struggles.
4) Low Employee Engagement and Turnover
When your employees struggle with communication issues within the company, their productivity would be affected as poor communication often means that they would not have access to the right information they need to be good at their job and to ensure higher turnover. This often leads to them losing interest in the job and eventually quitting.
Losing skilled people in your company can endanger your ability to give your customers the quality and timely service they need. When you communicate effectively, you have a 50% likelihood of reporting higher turnover and productivity.
5) Poor customer service
Poor communication within your company will reflect on the kind of customer service you provide in two major ways. First, because your employees are not as informed as they should be, they would not be able to give adequate information to the clients. Second, your customers would be able to sense that your employees have low morale and this will make them have a bad customer service experience.
A study has shown that when your employees’ attitude improves, customer satisfaction improves, which then leads to an increase in revenue. In (the)light of this and how communication affects employee attitude, it is essential that you have a good business communication system. act, one study found that employee attitude improvement impacts customer satisfaction, which then results in an increase in revenue.
