When conducting any business, communication becomes a vital tool because organizations that communicate effectively with their employees and customers always have better chances of outshining their peers. There are quite a number of organizations who hire some of their employees from overseas, which brings in new sets of challenges pertaining to cross-cultural communication and the understanding of international business culture.

There are various methods of business communication in the workplace. For instance there is written communication, which is usually more solid and can be referred to by employees in case details seem to be unclear. Verbal communication such as face-to-face meetings can assist in making the meaning clearer, because the body language (non-verbal communication) also plays some part, even if a language barrier exists.

Successful organizations realize that speaking is only one half of the communication process, while listening, the other half, is a vital component of success. For instance, there are several fortune 500 organizations who have availed suggestion boxes to their clients and employees. The feedback that these organizations receive from these suggestion boxes assists those companies in determining their weaknesses and enables the organizations to provide insights on the best way that their operations may be improved upon.

Such a task becomes very difficult to achieve when there is a language barrier. This is the case with organizations conducting business overseas, such as the BPO (business process outsourcing) companies. In a BPO setting, managers have to properly understand instructions and at the same time possess the required ability to communicate the understood message to the rest of the team.

Language barriers can therefore affect an organization’s logistical system, which might end up ruining the reputation of a company. This is because the ability of a company to ship raw materials into the factory floor and at the same time ship out the finished product is likely to draw the line between a profit and a loss. Interpreters can come in handy to assist in keeping everybody on the same page.

Therefore communication significantly influences the efficiency of the organization, regardless of size. Successful and dominant companies have realized this and they pay special attention to customer feedback and suggestions. Therefore in order to realize effective business communication, organizations have to combine the most appropriate communication methods and tools so that they find the best solution to their specific situation.