Stephen Thornton
Business Communications
Within a business the staff has to communication with each other, to get the best results for the company. There are four different types of communication within a business and they are: oral, video, written and graphical.
Oral
Written
Video
Graphical
When each type of communication may be used
When businesses do certain jobs within a business, internally or externally, they have to use different types of communication to make it cheap, easy and quick.
Oral
Below are a few examples of different types of oral communication and when they might be used.
Telephone ...
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Video
Graphical
When each type of communication may be used
When businesses do certain jobs within a business, internally or externally, they have to use different types of communication to make it cheap, easy and quick.
Oral
Below are a few examples of different types of oral communication and when they might be used.
Telephone – This would be used to order new stock and as it is quick and easy. It may also be used to contact a member of staff when they are at home because it is quicker than other methods such as letter.
Face-to-Face – This would be used to talk to customers as it allows the customers to ask questions if they don’t understand. It would also be used to talk to staff within a business, as it is more appropriate than sending text messages.
Meetings – This would probably be used internally when different members of staff have to meet to discuss certain ideas. It could also be external when a member of the financial function has to meet an employee from the bank.
Written
Below are a few examples of different types of written communication and when they might be used.
Letter – This would be used to contact people outside the company to ask them questions about different subjects. This is an external way of communicating but it could internal if the company had to communicate with somebody else.
Advertising - This would be externally to communicate with the public to show them about the company. This could be telling them about special offers or other stuff such as a new store opening.
Email – This would be used to communicate internally or externally. They would use it internally to communicate with employees and they would use it externally to communicate with customers, suppliers and other people.
Video
Below are a few examples of different types of video communication and when they might be used.
Internet video link – This would be used externally to communicate with different companies. This would be used externally and could be used for interviews, meetings and other gatherings where people can’t meet up.
Video conference – This would be used if a company had a conference and people couldn’t get to the venue. This allows them to see the conference even though they are not there. This would be used internally unless the conference was with people from outside the company.
Graphical
Below are a few examples of different types of graphical communication and when they might be used.
Charts/graphs – These would be used to show financial information such as; income, outcome and other financial information that could be shown on a chart/graph. This can informal or formal as the charts/graphs could be shown to people inside the company or people outside of the company.
Website – A website is used to give extra information to the public and normally gives the customer the chance to ask questions. This is an informal way of communicating with the public and it is a very popular way for companies not matter on the size.
Why Debenhams use Written and Oral Communication
Debenhams choose to use different types of communication for different uses. The main types of communication within a business are written and oral.
Oral
Within Debenhams oral communication is a very popular type of communication for many reasons. Below are the two popular types of communication and why they use them.
One of the most popular types of communication is telephone. This is because it is quick and easy. Also this method of communication can be done computerised as the computer could be set up to auto ring different people. Debenhams would use this method of communication to contact customers to tell them about a number of things such as special deals. It would also be used to contact suppliers to let them know what you want to order or tell them they have sent the wrong orders.
Another type of oral communication that is very popular is face to face. This is popular it is a quick method and the most sensible method of communication when somebody is nearby. Debenhams would use this method of communication to communicate with customers within the store. They would also use it to communicate with anybody that asks them something when they are talking face to face.
Overall oral communication is one of the most used types of communication within Debenhams. This is because it is quick, easy and most importantly it is reliable.
Written
Within Debenhams written communication is one of the most used out of the four main types. Below are some of the main types of written communication and why they are used.
One of the main types of communicating is this type of communication is letter. This is because it is a quick way to contact the customers especially if there are special offers on they want to tell the customer. It is used because it is quick to do especially if there is one letter to send to thousands different people because they only have to do the letter once then photocopy it or print loads off.
Another popular type of written communication is email. This is similar to a letter but it is cheaper for the company to use as there is no printing or photocopying to do. It is also quicker as the email would be received straight away compared to a letter which would take a day or two to arrive. This is a good way of advertising as it is quick, easy and the email system is widely used.
Overall the written type of communication is used just as much as oral communication. This is because it is quick, easy, cheap and most importantly reliable.
Examples of the different types of communication
Each type of communication is used for different reasons and they are used to communicate to different people for different matters.
Telephone
This type of communication would be used with the different functional areas of Debenhams to give information between the different functions. An example of this within Debenhams is if the finance function had to communicate the marketing function about the amount of the money they are allowed to spend on an advert. They may use the telephone because it is quick and easy to tell each other important information.
They would use this method of communication to contact customers and supplies outside the business. They would use it to tell customers about a range of information such as special offers. They would use it to contact suppliers to tell them what they are ordering or if one of their orders wasn’t correct. They use it because it is quick, easy and cheap.
Face to Face
They would use this method of communication to communicate within a function. They would use this method because it is a quick and easy way to communicate within a function. Also if the message is important you know that the person is going to get the message. Also if the other person/people don’t fully understand then they can ask questions so they can understand it fully.
They also use this type of communication when talking to customers. This is because it is the most sensible way to communicate with somebody else if they are there with you. This means they company can get there point across. Within Debenhams they can tell the customers about special offers on within the store.
Letter
This method of communication would be used to contact customers. This would be used to contact customers to answer they enquires, tell them about special offers or to send them vouchers. Within Debenhams they would use this to contact the customers about events happening within the store such as a new store opening or a special appearance.
They would use this method of communication when contacting other functions. They would use this to tell them important information. An example of this within Debenhams is when the finance function sends a letter to the research function telling them how much money they are allowed to spend on researching. Sending a letter between functions wouldn’t be used that often as it isn’t as fast and efficient as other types of communication such as telephone.
They would use this type of communication to communicate within functions. They do this because it is a quick and simple method of communicating. Within Debenhams they sue this to tell each other important information or to send other people documents which they need urgently.
They would also use this method of communication to communicate with other functions within the business. They would use this because it would sometimes be quicker than ringing them or speaking face to face. Within Debenhams they would use this to tell other functions about there ideas to improve on the current range.
Evaluation
Within Debenhams most of the communication taken place is done to its full potential. You can see this because if the tasks weren’t carried out to there full potential then the company wouldn’t be as successful as they are now.
The oral type of communication is carried out very well and they normally use the correct method of oral communication. The most popular means of oral communication are face to face and telephone. These two are the most appropriate for the business for many reasons. For example when a customer needs contacting it is more than likely those they would use the telephone as it seems the most appropriate. I believe all the types of oral communications they use are the correct types and I also believe they use the correct types at the right times.
The written method of communication is also carried out very well as they use this method very frequently. The most popular means of written communication are email and letter. An email is an appropriate because if a customer as a question to ask, instead of going to one of the stores they can send an email and then they would get their answer within a few days. A letter is another way for the public to ask questions about the company and it is another ways for the company to answer these questions. A letter is a more formal way to answer questions compared to an email which is an informal way. I believe the types of communication they use within this type of communication are the correct types as the business rarely get complaints because they haven’t had a reply from the company.
The other two main types of communication, which are video and graphical are done to their full potential. These two are not used as frequently compared to written and oral as they are more expensive to use and they are normally are used within businesses.
I believe out of all the different types of communication that Debenhams carry out they do them all to their full potential and that means it would be had to improve on them. I believe the only way in which they could improve on is by advertising the different types of communication such as the website. I believe if the company advertised their website then more people would hear about the company which will expand the customer base. This may bring in extra custom as more people will see a different way of contacting the company for information. An example of how the company use the different methods of communication is: when
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