Syllabus: OCR - GCSE Business
Module: 3. People
Lesson: 3.3 Communication in Business

Introduction

Effective communication is the heartbeat of any successful business. In the OCR GCSE Business syllabus, Section 3.3 focuses on the role and importance of communication within business contexts. This unit is part of Theme 3: People, and directly links to other areas such as recruitment, training, and organisational structures. Teaching this topic well means helping students see that business success isn’t just about strategy or finance — it’s about how clearly people understand one another.

OCR expects students not only to understand communication types and their purposes but to evaluate how and why businesses choose different methods depending on their audience and aims. This is fertile ground for active learning, critical thinking, and connecting theory to practice.

Key Concepts

Students should be able to:

• Define and distinguish between internal and external communication.

• Identify and explain methods of communication: verbal, written, visual and electronic.

• Understand the importance of clarity, tone, and formality in effective communication.

• Analyse the advantages and disadvantages of different methods of communication for different business audiences (e.g. employees, customers, suppliers).

• Evaluate communication effectiveness in relation to:

  • Speed and feedback

  • Cost

  • Record-keeping

  • Appropriateness to the audience

  • Risk of miscommunication

Real-World Relevance

This topic becomes much more engaging when linked to examples students can relate to. Consider:

• Amazon’s warehouse operations: where rapid internal communication through handheld devices and dashboards ensures productivity and worker safety.

• Greggs’ COVID response: during the pandemic, Greggs shifted to internal video updates for staff and app-based communications for customers — highlighting the importance of method choice in a crisis.

• Monzo Bank: a UK-based digital bank where external communication is driven by transparency — customers are notified instantly of payments, encouraging trust and brand loyalty.

Even a local school newsletter vs. a parent text message can be used to explore how and why communication methods vary based on purpose and audience.

How It’s Assessed

OCR uses a range of question types in this section. Expect:

• Definition or knowledge recall (e.g. “State two methods of external communication”).

• Explain questions asking students to give reasons (e.g. “Explain why a business might use email instead of a phone call to communicate with staff”).

• Analyse or evaluate scenarios (e.g. “A business is introducing a new product. Analyse which method of communication would be most effective for informing customers.”)

Command words include:

• Explain — show understanding with reasoning.

• Analyse — break down a scenario logically.

• Evaluate — weigh up options and justify a conclusion.

Encourage students to use business context and audience in their answers for full marks.

Enterprise Skills Integration

This unit is an ideal entry point for practical skill-building:

• Problem-solving: Which method of communication works best in different scenarios?

• Decision-making: How should a manager choose between face-to-face or digital methods?

• Collaboration: Explore how poor communication affects teamwork through in-class exercises or simulations.

• Digital literacy: Discuss tools like Slack, Zoom, WhatsApp or SharePoint — how businesses really operate today.

The Enterprise Skills Business Simulations provide plug-and-play experiences where students roleplay business leaders deciding on communication strategies in fast-paced scenarios — reinforcing learning by doing.

Careers Links

Understanding business communication supports:

• Gatsby Benchmark 4 & 5: by linking curriculum content to future pathways and encounters with the workplace.

• Relevant careers include:

  • HR officers (internal communication strategies)

  • Marketing professionals (external messaging)

  • Business administrators (coordination and liaison)

  • Customer service advisors (tone and professionalism)

Ask students to reflect: which communication methods do they use daily? How does this compare to what’s expected in a job?

Teaching Notes

Common pitfalls:

• Students often forget to match communication methods with audience needs — this is key in higher-mark questions.

• They may also neglect evaluating disadvantages (e.g. “Emails are quick” — but are they always read?).

Extension activities:

• Run a mini “broken telephone” exercise to demonstrate how messages degrade through poor channels.

• Have students critique a business’s real-life press release or internal memo for tone, clarity and purpose.

• Use the Skills Hub platform for short, targeted lessons on communication effectiveness with auto-feedback — built to save planning time and align with this unit.

Differentiation:

• Visual learners benefit from flowcharts and mock business diagrams showing communication flows.

• For written-heavy tasks, offer sentence starters or model paragraphs.

Tip: Integrate communication into other themes (e.g. recruitment, customer service) to reinforce inter-topic understanding and exam preparation.