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Journal of Education for Business
ISSN: 0883-2323 (Print) 1940-3356 (Online) Journal homepage: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/vjeb20
Identification and Instruction of Important
Business Communication Skills for Graduate
Business Education
David Conrad & Robert Newberry
To cite this article: David Conrad & Robert Newberry (2012) Identification and Instruction of Important Business Communication Skills for Graduate Business Education, Journal of Education for Business, 87:2, 112-120, DOI: 10.1080/08832323.2011.576280
To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/08832323.2011.576280
Published online: 15 Dec 2011.
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ISSN: 0883-2323 print / 1940-3356 online DOI: 10.1080/08832323.2011.576280
Identification and Instruction of Important Business
Communication Skills for Graduate Business
Education
David Conrad
Augsburg College, Rochester, Minnesota, USA
Robert Newberry
Winona State University, Winona, Minnesota, USA
Despite academia’s best efforts there still remains a gap in communication skills desired by business practitioners and those delivered by new graduates. The authors suggest that this may be the result of practitioners demanding outcome-based skills and academia teaching basic non-business-specific fundamentals of communications. An examination of the literature suggested that outcome-motivated skills can be successfully taught, but that comprehensive outcome skills sets do not exist. Thus, the authors conducted a thorough review of the literature to identify those outcome-based communication skills that management experts, leadership theorists, business education professionals, communication skills researchers, and business development writers have stated are in greatest need in business organizations. They conclude with recommendations and implications for business management and education.
Keywords: business, communication, education, importance, management, skills
Business communication is the sending and receiving of ver-bal and non verver-bal messages within the organizational con-text (Murphy, Hildebrandt, & Thomas, 1997; Ober, 2001; Roebuck, 2001). Hanna and Wilson (1998) expanded on this definition, indicating business communication is a process of generating, transmitting, receiving, and interpreting mes-sages in interpersonal, group, public, and mass communi-cation contexts through written and verbal formats. Hynes (2005) stated effective business communication is the key to planning, leading, organizing, and controlling the resources of the organizations to achieve objectives, and it may be formal and informal in nature. Argenti (2007) discussed business communication functional aspects and found that over half of the heads of corporate communication depart-ments oversee business communications functions that in-clude media relations, online communications, marketing, special events, product and brand communications, crisis management, employee and internal communications,
com-Correspondence should be addressed to David Conrad, Augsburg Col-lege, Department of Business, 3415 Chalet View Lane, Rochester, MN 55901, USA. E-mail: conradd@augsburg.edu
munity relations, and product and brand advertising. The expanse and importance of business communication under-scores the need for business academia and business man-agement to collaborate in preparing business majors for the workplace.
There is general agreement on the importance of business communication skills and on the need to include them in the business curriculum. Yet, there continues to be research showing there is a substantial number of inadequately pre-pared entry-level employees. As an example, a study by the National Commission on Writing (NCW; 2004) found that a significant proportion of firms reported that one third or fewer of their employees, current and new, possessed the writing skills that organizations value. The NCW study also estimated that$3.1 billion per year is spent by firms on
re-medial training in writing. Last, the NCW study noted that a vast majority of firms assess writing skills when considering hiring and promotion decisions, that writing skills of recent graduates are generally considered unsatisfactory, and that writing skills are essential for individuals desiring to achieve higher level salaried positions.
Regarding oral communications, Maes, Weldy, and Icenogle (1997) found that oral communication was one of
IMPORTANT BUSINESS COMMUNICATION SKILLS 113
the top three competencies needed to succeed in a managerial position. Yet, numerous studies over several decades have demonstrated the unsatisfactory oral communication skills of recent graduates (Bolt-Lee & Foster, 2003; Reinsch & Shelby, 1997). Thus, it appears that successfully preparing students’ communication skills for the managerial workplace has room for improvement.
Although there are many possible explanations for this disconnect, one may be academics’ emphasis on theories and models versus practitioners’ emphasis on skills and abilities that produce practical outcomes. In addressing this gap, several studies have suggested a lack of focus in the business communication curriculum on skills that relate to practical outcomes. Pfeffer and Fong (2002) concluded that the focus should be the practical use of skills, not theoret-ical understanding or abstract knowledge. Pittenger, Miller, and Mott (2004) proposed teaching communications with an emphasis on real-world standards and operational skills outcomes.
Numerous studies suggest that business educators must better understand and teach the communication skills that are considered important in business. Tanyel, Mitchell, and McAlum (1999) found significant differences between the attitudes of prospective employers and faculty regard-ing the importance of expected communication skills and abilities among recent graduates. Ulinski and O’Callaghan (2002) found that MBA students and employers gener-ally disagree on the order of importance of communication skills.
Business communication skill instructional methods are widely discussed. Kirby and Romine (2009) promoted em-bedding communication assessment in course content, sug-gesting outcomes that are useful skills that employers want. Du-Babcock (2006) stated that teaching business commu-nication theory and models without associated application materials is inadequate and will lead to students not be-ing capable of applybe-ing communication skills in the future. As early as 1999, Murranka and Lynch demonstrated that a competency-based communication course focused on skills applications could be successful. To respond to this call for outcomes that produce skills requires the identification of base constructs and specific skills that appeal to academi-cians and practitioners.
METHOD
Several studies have revealed that success in business re-quires communication skill competency and shows that busi-ness instructors and programs must be sensitive to and un-derstand the communication skill needs of business. Accord-ingly, ongoing research is needed to ascertain which specific business communication skills are considered important. To this end, we have identified a set of constructs and specific skills that may form the foundation for discussion.
Identifying Communication Skill Constructs
In business communication research, the most common con-structs utilized include reading, writing, oral presentations, and listening (Ober, 2001). Arguably, these basic skills alone fail to capture the nuances of skilled business practitioners. Evidence to support this contention is embedded in the re-search suggesting that graduates still lack the communication skills necessary to be successful in business despite educa-tion’s emphasis on the basic skills (Lanier, Tanner, Zhu, & Heady, 1997; Roebuck, 2001: Tanyel et al., 1999). Exami-nation of over 200 articles and books, and numerous discus-sions with practitioners, revealed that the skills business most sought from their employees should be defined by commu-nication behavior outcomes, such as the ability to negotiate a solution between two conflicting parties. We conducted research to determine if such a set of outcome-based skills existed in the business communication literature and no com-prehensive skills set was found.
Thus, we conducted a literature review to identify com-munication skills that management experts, leadership theo-rists, business education professionals, communication skills researchers, and business development writers state are most needed in business organizations. During the review, it be-came obvious that a broad set of constructs was needed to frame the identification of the myriad individual skills that might be deemed necessary. Thus, the first step in identify-ing the skills set was to formulate broader constructs, thus forming the structure for identifying the individual critical skills.
Ober (2001), Angell (2004), and Roebuck (2001) have authored college undergraduate business communication skills textbooks and have determined that business commu-nication skills fall in to three basic categories: organizational communication skills, leadership communication skills, and interpersonal communication skills. Organizational communication skills are those skills an organization uses to effectively communicate with all internal and external stake-holders permitting coordination among people and organized behavior; leadership communication skills are those skills that allow business leadership to effectively communicate with employees and key external constituents employing communication methods, including stories, informality, metaphors, openness, and strategic dialogue to create trusting and supportive relationships among colleagues and staff; and interpersonal communication skills are those skills that allow business organization members to effectively communicate to internal and external constituents on a personal, intimate, and one-on-one basis, exchanging thoughts in face-to-face verbal and nonverbal contexts by sharing information, pro-viding feedback, or simply maintaining a social relationship.
Identifying Communication Skill Subsets
Once established, each construct was researched indepen-dently to assure that the communication skills cited were
only the skills that make up that particular construct. For this study, 217 publications were reviewed for the identification of business communication skills. In all, 98 organizational and managerial publications, 77 leadership publications, and 42 business communication skills publications were reviewed to accumulate the most frequently cited business communi-cation skills needed in business.
Within the organizational communication literature, the topics investigated included organizational communication theory and research, supervisor and employee communica-tions, communications planning, corporate communication, workplace communication, information and knowledge man-agement, communication networks, conflict and negotiation, media, interviewing, business speech and presentations, busi-ness writing, and employee performance appraisal.
Within the leadership communication literature, the top-ics investigated included motivation, leading teams, power and influence, leading change, cultivating trust, creating col-laboration, leading through crisis and turmoil, mentoring, in-spiration, leadership theory including styles and techniques, relationship building, servant leadership, leadership commu-nication strategies, and self-awareness and discovery of lead-ership styles, traits, and abilities.
Within the interpersonal communication literature, the topics investigated included cultural context, cross-cultural communication, self-concept, relational development, build-ing rapport, listenbuild-ing and perception, active listenbuild-ing, em-pathic listening, verbal and nonverbal messages, types of relationships, the one-on-one communication process, small-group discussion, gender communication, assertiveness, emotional intelligence, gesturing, overcoming differences, holding conversations, and demonstrating respect at work.
Writers contributing to the communication skills inven-tory included recognized communication skills writers such as leadership experts Warren Bennis, Stephan Covey, John Kotter, Jim Kouzes, and Barry Posner; management theorists Peter Drucker, Richard Daft, and Peter Senge; and business communication skills writers Deborah Roebuck, Scot Ober, and Pamela Angell.
Following the guidelines of Miles and Huberman (1994), a literature reduction process was used to select and simplify the literature content. Further processing was used to make decisions on how to code the literature within each construct and organize the findings so that the conclusions could be reasonably drawn and verified. Three stages of content analysis—content reduction, content display, and conclusion drawing and verification—formed an interactive, cyclical process. As Miles and Huberman illustrated, the coding of identified communication competencies found in the construct-related literature (data reduction) was accomplished by use of a matrix that included the skill constructs, the communication competencies cited in the literature (phrases, key words), and notations of frequency of citation. From the reduction process salient competencies
were subsumed in a larger pattern and emerged as the most important business communication skills.
For example, interpersonal communication skills litera-ture and research repeatedly noted the following abilities: understanding, interpreting, and evaluating what is heard; listening attentively; listening and responding to others; fo-cusing attention on the speaker; suspending judgment and avoiding other internal mental activities to fully attend to the speaker; listening for feelings, with listeners needing to restate, in their own language, their impression of the expres-sion of the sender; clarifying and confirming what is heard; deeply listening; and repeating, paraphrasing, and reflecting what was heard. These cited communication abilities were interpreted and coded as listening components and aggre-gated as common constructs of the skill, active listening. To validate that the abilities were in fact constructs of active listening, the termactive listeningwas researched indepen-dently to confirm that researchers in this area included these abilities in their definitions of active learning.
Admittedly, the determination of inclusion and exclusion on the skills list was a bit arbitrary, but overall the inventory is representative of those skills most frequently referred to in the literature. A complete reference list is available by contacting the authors.
The inventory includes 24 skills that emerged from this re-duction process: nine organizational communication skills, eight leadership communication skills, and seven interper-sonal communication skills. The skills covered a range of business communication competencies in several business disciplines such as human resources, management and lead-ership, stakeholder relations, information management, com-munication technology, and specific verbal and written skills. Organizational communication skills included a) initiating open discussion, b) resolving conflict, c) creating information networks, d) teaching important skills, e) using information technology, f) providing performance feedback, g) negoti-ating, h) writing business correspondence, and i) Making convincing presentations. Leadership communication skills include a) arousing enthusiasm, b) being a change catalyst, c) creating group synergy, d) building team bonds, e) expressing encouragement, f) being persuasive, g) being persuasive, and h) building optimism. Interpersonal communication skills included a) active listening, b) building rapport, c) demon-strating emotion self control, d) building trust, e) relating to people of diverse backgrounds, f) demonstrating respect, and g) building relationships.
We created the definitions of each skill but derived them from the most commonly used language, the context under which the skill was discussed, and the usage of the skill as presented in the reviewed articles. Our goal was to derive the skills and abilities from the literature rather than by an exhaustive search of the literature, seeking accurate termi-nology. Tables 1, 2, and 3 list the skills sets and define each communication skill. Note that each skill is defined based
IMPORTANT BUSINESS COMMUNICATION SKILLS 115
TABLE 1
Organizational Communication Skills
1. Initiating open discussion: the ability to create discussion and dialogue, explore opposition by individuals who advocate their positions, and convince others to adopt those positions through logic, argument, or debate
2. Resolving conflict: the ability to employ a range of processes aimed at alleviating or eliminating sources of conflict through processes including negotiation, mediation, and diplomacy
3. Creating information networks: the ability to design and institute formal or informal systems for managing the flow of information and providing person-to-person relationships through which information flows
4. Teaching important skills: the ability to provide skill remediation to employees in areas such as job performance, technical competency, interpersonal communication, and problem solving
5. Using information technology: the ability to employ equipment (usually computers) that enables managers and staff to access ongoing and relevant company information including reports, planning data, and employee and customer feedback
6. Providing performance feedback: the ability to assess employee performance and provide performance feedback as a review of employees’ performance, which helps to set targets for future performance targets
7. Negotiating: the ability to produce an agreement on courses of action, to bargain for individual or collective advantage, or to craft outcomes to satisfy various interests
8. Writing business correspondence: the ability to produce written communication used in business including letters, memos, bulletins, and reports
9. Making convincing presentations: the ability to provide informal or formal talks delivered to decision -making groups to convey information or make a point
on desired communication outcomes versus traditional non-business-specific communication abilities.
Organizational Communication Skills
Most experts on organizations, management, and leadership assert that effective communication is foundational for any type of organization. Theorists assert there can’t be too much communication, but research shows some managers misin-terpret communications to be the same as paperwork or bu-reaucracy, so they are averse to expanded communications. Studies show that as leaders and managers gain experience, they become more sensitive to the need to convey and receive information quickly and accurately, and efforts to be com-petent communicators (internal and external) increase sub-stantially. Effective communication and managers’ commu-nication skills are an extremely important issue for effective organizational behavior, relationships, and work processes.
Therefore, among the most important and vital linkages for any organization are
• internal communication, between management and em-ployees as well as from employee to employee; and
• external communication, between the company’s staff and clients, suppliers, vendors, and other key stakeholders.
The research and articles examined stressed the need to debate, discuss, and dialogue; to accumulate, store, and dis-seminate information; to train and review employees; to be effective presenters of information and concepts to various stakeholders verbally and in written form; and to maintain order within the organization. In that vein, the most important organizational communication skills are skills that enhance the organizations’ ability to meet those needs.
Our review of the literature identified the foundational communication skills needed in organizations, which include all forms of verbal, written, and data technology methods that
TABLE 2
Leadership Communication Skills
1. Arousing enthusiasm: the ability to inspire a whole-hearted devotion to an ideal cause, study or pursuit, or merely being visibly excited about what one’s doing
2. Being a change catalyst: the ability to initiate change through providing information to employees that will convince them of why a change is necessary and will compel them to embrace it
3. Creating group synergy: the ability to compel organizational members to interact and produce a joint effect that is greater than the sum of the members acting alone
4. Building team bonds: the ability to establish team cohesiveness, which is the extent to which members stick together and remain united in the pursuit of a common goal
5. Expressing encouragement: the ability to provide support and confidence, raising or increasing an individual’s self-esteem and confidence to make choices and decisions
6. Providing motivation: the ability to move a person or group toward desired goals by increasing his or her willingness to exert effort and energy to achieve the goals
7. Being persuasive: the ability to guide people toward the adoption of an idea, attitude, or action by rational and logical means relying on appeals rather than coercion
8. Building optimism: the ability to create a disposition or tendency to look on the more favorable side of events or conditions and to expect the most favorable outcome despite obstacles and setbacks
TABLE 3
Interpersonal Communication Skills
1. Active listening: the ability to employ an intrapersonal and interactive process to actively focus on, interpret, and respond verbally and nonverbally to messages
2. Building rapport: the ability to create a harmonious relationship, bond, or kinship based on mutual respect, friendship, camaraderie, or emotional ties making someone feel comfortable and accepted
3. Demonstrating emotion self control: the ability to display balanced moods through retaining, mastering, and dominating one’s reactions provoked by pleasant or unpleasant emotion
4. Building trust: the ability to construct the reciprocal faith in others’ intentions and behavior through a shared belief that you can depend on each other to achieve a common purpose
5. Relating to people of diverse backgrounds: the ability to recognize and respect differences in people and communicate appropriately in verbal and nonverbal exchanges
6. Demonstrating respect: the ability to show esteem for or a sense of the worth or excellence of a person, a personal quality or ability, or something considered as a manifestation of a personal quality or ability
7. Building relationships: the ability to establish a relatively long-term association between two or more people based on liking, trust, and respect creating regular business interactions, interdependence, or some other type of social commitment
can assist the organization to communicate and manage in-formation effectively. Authors reported that organizational members—especially managers—must possess the ability to present ideas clearly, document accurate and explicit records and notations, and create information flow channels within and outside of the business to link all vital stakeholders. Re-sults indicated that authors perceive writing skills, speaking skills, technology-mediated communication, team and group communication, and negotiation skills to be of most impor-tance.
Through the literature review we found that the ability to present information, write effective business correspondence, and provide constructive performance feedback to individ-uals is necessary and vital for organizational effectiveness. Also important is the ability to create internal communica-tion structures that provide unlimited venues and channels for open individual and group communication flow. Findings show that many organizational positions require the ability to communicate clearly with clients, management, and em-ployees; superior writing and presentation skills; the ability to communicate objectives and goals; the ability to write proposals and quotations; and basic usage of computerized information technology.
The review of the literature concluded that organizational communication vehicles, whether written or verbal, must be learned and implemented to address the ever-changing orga-nizational challenges. Most writers asserted that sound com-munication environments must possess the ability to provide needed education and knowledge to staff, disseminate infor-mation that is interpretable and free of misunderstanding, and effectively link strategy to performance, and further con-cluded that not investing in the technology or the people who can maximize the effectiveness of the technology will result in lost customers, sales, and share of market.
Research on internal organizational communication re-veals that successful networks are evident when organiza-tions can communicate to personal, group, organizational,
and interorganizational dimensions of the firm in key commu-nication activities such as performance reviewing, decision making, problem resolution, and data management. Broadly speaking, theorists supported an organizational structure that meshes technology with personal communication to ensure that all who must hear information receives it and all who receives the communication receives the same consistent message.
The review of organizational communication skills also found that information sharing is effective when systems and networks enable managers and employees to have the right information at the right time to do their jobs, share opinions and discuss ideas, and circulate best practices, thus learning from each other. In that vein, writers believed that organi-zational members have to develop two primary communi-cation goals: being heard and being understood, revealing a need for clarity in communication, whether in oral or written form.
Building on the repetitive assertions of researchers and writers of reviewed articles, the following list of communication skills emerged as most important to meet organizational communication demands.
Leadership Communication Skills
The review of the leadership communication literature gener-ally indicated organizational leadership must be effective at using communication skills to communicate mission, vision, and values. Writers recognized the importance of communi-cation skills to drive effective leadership including, the ability to communicate openly and honestly, use a persuasive ap-proach, and vividly describe a picture of the future. Broadly speaking, leadership competency is dependent on key com-munication skills organizational leaders must develop and implement in all stakeholder communications.
It was found leadership communication writers placed the learning and application of communication skills at the heart
IMPORTANT BUSINESS COMMUNICATION SKILLS 117
of the competencies that leaders must develop and use. All writers value a leader’s ability to communicate energy, in-spiration, motivation, and enthusiasm. Finally, the literature concluded that these skills are teachable and that the failure to develop them will diminish the performance of new and even veteran organizational leaders.
Writers believe leadership communication skills include the ability to inspire others, build confidence, draw concep-tual pictures of the future, and keep the vision at the forefront of all interactions. Theorists specifically pointed to skilled persuasion as the influence proficiency that all leaders must possess. Many saw any communication from leadership that is not convincing, but rather only opinionated, not based on fact, or unreliable in origin, as detrimental to the leaderships’ ability to effectively communicate.
Our review concluded that the behavior of leaders needs to be consistent with what they are saying, both formally and informally, and their actions must support the business mission. In addition, when it comes to rallying team effort and contributions, the review concluded that leaders must be good at communicating the business story convincingly to bond and energize teams for increasing collective performance.
In this vein, most writers added that inspiration builds team synergy and momentum, and also motivates members to exceed previous performance levels. Furthermore, theorists and researchers contend that leadership communication must be exhilarating while defining the purpose, goals, and objec-tives of the firm in futuristic, forward-thinking language and conceptualizations. A number of works warned that commu-nication without this people-focused element will possibly be construed as command and control orders.
Emotional intelligence was seen as the competency that determines achievement in business according to numerous writers. The ability to influence, initiate change, create group synergy and boding, and motivate with integrity characterize some of the abilities of people with emotional intelligence. Writers believed that emotional intelligence, utilized in lead-ership, is shown through communication skills that excite people’s imaginations and inspires them to move in a desired direction. Scholars believe business leadership is dependent on communicating the future in optimistic yet realistic terms, and empowering people to help build this future. Almost all authors stated that effective business leadership communi-cates openly, honestly, and passionately about possibilities and encourages employees to share in the task and responsi-bility of building the future state. Most leadership commu-nication theorists believed that learning the commucommu-nication skill of inspiring change and addressing objections and resis-tance is vital for transformation desired, noting change lead-ership requires sound communication skills that can clarify, elucidate, and define change aspects in specific, simplistic language.
Scholars asserted that leaders must express an open mind for possibilities, fully gather ideas and insight from others,
and build the confidence needed to create the necessary tran-sition desired by the firm. They believed that employees look to leaders for those shining indicators of confidence, integrity, and optimism to nurture their own sensations of stability and purpose.
Research shows that organizational leadership must be able to communicate a vision of the future that is strategic in nature, and will energize and recharge employees who may have become weary from the current business environment. In that vein, strategic vision builds confidence and it is widely believed persuasion, positive motivation, and enthusiasm are communication techniques that bond teams, inspire individu-als, and send messages to external stakeholders that the com-pany is focused and committed. It was commonly stressed that employees crave security and optimism about the fu-ture, and urged that all internal and external communication present powerful messages that detail stability, camaraderie, and conviction of purpose.
Findings illustrated that culture building is a business ne-cessity and that it is achieved through inspirationally deliv-ered communications that encourage performance, positive morale, and building for the future, and sell employees on the value of commitment, collaboration, culture cohesive-ness, and collective identity.
Building on the beliefs and assertions of leadership com-munication skill writers and researchers, the following list of communication skills emerged as most important in leader-ship communication.
Interpersonal Communication Skills
The review of interpersonal communication skills litera-ture showed numerous writers believe in the need to man-age emotions and concentrate on controlling reactions to stressful situational factors, thereby communicating stability and encouraging harmony among organizational staff. They overwhelmingly chose listening, emotional control, and the interpersonal communication skills of building relationships establishing mutual trust, and initiating close, one-on-one meaningful dialogue as the critical skills needed for the man-agement of organizations.
Other writers expanded on emotional intelligence and so-cial intelligence as the ability to build relationships, inspire trust, control emotions, and express empathy through the art of listening. Theorists believe that interpersonal influence is dependent on the ability to communicate to the heart of the audience through understanding the relationship compo-nents that move each individual. They see human bonding as achievable through skilled development of the awareness for communication needs, the development and implemen-tation of communication that reduces barriers and conflict, and sustaining a trust environment that is inviting for further communication and deeper dialogue.
Scholars expressed that interpersonal communication skills can and must be learned and are essential for influenc-ing people and business progress, and suggested that business communicators can practice a blend of humor, humility, and honesty combined with nonverbal skills such as eye contact, appropriate facial expression, and correct body language to be optimally effective. They also assert the ability to demon-strate empathic and active listening is extremely convincing, and displays a respect for the listener that then opens the doors for heartfelt, sincere, and genuine dialogue.
A number of works identified the skills necessary to build relationships as learnable, common-sense humanistic attributes such as gaining the attention of people, building rapport, providing evidence to support claims, and showing a sincere interest in others. The literature suggested that to establish ongoing trust and confidence, business communi-cators must also handle all complaints and objections thor-oughly through skilled questioning and listening, and know-ing when it is time to apply either one.
Recognizing that interpersonal communication skills are essential to business success, not surprisingly theorists in-dicated that firms must develop people who can speak and write well. However, the literature went further emphasizing that employees and management must be able to relate to people, build credibility and trust, and fully understand that message content, intent, and its possible hidden meanings are key considerations in interpersonal communication success. Various authors reported there is a crucial need to develop communication skills that will help organizational members relate to diverse audiences to establish friendships, close re-lationships, and mutual trust. Most believed that the ability to communicate across cultures is necessary for effective busi-ness and further related that meaning and intentions must be made clear, understandable, and nonoffensive when com-municating. In that vein, writers stated that organizational members must understand cultural dynamics and diversity sensitivities in their desire to communicate effectively. This suggests that respecting diversity and understanding diverse backgrounds, cultures, ethnicities and styles when commu-nicating in business will enhance the ability to secure warm friendships, mutual respect, and solid relationships.
Showing respect and understanding are effective com-munication skills, and are necessary for influence in business communications. Writers recommend that business communicators take time to listen and truly hear what others say without injecting untimely judgmental feedback, thus opening the door for true dialogue encouraging reciprocated openness.
The review of literature found that, of all interpersonal communication skills assessed, interpersonal skills including listening, building trust, showing and demonstrating respect, and speaking genuinely and sincerely were rated as most im-portant. Many writers believed that most business personnel do not take the time to first build rapport when seeking to persuade and that people tend to make random statements,
which, rather than influence, end up confusing individuals or making them feel they do not possess enough informa-tion to effectively make a decision. Clearly, communicators are challenged to first reflect on their message to determine how it sounds and how they would respond if they heard it from someone else. It was often noted that people will regard communication with suspicion if the communicator seems unsure or displays a nervous regard about the validity of the message itself.
Writers argue that the ability to stay calm under crisis provides a foundation that may compel others to stay calm. Studies report that people are always judging others in crisis situations to determine their level of control and will feel confident if they see that people can stay analytical, keep emotions in check, and seek to maintain calm and order, and prevent chaos.
Based on this analysis the following list of communica-tion skills emerged as the most important for interpersonal communication effectiveness.
IMPLICATIONS FOR BUSINESS AND BUSINESS EDUCATION
The purpose of the previous literature review and resulting business communication skills inventory was to offer an alter-native view for curriculum development and future research to the critical issue of business communication readiness of college graduates. The literature supports the lack of pre-paredness of new graduates with respect to business commu-nication skills despite a consensus among practitioners and academia of those skills sets’ importance. Thus, based on a recent emphasis on outcomes-based skills, we set out to pro-vide structure that otherwise was vacant from the literature.
The art of communication is often taken for granted, and it is easier to understand the principles than to develop the skill required. However, investment in the guiding values of communication will benefit individuals and lead to more effective business processes and ultimately performance.
Managers spend a great deal of time communicating in a variety of forms, including face-to-face and written. The observation, understanding, and instruction of these key skills can improve the often underrated art of communication, which is the common thread weaving throughout every work-ing day. Some argue that the richest communication method is face-to-face, in which the entire range of information (ver-bal and nonver(ver-bal) is available and, therefore, in which the accuracy of the information can be checked. Others contend that written communications are the most important, due to the growing use of electronic communication pathways, in-cluding the plethora of social media platforms available.
The components for effective communication and these guiding skills contribute to the quality of verbal communica-tion and by associacommunica-tion, the outcome. These skills are useful within any kind of business communication context, but
IMPORTANT BUSINESS COMMUNICATION SKILLS 119
ticularly within employee appraisal, motivation, coaching, and team development processes.
The skills sets proposed in this review could be useful in creating college course and company training materials that address outcome-based communication skills. At the very least, business faculty and trainers should consider the types of skills defined in this study as those that would serve stu-dents and organizational staff when pursuing their business careers. Most certainly, the creation of curriculum that in-cludes skills such as these should be explored and tested, and results should be published to enhance the discussion and to offer guidance to those teaching business communication skills.
It may be argued that many of the communication skills cited in this study cannot be taught within a classroom or organizational training environment. It is our contention that the preponderance of literature investigated reveals that all of these skills are, in fact, teachable and learnable. Not only have the various authors cited the importance of these skills, but, in many cases, stressed the urgent need to learn, develop, and implement the skills. Consequently, it is the responsibility of academia and business organizations to assess the commu-nication competency of their respective constituencies and develop a means to remediate the gaps and deficiencies. In addition, there are a plethora of for- and nonprofit business, leadership, and interpersonal communication skill consul-tancies including Toastmasters International, Dale Carnegie Training, and Franklin Covey that instruct and develop vital communication skills.
While busy teaching all of the technical and quantitative skills required in business, instructors may forget to deal with a critical component of any industry: people skills. The soft skills include techniques and methods of developing writ-ten communication, oral communication, leadership com-munication, team skills, listening skills, presentation skills, global/cultural awareness, and interpersonal communication. Although these soft skills are important for people in any pro-fession, they are of utmost importance for managers. In fact evidence suggests that employers in all occupational fields place greater value on employees’ communication skills than they do on their technical skills (Du-Babcock, 2006). Be it marketing, human resources, operations, or financial-related functions, good people skills are essential for a manager to succeed and work effectively. Accordingly, MBA and under-graduate business academia is encouraged to assess commu-nication skills education within their curriculum and consider outcome-based skills when developing curriculum. It is also apparent that business and academia do not always under-stand and agree on the critical skill competencies. The ex-pressed needs of business and the sensitivity of academia to understand these needs are critical for a collaborative plan-ning approach that can design curriculum that adequately prepares students for effectiveness in satisfying the expecta-tions of business organizaexpecta-tions.
The communication skills identified in this review of the literature do not cover every communication skill im-portant in business, but the designated skills do provide a compelling framework for understanding the salient skills perceived to be most important in business settings. If busi-ness instructors and busibusi-ness practitioners believe everyone can improve—thus the reason for education—it is crucial to understand what should be improved. The reality is that members of an organization can possess brilliant ideas for company growth and expansion, product development, or groundbreaking innovations, but to succeed they must be able to communicate those ideas. So the challenge is obvi-ous, it is up to organizations and academia to provide more than training in broad communication theory or even detailed non-business-specific skills, but rather to provide training in those communication skills that lead to successful business outcomes.
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