Communication in Business: Process, Barriers, Meetings and Reports

A plan that nobody understands is no plan at all. Managers spend much of their time communicating: giving instructions, collecting information, persuading, explaining and listening. Accountants do the same when they brief managers, write reports and talk to clients. Poor communication is behind many failures that look like failures of strategy or skill.

This topic covers the process of communication, verbal and non-verbal forms, listening, the flow of communication in organisations, methods, barriers, patterns, meetings and the elements of a report. The Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN) syllabus tests these through definitions, lists and scenario questions that ask you to choose a method or diagnose a barrier.

The communication process

Communication works best as a two-way exchange in which both sides take an active part and encoding and decoding line up.

Verbal and non-verbal communication

Verbal communication uses words, spoken or written. Emails, letters, contracts and text messages are verbal, not only speech. Non-verbal communication passes messages without words. It can say more than speech, and the syllabus notes research suggesting that most of what people convey face to face is non-verbal.

Listening

Hearing is not listening. An effective listener concentrates, uses more than the ears, listens to what is left unsaid, watches body language and notices when the words and the signals disagree. Listening is itself a method of business communication.

Communication in organisations

Methods of business communication

• Verbal: speaking, in person or by phone or video.
• Non-verbal: what you do while speaking, which often says more than the words.
• Written: emails, memos, reports and letters, which give a record.
• Listening: often forgotten, yet it makes the other methods work.
• Visual: charts, images and video.

Barriers to effective communication

Communication patterns

Patterns describe who talks to whom. Communication runs vertically, up and down the hierarchy, and laterally, across it. Understanding a group’s pattern helps with teamwork, conflict, relationships, efficiency and decisions. Common shapes are the chain, circle, wheel, network and Y. The syllabus also distinguishes one-to-one, one-to-many and many-to-one flows, and formal from informal channels.

Improving one’s own style begins with self-awareness, active listening, asking for and giving feedback, and assertiveness.

Meetings

Planning a meeting: decide the purpose, write an agenda, choose attendees, assign roles, set time and place, send invitations and the agenda, agree how decisions will be made, select tools, finalise and circulate the agenda, and chase replies.

Running it well: set a clear objective, think about who should attend, start and end on time, keep to the schedule, and follow up afterwards, for example by emailing the decisions and actions.

Elements of a report

Worked example: choosing the channel and finding the barrier

1. Diagnose the barriers. Technical jargon is a semantic barrier. Fear of job loss is a psychological barrier. The silence shows there is no feedback, and a status gap between manager and staff may discourage replies.
2. Judge the channel. A sensitive change that affects people is better announced face to face, because tone and body language reassure and questions can be answered at once.
3. Recommend. Hold a team meeting with a clear agenda, explain in plain words, invite questions, and follow up with a short email confirming decisions and actions.

Communication in more detail

The process in a worked example

A finance manager (sender) wants staff to submit expense claims by the 25th (message). She encodes it as a short email (channel). Staff (receivers) decode it. If an employee reads ‘by the 25th’ as the 25th of next month, the message is misunderstood. Feedback, such as a reply confirming the date, would reveal the error. Noise, such as a busy inbox, can stop the email being read.

The example shows why each element matters and why feedback closes the loop.

Barriers and how to overcome them

Qualities of effective communication

A good message is clear (easily understood), concise (no padding), correct (accurate facts and language), complete (everything the reader needs), courteous (respectful in tone), and considerate of the reader’s viewpoint. It reaches the right person by the right channel at the right time, and invites feedback.

Choosing a channel: the reasoning

Choose by asking five things: how urgent the message is; how sensitive it is; whether a record is needed; how many people must receive it; and whether immediate feedback matters. A sensitive message about someone’s job needs face-to-face contact, where tone and body language reassure. A routine notice to many people suits an email or notice, which gives a record.

A quick question suits a phone call or instant message. A formal message to an outsider may need a letter. A group in different places needs a video call.

Running a good meeting

Before the meeting, set a purpose, agree an agenda, invite only those who are needed, and send papers in advance. During it, start on time, follow the agenda, give everyone a chance to speak, summarise decisions and agree actions with names and dates. After it, circulate minutes promptly and follow up on actions. Minutes record who attended, what was decided and who must do what, not who said what.

Exam focus: direction of communication

November 2025 Section A tested the direction of communication inside an organisation.

• Horizontal (lateral) communication is the exchange of messages among individuals and groups working at the same level, for example between two department heads.
• Vertical communication moves between levels. Downward communication flows from senior to junior staff, such as instructions. Upward communication flows from junior to senior staff, such as reports and feedback.

Exam focus: formal and informal communication, listening, barriers, meetings and reports

Formal and informal communication compared

Formal communication reaches only the intended audience, lets the message be prepared, is clear and on record, can reach a wide audience, and makes bad news feel less personal. Informal communication often fills the gap when the formal system is slow, bureaucratic or run by autocratic managers, but it may be inaccurate and management cannot control it.

Principles of effective listening

1. Prepare yourself to listen, and put aside distracting thoughts.
2. Stop talking, and do not interrupt or finish the speaker’s sentences.
3. Put the speaker at ease with nods and eye contact, without staring.
4. Limit distractions such as phones and papers.
5. Empathise and keep an open mind.
6. Be patient, since a pause does not mean the speaker has finished.
7. Be aware of personal prejudice about accent, mannerisms or style.
8. Listen to tone, volume and pitch.
9. Listen for ideas, not just words, and link the pieces together.
10. Watch for non-verbal signals such as gestures and eye movements.

Barriers to effective communication

• Semantic barriers (encoding and decoding problems): badly expressed messages, symbols with different meanings, faulty translations, unclarified assumptions, technical jargon, and body language that does not match the words.
• Psychological barriers (state of mind): premature evaluation of a message, lack of attention, loss by transmission and poor retention, and distrust.
• Organisational barriers (structure and rules): organisational policy that blocks free flow (for example, in a fully centralised firm), rigid rules and regulations, status differences, a complex structure with many filtering levels, and lack of facilities such as suggestion boxes and meetings.
• Personal barriers: fear of a challenge to authority, a superior’s lack of confidence in subordinates, unwillingness to communicate, and lack of proper incentives.

Planning a meeting: ten steps

1. Determine the purpose.
2. Create an agenda.
3. Choose the participants.
4. Assign roles, such as timekeeper and facilitator.
5. Set the time and place.
6. Send the invitation and agenda.
7. Decide on a decision-making process: majority vote, consensus or leader decides.
8. Select tools and equipment.
9. Finalise and distribute the agenda.
10. Follow up with prospective attendees.

Conducting the meeting: set a clear objective, consider who should attend, start and end on time, follow the schedule, and follow up afterwards with an e-mail on what was achieved, tasks delegated and deadlines.

Elements of a report

Title page (title, writer and addressee, submission date); executive summary or abstract; table of contents; introduction (significance, purpose, scope, limitations and assumptions); discussion or body (the issue, method of data collection, analysis of the data); conclusion; recommendations; reference list; and appendices.

Common mistakes in the exam

• Treating verbal communication as only speech. Written words are verbal too.
• Leaving out feedback, which completes the process.
• Naming a channel with no reason for choosing it in the situation.
• Listing barriers without saying which group each belongs to.
• Confusing noise with a barrier of status or structure. Noise is any interference in the process.
• Writing a report with no recommendations, or recommendations that do not follow from the conclusions.

Quick revision

• Process: sender, message, encoding, channel, receiver, decoding, feedback, context, noise.
• Verbal (spoken and written) and non-verbal (face, gesture, body, voice, eyes).
• Direction: downward, upward, lateral. Formal and informal. Internal and external.
• Barriers: semantic, psychological, organisational, personal.
• Patterns: chain, circle, wheel, network, Y.
• Meetings need purpose, agenda, roles and follow-up. A report has nine standard parts.

Practice questions

These are original questions written in the style of the ICAN exam. Try each one before you open the answer.

Section A style: multiple choice

Section B style: written questions

A further written question

Model answers

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