communication

1. Effective Business Communication
Professor Bringi Dev
Effectiveness ofCommunication
© All Rights Reserved. This document has been authored by ProfessorBringiDev and is permitted foruse onlywithin thecourse"Effective
Business Communication"deliveredin theonline courseformat by IIM Bangalore. No part of this document,including any logo,data,
illustrations,pictures,scripts,may be reproduced,or storedin aretrieval systemor transmitted inany form orby any means – electronic,
mechanical,photocopying,recording orotherwise – without thepriorpermissionof the author.
Effective Communication
Having learnt about the process of communication and the factors that facilitate and inhibit the
flow of the process, one needs to consider how to measure and gauge the effectiveness of a
piece of communication.
It should be noted that the term used is ‘effective’ and not ‘good’ or ‘bad’. This is because the
terms good or bad are subjective. In addition, all people are communicators, and to that end
there is no question of whether they can communicate or not. Ultimately, we have to consider
the success that they achieve in attaining their goals, and this is the basis of measuring the
effectiveness of communication.
This is more so in the domains or organisation and business; as we saw in Chapter 1:
Business Communication & Leadership, communication is the bedrock of all organisational
activity. We also observed that communicationis a key determinant of organisational success.
In business, communication is always carried out for a purpose, more so than it would be in
other domains. The communicationefforts of organisations and individuals in them are aligned
with the goals and tasks of the organisation and its stakeholders. To this effect, the
measurement of the effectiveness is also measured in respect to the objectives or purpose of
communication. In the simplest terms, communication is measured based on the extent to
which the desired outcome or purpose or objective is achieved.
The implicit assumptions in the preceding paragraph are that:
a) The purpose, objective or desired results from the communication are clearly defined, and
that performance metrics are laid out before the communication happens. All business
communication is meant to be purposeful, and as such the sender must be very clear
about what the possible outcomes of the message are likely to be. He or she should be
able to articulate these outcomes, and in writing if required. It is also necessary that the
sender defines the measures or criteria against which the response is to be measured.
These measures are to be set and fixed before the communication.
For example, consider a situation where Shiv, an employee in a software company in Mumbai,
is meeting with Anjali, his Team Lead to ask for a month’s leave to travel to the US to visit his
brother. The outcome of his meeting (the communication effort) is very clear – he is seeking
to secure written approval of his leave. Given this objective, he is willing to negotiate the exact
dates, and maybe even settle for a minimum of two weeks off.
b) The message is so structured as to create the need for a response. While synthesising
and composing the message, the sender has to ensure that the need for feedback, and
the ways in which this is to be conveyed are built into the message. This ensures that the
receiver is aware of the fact that feedback is required, and also how he or she is
expected to convey their response to the sender.
Continuing to follow the case of Shiv, he is also required to ask for approval – he cannot
assume that this automatically happen. Also, he should not only convince Anjali as to why he
has earned his leave, he has to get his leave application form signed off. In the best case,
she might sign it during the course of the meeting. If this does not happen, he needs to plan

2. Effective Business Communication
Professor Bringi Dev
Effectiveness ofCommunication
© All Rights Reserved. This document has been authored by ProfessorBringiDev and is permitted foruse onlywithin thecourse"Effective
Business Communication"deliveredin theonline courseformat by IIM Bangalore. No part of this document,including any logo,data,
illustrations,pictures,scripts,may be reproduced,or storedin aretrieval systemor transmitted inany form orby any means – electronic,
mechanical,photocopying,recording orotherwise – without thepriorpermissionof the author.
to leave the form with her and offer to come back in a day or two to collect it. He could also
ask Anjali if he might remind her of this matter the next day.
c) That there exists one or more method to measure and evaluate the outcomes.
In Shiv’s case, the desired result is achieved when the signed leave form is in his hand. If it
happens within the time frame set (one or two days), that is excellent. If it is delayed by a few
days, that is satisfactory. Any delay beyond a week is not acceptable.
Another example of the measurement of effectiveness is the one implemented by Dell (See:
Measuring Advertising Effectiveness: Dell India). From the case it is apparent that all the
parameters were in place – the objective or desired result is very clear, the measures to judge
the effectiveness were pre-defined, the call-to-action was explicit, a channel for response
provided, and a mechanism existed to measure results on an on-going basis provided.
In conclusion, while gauging effectiveness, the sender has to be discerning and differentiate
between mere acquiesce and actual action. Merely agreeing to what the sender has
communicatedis not enough; the ultimate outcome is when the desired action happens. Often
times we accept a verbal response in the hope that the action will follow; this is not always the
case.
Case: Measuring Advertising Effectiveness: Dell India
When Dell first set up its India operation in the 20071
, it rolled out its then-current manufacture-
to-order and direct-sales models in the country. It marketed its products through the release
of advertisements in daily newspapers in cities and towns across India. The objective of the
advertising was to get the reader interested enough to pick up the phone and call Dell.
In order to facilitate the process of calling Dell, the advertisement included a single telephone
number which was prominently displayed, along with an exhortation to call Dell. The design of
the advertisement was done to ensure that the reader did not miss the call-in number.
Advertisements placed in different newspapers carried different numbers. Once the reader
called in and a lead, or enquiry, generated, Dell’s phone sales agents would follow the lead
through and work to close the order and effect delivery.
1 Source: Fortune Online:How Dell Conquered India, http://fortune.com/2011/02/10/how-dell-conquered-
india/

3. Effective Business Communication
Professor Bringi Dev
Effectiveness ofCommunication
© All Rights Reserved. This document has been authored by ProfessorBringiDev and is permitted foruse onlywithin thecourse"Effective
Business Communication"deliveredin theonline courseformat by IIM Bangalore. No part of this document,including any logo,data,
illustrations,pictures,scripts,may be reproduced,or storedin aretrieval systemor transmitted inany form orby any means – electronic,
mechanical,photocopying,recording orotherwise – without thepriorpermissionof the author.
Figure 4.15: Dell Direct Advertisement
Since Dell had only one channel for lead generation, it became imperative they be able to
measure and track the effectiveness of their advertising to ensure that an adequate number
of leads be generated from an advertisement to justify the cost of placing it in that publication.
This was in sharp contrast to the ‘spray-and-pray’ model that most other vendors of similar
categories of goods used whilst advertising – without a tracking mechanism,there was no way
of linking leads to advertising.
Since each insertion of the advertisement in a newspaper in a city carried a unique number, it
was possible for Dell to measureexactly how many calls camefrom which advertisement from
which newspaper. Internally Dell had set targets for each insertion, and if a newspaper did not
yield the minimum required number of calls, then the media mix would be revised for the next
round of advertisements.

4. Effective Business Communication
Professor Bringi Dev
Effectiveness ofCommunication
© All Rights Reserved. This document has been authored by ProfessorBringiDev and is permitted foruse onlywithin thecourse"Effective
Business Communication"deliveredin theonline courseformat by IIM Bangalore. No part of this document,including any logo,data,
illustrations,pictures,scripts,may be reproduced,or storedin aretrieval systemor transmitted inany form orby any means – electronic,
mechanical,photocopying,recording orotherwise – without thepriorpermissionof the author.
Roles of the Sender & Receiver
In order to ensure that communication is effective, both sender and receiver need to
understand their roles and responsibilities in making the transaction a success. In this section
we shall review some of the steps that need to be taken on both sides.
Sender’s Role
As the initiator of the message and the party that has an objective to achieve, it is ultimately
the responsibility of the sender in planning, executing and facilitating the entire process to
maximise effectives (and in the process, achieve the desired response). The task of ensuring
effectiveness cannot be abrogated to the receiver. It is likely that you heard a line like this
before- ‘I gave him the information by email– if he did get it, or even worse, if did not
understand it, it is hardly my responsibility.’
Some other essential tasks to be carried out by the sender are:
1. Think about determine the characteristics and motivations of the sender and frame the
message appropriately.
2. Select the type of message and medium to ensure that it is appropriate to the needs
and capabilities of the receiver.
3. Compose the content deploying the ‘You’ factor – keeping in mind what the receiver’s
point of view is and expectations are.
4. To make every attempt to overcomethe initial resistanceoffered by the receiver though
an enumeration of the benefits or value she will accrue from being a participant in the
exchange.
5. Explicitly design and make available a channel for feedback.
6. Anticipate and take steps to ensure that noise and barriers to communication are
minimised.
Receiver’s Role
Being an indispensable and essential part of the process of communication, the receiver also
needs to take certain actions to ensure that the process is executed to his advantage. Some
of the receiver’s responsibilities are:
1. To be attentive to the speaker, and give the communication exchange his or her
complete attention. The recipient should ensure that distractions are minimised and
that she is able to focus all her senses on the transaction.
2. The receiver needs to approach the communication with an open mind, so that she
might benefit from it. This requires the receiver to set aside her predispositions and
give the sender a fair hearing before coming to a judgemental position.
3. To manage the communication as it reaches her and make all efforts to receive,
analyse, understand and retain as much of the message as possible.
4. In case the of noise, ambiguity of content or other doubts that the receiver might
encounter, to seek clarity by asking for a re-transmit, explanation, more information,
an example or analogy.
5. To provide adequate feedback to the sender to motivate and guide the exchange of
information.

5. Effective Business Communication
Professor Bringi Dev
Effectiveness ofCommunication
© All Rights Reserved. This document has been authored by ProfessorBringiDev and is permitted foruse onlywithin thecourse"Effective
Business Communication"deliveredin theonline courseformat by IIM Bangalore. No part of this document,including any logo,data,
illustrations,pictures,scripts,may be reproduced,or storedin aretrieval systemor transmitted inany form orby any means – electronic,
mechanical,photocopying,recording orotherwise – without thepriorpermissionof the author.