Methods of communication

• Corporate videos - these are usually produced by a specialist company for the business and are used to describe the business’s aims and how it operates;
• Annual reports - produced by businesses at the end of the year. They report on past performance and identify future aims and objectives;
• Team briefings - meetings held by supervisors to pass information on to the people in their charge;
• Memos - internal documents that are used to pass information throughout a business;
• Letter - a written record of information that can be used either internally or externally;
• Fax - a paper document that is sent over a telephone line;
• Intranets - a form of the internet that can only be viewed by people within the business;
• E-mail - an electronic form of mail. Documents are sent quickly and cheaply either internally or externally;
• Video communication (e.g. video conferencing, internet video link) - can be used to communicate over long distances using both sound and pictures;
• News letter - produced for the people who have an interest in the business;
• Company magazines - information about the business and its employees are distributed to those within the business;
• Internal telephone systems - a cheap method of communication within a business.

Good communications lie at the heart of effective management. To plan, co-ordinate and control a business requires high quality, two-way communication. If communication is poor, staff may feel unwanted or unappreciated and may not successfully or efficiently carry out the tasks that are required of them.