The Seven C’s of Effective Business Communication

The Seven C’s of Effective Business Communication

These Seven C’s are also known by the name of the “Principles of Effective Communication (EBC)”. And called Seven C’s because the every letter begins with the name of C and they are seven in number. Although they are just seven small words beginning with a letter “C” but their importance for effective business communication is same as the importance of seven seas for the world.

Importance of the Seven C’s

The Seven C’s can be applicable for the both sort of Communication i.e. Oral and Written. To compose an effective Written or Oral messages these Principles provide us the guide lines, that how an effective message can be written to stimulate the reader for the desired Outcome/Output/results.

The Seven C’s has a much wide scope because these are applicable for each and every one during the course of a whole day. Weather is he giving presentation, facilitate meetings, participating in conference calls, doing conversation with his/her fellows, chatting, playing, etc.

“The message is said to be effective when the receiver understands the same meaning that the sender was intended to convey”. For any communication in business, in order to be an effective, it must have these seven qualities.

1.   Completeness

2.   Conciseness

3.   Consideration

4.   Concreteness

5.   Clarity

6.   Courtesy

7.   Correctness

1.  Completeness:

By completeness means “the message must bear all the necessary information to bring the response you desire”. One of the most famous terms use under this title is the “5’w’s”. 5’w’s includes Who, What, When, Where and Why.

The 5’w’s means while composing an effective message we have to think about the receiver (You Attitude). And also have to answer each of the above 5’w’s.

The five question method is useful when you write requests, announcements, or other informative messages. For instance, to order (request) merchandise, make clear WHAT you want, WHEN u need it, WHERE it is to be sent.

While composing an effective message we have to bear the following points in mind.

o   Provide all necessary information.

o   Answer all questions asked.

o   Give something extra, when desire.

Benefits of Completeness

Completeness offers numerous benefits.

·        Complete messages are more likely to produce desired results.

·        They can do a better job of building goodwill.

·        Complete messages help to avert the costly lawsuits.

2.  Conciseness:

Conciseness means “The message only contains the information only relating to the topic and don’t have irrelevant information.” And writer also strives to make the small and simple sentence which are easily understandable by receiver. A concise message saves time of both the sender and the receiver.

 Conciseness In a business message can be achieved by avoiding wordy expressions and repetition. Achieving conciseness does not mean to loose completeness of message.

While composing a conciseness in message we have to bear following points in mind.

o   Eliminate wordy expressions.

o   Include only relevant stuff.

o   Avoid unnecessary repetition.

Benefits of Conciseness

·        Conciseness saves time of both the sender and receiver.

·        Concise communication provides short and essential message in limited words to the receiver/audience.

·        Concise message is more appealing and comprehensible to the receiver/audience.

·        Concise message is non-repetitive in nature.

3.  Consideration:

“Consideration demands to put oneself in the place of receiver while composing a message”. It refers to the use of “You Attitude”, emphases positive and pleasant facts, visualizing reader’s problems, desires, emotions and his/her response.

Effective communication must take the receiver/audience into consideration, i.e. the receiver/audience’s view points, background, mind-set, education level, etc. Ensure that the self-respect of the audience is maintained and their emotions are not at harm. Modify your words in message to suit the receiver/audience’s needs while making your message complete and meaningful.

Example of You Attitude:

We-Attitude: I am delighted to announce that we will be extending our hour                          to make shopping more convenient.

You-Attitude: you will be able to shop evening with the extended hours.

While composing a Consideration in message we have to bear following points in mind.

o   During the process of Consideration we have to understand the level of receiver.

o   Focus only on the related stuff.

o   Emphasize on the positive facts.

o   Avoid from the negative facts as much as we can.

Benefits of Consideration

·      Pose the good and pleasant effect.

·      Whenever next time same reader read this, he will read like a word view.

·      Length of the message is short which saves time both sender and receiver.

4.  Concreteness:

“Being definite, vivid and specific rather than vague, obscure and general leads to concreteness of the message”. Facts and figures being presented in the message ought to be specific.

Often it means using denotative (direct, explicit, often dictionary-based) rather than connotative words (ideas or notions suggested by or associated with a word or phrase).

While composing Concreteness in message we have to bear following points in mind.

o   Use specific facts and figures.

o    Put actions in our verbs.

o   Choose vivid, image-building words.

Benefits of Concreteness

·        Concreteness reinforces confidence.

·        It is supported with specific facts and figures.

·        It makes use of words that are clear and that build the reputation.

·        It creates positive and pleasure affect on reader.

5.  Clarity:

“Clarity demands the simple language and easy sentence structure in composing the messages”. When there is clarity in presenting ideas, it’s easy for the receiver/decoder to grasp the meaning being conveyed by the sender/encoder. Clarity also implies emphasizing on a specific message or goal at a time, rather than trying to achieve too much at once.
When we have a choice between a along word and a short one, always use the short, familiar words that our reader or listener well frequently understand. And also use synonyms instead of Latin terms (L).
e.g.                                                                                                                      

Familiar	Pretentious
About	Cirea (L)
After	Subsequent
Home	Domicile
Pay	Remuneration

While Composing the Clarity in message we have to bear following points in our mind.

o   Choose precise, concrete, and familiar words.

o   Construct effective sentence and paragraphs.

o   Use the simple words rather than jargon words.

Benefit of the Clarity

·        Clarity makes comprehension easier.

·        Complete clarity of thoughts and ideas enhances the meaning of message.

·        Clear message makes use of exact, appropriate and concrete words.

·        Clarity in message stimulates the receiver/buyer for an action.

6.  Courtesy:

“Doing well with good intentions” called Courtesy.  In business, almost everything starts and ends in courtesy. Courtesy means not only thinking about receiver but also valuing his feelings, emotions & attitudes. Much can be achieved by using Euphemism (polite and descent language), gestures, being appreciative, thoughtful, tactful, and showing respect to the receiver.

In addition the following guidelines discussed under Courteous Communication generate a special Euphemism tone in the writing or speaking message.

Here the following suggestions for generating a courteous tone.

o   Be sincerely tactful, thoughtful and appreciative.

o   Use expressions that show respect.

o   Choose nondiscriminatory expressions.

o   Omit questionable Humor.

Here’s the example of the courtesy.

Contrary to Your inference	You are delinquent
I don’t agree with you	The fact that
If you care	You claim that
I’m sure you must realize	You didn’t tell us
Obnoxious	You have to
We take issue	You neglect
Simply nonsense	You should know
We don’t believe	Previous request leaves us

Benefits of Courtesy

·        Courtesy creates goodwill.

·        Courtesy strengthen relations.        

·        Courtesy implies taking into consideration both viewpoints as well as feelings of the receiver of the message.

·        Courteous message is positive and focused at the receiver/audience.

·        It makes use of terms showing respect for the receiver of message.

·        It is not at all biased.

7.  Correctness:

The core of Correctness means “sentence ought to be proper grammatical, punctuation, and well spell” or free from any sort of errors.

At the time of encoding, if the encoder has comprehensive knowledge about the decoder of message, it makes the communication an ease. The encoder should know the status, knowledge and educational background of the decoder.

However, a message may be perfect grammatically & mechanically but still insult or lose a customer. The term correctness, as applied to business messages also means the following three characteristics.

v  Use the right level of language.

v  Check accuracy of figures, facts and words.

v Maintain acceptable writing mechanics.

While composing the Correctness in message we have to bear the following points in mind.

o   Eradicates the confusing words like, accept, except, affect, effect, farther, further, lay, laid, lain etc.

o   Sometimes informal words are to use than formal words. e.g.

Participate	Join
Procure	Get
Deem	Think (Believe)
Endeavor	Try

Benefits of Correctness

·        Correctness in message helps in building confidence.

·        The message is exact, correct and well-timed.

·        If the communication is correct, it boosts up the confidence level.

·        It checks for the precision and accurateness of facts and figures used in the message.

·        It makes use of appropriate and correct language in the message.