Communication
The
exchange of ideas, messages, or information by speech, signals, or writing.
Communication Skills
Communication
skills are the tools that we use to remove the barriers to effective
communication.
Goal
·
The
goal of communication is to convey information &
·
the
understanding of that information
from one
person or group to another person or group.
THE
COMMUNICATION PROCESS
The main
components of communication process are as follows:
1. Context
- Communication is affected by the context in which it takes place. This
context may be physical, social, chronological or cultural. Every communication
proceeds with context. The sender chooses the message to communicate within a
context.
2. Sender
/ Encoder - Sender / Encoder is a person who sends the message. A sender
makes use of symbols (words or graphic or visual aids) to convey the message
and produce the required response. Sender may be an individual or a group or an
organization. The views, background, approach, skills, competencies, and
knowledge of the sender have a great impact on the message.
3. Message
- Message is a key idea that the sender wants to communicate. It is a sign that
elicits the response of recipient. It must be ensured that the main objective
of the message is clear.
4. Medium
- Medium is a means used to exchange / transmit the message. The choice of
communication medium varies depending upon the features of communication.
5. Recipient
/ Decoder - Recipient / Decoder is a person for whom the message is
intended / aimed / targeted. The degree to which the decoder understands the
message is dependent upon various factors such as knowledge of recipient, their
responsiveness to the message, and the reliance of encoder on decoder.
6. Feedback
- Feedback is the main component of communication process as it permits the
sender to analyze the efficacy of the message. It helps the sender in
confirming the correct interpretation of message by the decoder. Feedback may
be verbal (through words) or non-verbal (in form of smiles, sighs, etc.). It
may take written form also in form of memos, reports, etc
FORMS OF COMMUNICATION:
Oral
Oral
communication makes up the bulk of business communication today. Effectively
communicating orally requires knowledge of the topic at hand, critical thinking
ability and great interpersonal skills. Those skilled with oral communication
are also typically good listeners who pay attention to verbal and nonverbal
communication clues.
Nonverbal
People
communicate nonverbally via body language and facial expressions. Eye contact,
gestures and proximity to the speaker are all examples of nonverbal
communication. It's important to pay
attention to your body language and posture when speaking or listening to
someone else.
Written
Written
communication in today's workplace commonly takes the form of email. Effective
communication and proper etiquette are no less important in electronic form
than they are on the written page. Keep business correspondence professional.
Use correct grammar, punctuation and spell check every message before sending.
Follow the same rules of etiquette in email that you would in any other
business setting. Many employees consider email the most effective form of
office communication.
COMMUNICATION BARRIERS
Communication
Barriers are the various obstacles and hurdles which arise in between of an
effective communication leading to misunderstandings and misinterpretations by
the receiver. They result in distortion of the message and the goal is never
accomplished.
Impatient Listener
The
listener should be patient enough to absorb the complete information and then
respond accordingly. Always jot down your points and start off with your
queries once the sender is through with the communication. Don’t jump in
between the conversation.
Misinterpretation
This can
stem from poor communication efforts by the message sender. Language and
communication differences are common as companies become more diverse.
Additionally, noises and distractions in the work environment can cause
confusion during the reception and interpretation of messages.
Low pitch and tone
Sometimes
even the pitch and tone can play a communication barrier. Your content might be
accurate and related, but if your pitch is low your information will never reach
the listeners. The tone has to be very clear and loud for delivering correct
information.
Ignoring the content
One should
lay emphasis on the content of his speech. The content has to be clear and
above all interesting. Don’t just speak; take some time to find out what you
are speaking. Don’t make your speech monotonous otherwise the listeners after
sometime will definitely fall asleep or bored.
Unorganized Thought
Unorganized
and haphazard thoughts also are instrumental in poor communication and a very
important barrier to effective communication.
Cultural level
In any
organization, an individual can never think on the same line as his boss does.
There is always a difference in their thought process.
Lack of Knowledge
Employees generally lack knowledge about the
company, its products and their jobs. This can contribute to poor production,
creativity and results within the organization. It can also lead to poor
communication and ineffective results during interactions with clients or
customers.
7Cs OF COMMUNICATION
The 7 Cs
provide a checklist for making sure that your meetings , emails
, conference calls , reports , and presentations are well constructed and clear ,so your
audience gets your message.
According
to the 7 Cs, communication needs to be:
Clear.
Concise.
Concrete.
Correct.
Coherent.
Complete.
Courteous.
1. Clear
Your
messages need to be clear if they are to be effective. When writing or speaking
to someone, be clear about your goal or message. What is your purpose in
communicating with this person? If you're not sure, then your audience won't be
sure either.
To be
clear, try to minimize the number of ideas in each sentence. Make sure that
it's easy for your reader to understand your meaning. People shouldn't have to
make assumptions on their own to understand what you're trying to say.
2. Concise
If you
want your messages to be read by busy people, make them brief. Remove all words
phrases and sentences that serve no purpose. You can also eliminate wordiness
by substituting one word for wordy, overused expressions.When you're concise in
your communication, you stick to the point and keep it brief. Make sure to
check,
Are there
any unnecessary sentences?
Have you
repeated the point several times, in different ways?
3. Concrete
When your
message is concrete, then your audience has a clear picture of what you're
telling them. There are details (but not too many) and vivid facts, Your
message is solid. You have a choice in your writing to use concrete (specific)
or abstract (vague) words. However, concrete items terms are typically mare
accurate and, in some cases, more believable.
4. Correct
Correctness
includes proposes spelling, grammar, punctuation, and format. For spelling,
punctuation and grammar.
When your
communication is correct, it fits your audience. And correct communication is
also error-free communication.
5. Coherent
When your
communication is coherent, it's logical. All points are connected and relevant
to the main topic, and the tone and flow of the text is consistent. Ideas need
to flow from on to the next through smooth transitions. You can achieve this by
outlining your messages, writing simple sentences ad focusing each paragraph on
one idea.
6. Complete
In a
complete message, the audience has everything they need to be informed and, if
applicable, take action. Make sure that you included all relevant information,
contact names, dates, times and locations etc.
7. Courteous
Your
message should be positive i.e. building goodwill and focused upon the reader.
Courteous communication is friendly, open, and honest. There are no hidden
insults or passive-aggressive tones. You keep your reader's viewpoint in mind,
and you're empathetic to their needs.
IMPORTANCE OF COMMUNICATION SKILLS:
Communication
skills are very important for all managers and leaders.
Good
communication skills allow managers and leaders to perform their role more
effectively. Their role requires that they communicate. They must communicate
many things to many people: they must communicate effectively to the team, to
their suppliers, to their customers and financiers.
So it is
important that leaders and managers are good communicators.
Communication
skills for managers and leaders consist, mainly, of six subset skills:
1. The ability to set out the goal or the
target to be hit.
2. The ability to communicate the plan of
action that, it is hoped will describe successful action, capable of achieving
the goal.
3. The ability to communicate delegated
actions: who is going to do which task?
4. The ability to give corrective critical
feedback to the people who are not performing in the proper manner and, in
addition, to be able to get them to correct their performance and get
"back on track".
5. The ability to give praise and appreciation
to those who are doing a good job.
6. The ability to communicate the need for
constant change, adaptation, refinement and flexibility to the conditions,
whilst still remaining faithful to the overall goal and plan.
