Page 132 - Cambridge IGCSE Business Studies

Cambridge IGCSE Business Studies Section 2 People in business

TEST YOURSELF
1 What is meant by ‘eff ective communication’?
2 State the four methods of communication.

CASE STUDY Eff ective communication

Google’s approach to effective communication
Every single week Google has a meeting between senior managers and workers is
known as TGIF. Senior executives will never shared with the public. More import-
stand up and tell the assembled workers antly there’s an open session where any
what has happened over the past week. employee can ask any question about any
Some of the information which is shared aspect of the business.

Source: Adapted from www.google.com/about/company/facts/culture

TASK
a What is meant by ‘eff ective communication’?
130 b Why is effective communication between senior managers and workers important to businesses?

c Do you think Google achieves effective communication with its employees? Justify your answer.

Communication barriers

We have seen the importance to businesses of effective communication. We have

also seen that different messages require different methods of communication.
However, choosing the best method for communication between two or more

people does not guarantee effective communication. Barriers to communication
can prevent a message from being received or understood by the receiver.
How communication barriers arise and problems
of ineff ective communication

The main causes of barriers to effective communication can be divided into
three main areas:
■ problems with the channel of communication
■ problems between senders and receivers
■ problems with the physical environment.

The cause of these problems are shown in the following table.