EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION
Effective communication is a process of exchanging ideas, thoughts, knowledge
and information such that the purpose or intention is fulfilled in the best
possible manner. In simple words, it is nothing but the presentation of views by
the sender in a way best understood by the receiver.
We can say that it generally involves;
Sender: The person who initiates the process of communication by sending a
message;
Receiver: The one to whom the message is to be delivered.
Characteristics of Effective Communication
Just delivering a message is not enough; it must meet the purpose of the sender.
Keeping this in mind, let us discuss the elements which make communication
effective:
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Clear Message: The message which the sender wants to convey must be
simple, easy to understand and systematically framed to retain its
meaningfulness.
Correct Message: The information communicated must not be vague or
false in any sense; it must be free from errors and grammatical mistakes.
Complete Message: Communication is the base for decision making. If
the information is incomplete, it may lead to wrong decisions.
Precise Message: The message sent must be short and concise to
facilitate straightforward interpretation and take the desired steps.
Reliability: The sender must be sure from his end that whatever he is
conveying is right by his knowledge. Even the receiver must have trust on
the sender and can rely on the message sent.
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Consideration of the Recipient: The medium of communication and
other physical settings must be planned, keeping in mind the attitude,
language, knowledge, education level and position of the receiver.
Sender’s Courtesy: The message so drafted must reflect the sender’s
courtesy, humbleness and respect towards the receiver.
Effective Communication Skills
Conveying a message effectively is an art as well as a skill developed after
continuous practice and experience. The predetermined set of skills required
for
an
influential
communication
process
are
as
follows:
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•
Observance: A person must possess sharp observing skills to gain more
and more knowledge and information.
Clarity and Brevity: The message must be drafted in simple words, and
it should be clear and precise to create the desired impact over the receiver.
Listening and Understanding: The most crucial skill in a person is he
must be a good, alert and patient listener. He must be able to understand
and interpret the message well.
Emotional Intelligence: A person must be emotionally aware and the
ability to influence others from within.
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Self-Efficacy: Also, he/she must have faith in himself and his capabilities
to achieve the objectives of communication.
Self-Confidence: Being one of the essential communication skills,
confidence enhances the worthiness of the message being delivered.
Respectfulness: Delivering a message with courtesy and respecting the
values, believes, opinions and ideas of the receiver is the essence of
effective communication.
Non-Verbal Communication: To connect with the receiver in a better
way, the sender must involve the non-verbal means communication too.
These include gestures, facial expressions, eye contact, postures, etc.
Selection of the Right Medium: Choice of the correct medium for
communication is also a skill. It is necessary to select an appropriate
medium according to the situation, priority of the message, the receiver’s
point of view, etc.
Providing Feedback: Effective communication is always a two-way
process. A person must take as well as give feedback to bring forward the
other person’s perspective too.
Significance of Effective Communication in Business
You must be wondering, what is the role of effective communication
in business? To answer this question, let us understand the following
importance
of
effective business
communication:
Employee Management: Effective communication ensures self-discipline
and efficient management since the employees are heard by the top
management, and there is open communication in the organisation.
EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION
Team Building: People in the organisation work as a team to accomplish
common goals, thus effective communication boosts the morale of the whole
team.
Growth of the Organization: It ensures better decision making,
intensifies public relations and enhances problem-solving ability. All this leads
to corporate growth and development.
Build Strong Relationships: Interactions often simplify things; they
positively motivate the employees to perform better and maintain long-term
relations with others in the organisation.
Ascertain Transparency and Develops Trust: Effective communication
is considered to be a base for building trust and assures sharing of complete
information.
Facilitates Creativity and Innovation: It creates an environment where
employees are free to share their ideas by exploring their creative and
innovative side.
Reduces Misunderstanding: Effective communication eliminates the
possibility of confusion and misunderstanding by conveying the message clearly
and appropriately.
Organisational Growth: By maintaining cordial relations between the
employees and the management, it enhances the functioning and leads to the
achievement of corporate goals and objectives.
Barriers to Effective Communication
There are certain obstacles which sometimes hinder the process of
communication, making it less useful for the sender as well as the receiver.
These barriers are categorised under three groups. Let us understand these in
detail
below:
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Tips for effective team communication
1. Give Your Whole Attention
Have you ever been in communication where someone was busy looking at
their smartphone while talking or listening to you? That’s called being
absent-minded. It’s a sign of poor communication. Therefore, be mindful of
how you’re communicating. Offering a full focus by maintaining eye contact
during conversations and meetings will contribute greatly to effective
communication. Nod your head affirmatively while in a conversation to
convey your focus visually.
2. Get a Team Communication App
Lack of communication can be a major buzzkill for numerous workplace
failures. Team communication apps are getting quite popular today to make
life easier and collaborate well. It is actually quite time-consuming for teams,
clients, and managers to keep track of long email threads. This is where team
collaboration app makes all the difference – helps users to work together on
different activities and projects and breaks all barriers to effective
communication.
Every project needs an effective communication stream to reflect the
progress of the project. The modern workplace is on its way to digital
transformation. So, you need to invest on key systems and applications for
productivity and communication. According to the needs of your
project, communication tools can be an effective way for the whole team
to meet up. With task management software, you can make communication
streamlined between your team members. They can exchange messages
about the tasks and all relevant information can be shared in the same place.
It prevents long email threads that has long been one of the communication
approach. With an understanding, the technology is evolving to support you
always.
Pro tip: Not using team communication software like ProofHub will
probably cause communication errors between teams. Users have seen a
tremendous difference in how they work since they started using ProofHub.
3. Inform and Inspire
More than just passing on the information, be careful of explaining and
clarifying your thoughts and ideas to have an effective one. Passing the
information is just half the equation. Plan ahead what you want the audience
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to remember from the conversation. Do you want them to take any kind of
action? The most effective communication will make your people take action.
4. Practice Active Listening
Employees who listen well tend to work better. Listening is twice as important
as talking and one big important part of effective communication skills in
business. Listening should not be taken for granted. Do not just sit back,
barely awake, letting the speakers words wash over you. The more you listen
well, the better you receive the information.
Do you know how to listen well? Here’s how?
• Make eye contact with the speaker
• Respond appropriately
• No interruptions, please
• Examine your body language
5. Choose the Best Method of communication
To communicate well means to understand and be understood. Knowing the
right methods of communications is as important as having effective
communication skills.
• Visual communication via charts, maps, images, and graphs.
• Verbal communication through face to face, by phone and other media.
• Non-verbal communication through body language, eye contact,
gestures.
• Written communication through letters, e-mails, books, magazines, and
the internet.
6. Don’t Beat Around the Bush
Keeping in mind the importance of communication at the workplace, the
next big thing is clear, concise communication. Whether you’re into a verbal
communication or non-verbal communication, do not get into a long speech
to get your point across. You do want to respect everyone’s time, so be brief,
to the point, and balance brevity with a human touch.
7. Personal Skills
Interpersonal communication skills will do good to both your professional
and personal life. You will need it every day in your life. It includes skills
related to emotional intelligence or being able to understand your own and
others’ emotions. For example, high self-esteem and confidence can help you
have more positivity about yourself and what you can do, including
communication. And positivity leads to effectivity.
8. Confident, Persuasive, and Patient
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There is a difference between being able to communicate and to
communicate effectively. Along with the above tips, having just a little of
patience, confidence and persuasiveness can help you communicate your
information more effectively. Confidence means to take care of what your
body language is. Your own sense of self-worth will make you feel effective,
rather than helpless.
• Smile
• Keep your arms uncrossed
• Maintain an erect posture
• Maintain eye contact
• Keep your devices away
9. Use time wisely
Utilizing coffee breaks can keep team building spirit strong and giving
everyone an opportunity to get to know each other better. Team bonding is
a better way to improve communication channels. Coffee breaks is an ideal
opportunity for informal meetings and discussions. It encourages healthy
communications amongst colleagues and also promotes the exchange of
ideas. Let your team members have coffee breaks at same time to create an
ideal environment for team members to relax and discuss issues. And this art
of conversation will often encourage the team to discuss work as well. Thus
coffee will not only act as an energy booster through the day but also
promote productivity with relaxed conversations.
10. Conduct team building activities
Team building activities have a great impact on productivity and
overall teamwork of your team. It can help your people to communicate
better, and also help them to build good relationships with one another.
Create structure opportunities for your employees to collaborate through
activities like team lunch, ice breaker games in meetings, group meetings,
fitness sessions, puzzle solving games or any outdoor activity. You can
schedule these activities at the end of the month or weekly to get your team
together in the room.
11. Show appreciation
Tell your employees, coworkers and colleagues about how much you care
and respect them. Showing appreciation is an effective way to deal with low
employee morale and to make your team members feel like they matter. This
a method to promote communication in team. Given a token of appreciation
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to your team members by congratulating them for great ideas, thanking a
team member for finish a task and express gratitude even for small acts.
12. Encourage two-way feedback
In order to have smooth work environment, it is important to have two way
communication. In workplace, feedback is important to generate results,
where the main objectives is to strengthen progress towards company goals.
A common mistake that leaders make when offering feedback is turning into
one way dialogue (feedback). They give no opportunity to employees to
present their own comments and concerns. Encouraging two-way feedback
is a sign of good communication in workplace that will give your team a
chance to self-evaluate. Give detailed feedback to increase team
communication and to coach your team members. You can keep a written
record of feedback via your task management system which can help
increase the overall communication and productivity.
13. Having One-on-One Interactions
Successful teams are made of team members who are purposeful in their
interactions. One on one interactions is important with every individual you
hire to make sure employee engagement doesn’t fall short in your
workplace. During these interactions, set your expectations and needs. Tell
them about what your project demands, what are the norms of your
company for employees and give them adequate preparation time to
maximize their potential. When having one-on-one interactions, make sure
you know when to listen to what your employees have to say. The leaders
need to put their best foot forward for their new hirings to get to the bottom
of things.
14. Effective Communication Skills
Growing better communication habits for the future means practicing
effective communication skills and being a powerful communicator. But what
are the examples of effective communication? Well, here are 3
communication skills you should work on:
1. Be aware of your body
Your body tells a story about you.
• Crossed or folded arms – Defensiveness
• Hands held behind the body – Confidence
• Mending clothes, accessories, watch– Nervousness
• Clenched fists – Anger or anxiety
• Squeezing hands – Self-soothing
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2. Active listening – That means being completely present of what the
speaker is trying to impart.
3. Delivering with confidence – You need to develop a strong delivery by
being patient, kind to yourself, and slowing down.
4. Keep it Positive
Last but not least, try to stay positive. No matter whatever state of mind you
are in, being positive will save you from getting into a bad conversation.