Business communication styles can be formal, casual, or colloquial, and companies make strategic decisions on how employees can use them. Internal communication is often casual, while external communication is generally formal, with some exceptions for marketing purposes.
Commercial communication is a broad context that includes how a company presents itself internally and externally and conveys its message to consumers. It is composed of verbal and written communication, but it is the written part that determines the style and public image of the company. Generally, a company can choose business communication styles that incorporate formal, casual, and colloquial modes of address.
Companies often make strategic decisions regarding the business communication styles that employees can use to accomplish various tasks. It goes without saying that if a company does not adopt a proactive approach to business communication style, then serious problems are more likely to arise due to lack of communication. Some companies have a very sophisticated communication plan that details the approach and tone of all types of communication. Others with smaller budgets tend to split their communication style into internal and external approaches.
Internal communications are more likely to be informal or casual. A company typically prohibits certain types of language or behavior, but tends to relax formal rules of communication between employees. This means that an employee doesn’t necessarily have to worry about writing style when emailing a colleague. Your correspondence can be friendlier and use colloquialisms.
A distinction often remains between horizontal and vertical internal communication. Address styles that may be appropriate between two employees who occupy the same position may be inappropriate in a communication between an employee and his boss. Therefore, internal business communication can generally be casual, with certain parameters owned by common sense.
External communication generally has business communication styles identified for each type of third-party business interaction. For example, a company might instruct its employees to communicate with current and potential customers in a formal style. This would mean addressing people by title and last name, even if correspondence is via email, for example.
Likewise, a company may require a formal style in written reports, such as the company’s annual report to shareholders. This prevents employees from getting too friendly with others or revealing inappropriate information while playing. In fact, the default communication style for most companies is formal, as it’s harder to go wrong by observing a certain distance in communications with third parties.
Companies that allow informal, casual, or colloquial styles of business communication with external parties generally restrict marketing permission. If the marketing department wants to position a product in a certain way or create a message that the company feels should have a friendly tone, these styles are used. Less formal business communication styles are generally only appropriate in other external contexts when there is a very close relationship between the employee and the third party that warrants a more relaxed style of communication.
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