Business at work: Company communication patterns through a linguistic lens

In the next few years, communication techniques will become increasingly sophisticated in the world of business. There is not the slightest doubt that adaption to the worldwide phenomenon of globalization, or the rapid pace of free market and trade will have to come naturally to leaders and managers, both in the present and future, on condition that they have the ability to remain sensitive and responsive to different ways of thinking and acting in interpersonal communication.

Clearly, mastering these skills will work to their advantage, help them operate more successfully, and fight the other players in the business arena for influence and economic power.

From a broader perspective, a highly competitive business environment requires highly skilled business people (negotiators, sellers, investors), able and willing to stay attuned to the values and behaviours of their customers, suppliers or business partners.

While stressing the importance of a global mindset for a company or corporation to succeed in the domestic and international marketplace, it is essential to acknowledge the necessity of watching our language, by recognizing the different levels of meaning in people’s words (either vague or general), and constantly monitoring their reactions for feedback. Although managers may use the same words, phrases, terms (acronyms, company jargon) in communication, there can be significant differences in how these are understood or agreed upon.

In addition, not sharing the same ‘frame of reference’ can lead to unfiltered feedback in the context of listening likely to block our communications. To quote from Andrews’ practical guide to Effective Communication (2015), “It is important that the language used for feedback is acceptable to the person being spoken to and appropriate for the circumstances. Not everyone has the same understanding of language, and certain words that mean one thing to a manager may mean something very different to a person receiving feedback […] Successful managers avoid language that will cause confusion, and choose words that are universally understood” (Andrews 2015: 59). Just as it  is naive to presume that all people understand the world and respond to the same words in the same way that we do, it is equally misleading to fall into the trap of holding stereotypes and assuming that a group’s members share identical characteristics. The same guide remarks that: “Put aside any stereotypical views you may have; treat each person as an individual […] Even individual mindsets can set up barriers, affecting what we understand and how we react to outside stimuli” (Andrews 2015: 13). Furthermore, it is significant to note that fighting such individual mindsets, i. e. holding stereotypes, can remove language barriers and provide an appropriate framework for constructive business communication.

At the same time, sharing such workplace issues as values, goals and priorities can help to defuse tension and conflict in professional relationships. They are an integral part of any company culture, whatever the business, where a purposeful effort to tailor our approach to accommodate the needs of our employers and colleagues can strengthen our communications.

As business contacts occur between companies, diffusion takes place. People engage in expected as well as unexpected patterns of behaviour, which are not always easy to manage, assimilate or adapt to, but are essential for the process of communication. Conducting businesses at a local level, or, over international borders, implies communicating with the other side’s culture, understanding their specialized interests, ideas, attitudes and values through various levels of communication, i. e. interpersonal, organizational, mass or public. Jandt (2000) noticed that every cultural pattern or act of social behaviour revolves around the communication process: “To be understood, the two must be studied together. Culture cannot be known with a study of communication, and communication can only be understood with an understanding of the culture it supports” (Jandt 2000: 22 quoted in Chaney and Martin 2007: 2).

This book contains 5 chapters, which have been carefully organized to make business communicators aware of the importance of language competence in an international business context and then familiarize them with the situational use of language in a systematic, easy-to- learn progression.

Chapter 1, “The Nature of Human Communication”, provides an in-depth look at some key situational factors in workplace orientation, the core of company culture, ethical behaviour and effective communication.

Chapter 2, “The Dynamics of the Verbal and Nonverbal Communication Process”, is designed with two purposes in mind. First, it takes us through the essential aspects of communicating assertively by exploring both the verbal (questioning and listening techniques) and nonverbal (body language cues) communication patterns to build trust- based relationships and reach integrative agreements. Second, it describes the most frequent obstacles/barriers to effective communication we are likely to encounter, and how to overcome them.

Chapter 3, “Insights into Language Diversity in Business Communication”, discusses the role of language variety in speech communities, the interrelatedness between language and culture, and the way disparate linguistic styles play out in bipolar cultural dimensions. The aim is to demonstrate how the various mindsets of business people can magnify miscommunication unless one takes  a ‘cautious approach’ to the relations of power, or the linguistic, gender and register differences.

Chapter 4, “Understanding the Linguistic Aspects of Business Interactions: Essentials of Informal Business English”, examines some additional complicating factors (such as euphemisms or colloquialisms) which crop up in corporate communication and make us rethink social interactions. The chapter is concerned with creating a working tool for analyzing the influence of the increased practice of idiomatic expressions on business oral exchanges.

Chapter 5, “Business-Speak: Jargon, Slang, Clichés, Colloquialisms Hauling around the Business Arena”, addresses nonstandard forms of language that offer an insight into how language can affect the way people think and develop personal and professional relations.  The chapter argues that, although they clearly break the established linguistic rules, they shape a group’s sense of identity and cohesiveness.