Principles of Effective Communication

Principles of Effective Communication

General communication skills: For communication to take place there must be an audience for your message to be communicated to. Who that audience is will determine the type of language you use, the way you put your words together and how you deliver your message. Career development is enhanced by training in oral communication and listening because skills contribute to an employee's success in all of the following areas: interviewing, making presentations at or conducting meetings; negotiating and resolving conflict; selling; leading; being assertive; teaching or coaching others; working in a team; giving supervisors feedback about conversations with customers; and retraining. Employees spend most of the day communicating, and the time they spend will increase as robots, computers, and other machines take over mundane, repetitive jobs.

Cultural differences: There is no better arena for observing a culture in action than business. Cultures tend to reveal themselves in situations where much is as stake, because it is here that their resources are most needed. Marriage, family obligations, and such stressful experiences as illness and the death of a loved one bring out much of what is distinctive and fundamental in a culture. The same is true of business, because economic survival is at stake. Business practices are shaped by deeply-held cultural attitudes toward work, power, trust, wealth and communication. Any cultural differences between you and your audience, or within your audience, will need to be addressed. Some words or signs that are acceptable in one language or culture may be misunderstood or considered offensive in another, so you might choose to use different words or gestures from the ones you would usually use.

Adapting:Adaptability means to modify and adjust according to the environment and situation. For a good worker, he/she must have the quality to adapt and work in any environment and situation. Skills are not only pertained with the subject knowledge and talents, but also include certain soft skills like adaptability; many soft skills are required in today’s scenario to fit oneself in his workplace. The age and composition of your audience can also impact on the way you communicate with them. You might raise your voice (or use a microphone to be heard) or vary your tone of voice, to modulate it, to maintain the interest of your audience. You might be selective in your choice of terminology, to make sure that everyone in your audience understands your message. You might present your message in a particular format (for example, using rhyme or music) or deliver it electronically.

Accuracy: Having adapted the content and style of your communication to meet the expectations or needs of your audience, you should next focus on the message that you are trying to convey. To win the hearts and minds of an audience, you may be tempted to stretch the truth or to make emotive statements to whip up feelings for or against some political or social issue. For some audiences, these tactics may work; however, it is usually best to stick to the truth and to include only facts in your message. Otherwise, you risk being shown to be a liar: if this happens, you will lose credibility and no one will listen to you no matter how conscientious you claim to be.

Engaging the audience: To maintain the interest levels of your audience, whether they are reading a report you’ve written or listening to a presentation you need to apply various techniques. In an oral presentation, you can create interest by pausing from time to time – long enough to let the audience take in what you have said, but not so long that they think you have forgotten what you were going to say next. You can create a similar effect in written communications if you: vary the sentence length, using longer sentences to carry a train of thought, and short punchy sentences to make a point use headings or bullet lists to section off or break up the message into manageable chunks.



Question and answer: Question and answer sessions can be particularly useful for clarifying points that you might have skimmed over in your presentation. You can’t be sure how much your audience have understood until you hear their questions. Apart from satisfying their curiosity, you can use this feedback to improve your presentation for the next time around. A question and answer session can also give the impression that the audience can throw any question to the speaker, and that the speaker will answer it. This is not always the case. In face-to-face Q&A sessions, this level of control cannot be managed. However, the questioner may resort to saying what he/she wants to say toeing the party line, so to speak rather than actually answering the question.

Interpersonal skills: For communication to happen, two or more people must be involved. One person expresses a message through words (spoken or written), signs, signals, facial and bodily expressions or even silence. The other person uses his/her senses (mostly sight and hearing) to gather aspects of the message. Interpersonal skills enable employees to interact successfully within the changing and challenging workplace environment. It fosters positive communication climate at the workplace. The result of interpersonal skills is tremendous. It helps to solve relationship problems at work, motivate and influence the team/group working relationship, reduce the cost of rehiring and training cost, and lead to positive corporate climate for achieving business performance.

Methods: Verbal exchanges work for most people but those who cannot speak may sign a message, while someone who is deaf might rely on lip reading. The recognised signing system also acts as an aid for communication with the deaf.

Techniques and cues: To express emotion in verbal communications, some change of tone is needed. A raised voice can indicate anger or impatience. A lowered voice can show fear or insecurity. In face-to-face discussions, the tone of voice may be accompanied by some body language. A fist being thumped on the table conveys more force than hands that are held together as if in prayer or hanging meekly at the speaker’s side. Folded arms across the chest may show indifference or obstinacy. Someone who is unsighted, or at the end of a telephone line, doesn’t have the extra dimension that body language offers during face-to-face communication. This person can still hear pauses though, and will identify any emotion conveyed through intonation.

Positive language:The word ‘Yes’ is a positive response to a question. Your facial expressions – such as a smile – can also convey a positive reaction. Nodding your head, or leaning towards the speaker, conveys your agreement or willingness to listen to what is being said. Language is an exceedingly powerful tool.  Whether you communicate orally, or in written form, the way you express yourself will affect whether your message is received positively or negatively.  Even when you are conveying unpleasant news, the impact can be softened by the use of what we call positive language.

Negative language: Cutting in while another person is speaking, depending on how you do it, can convey enthusiasm or may be seen as antagonistic. Finishing other people’s sentences can be irritating and may indicate insensitivity on your part. If you decide not to react at all and remain impassive, this also communicates a clear negative message to the speaker: you are bored and have no intention of listening. Body language that indicates a negative attitude can act as a barrier to communication. For example, you are unlikely to persuade someone to open up and communicate with you frankly if you use closed body language and an aggressive stance.

Active engagement: Communication doesn't just happen when you are speaking: you can also communicate in several ways while the other person speaks. By paying attention and reacting to what the other person is saying (for example, with a nod or a frown) you are communicating that you hear what is being said and that you are taking note. Once the other person has finished speaking, they may signal that you are expected to respond. They might end with a question (such as, ‘don’t you agree?’) or they might use body language to indicate that it is your turn to contribute to the conversation, by turning their body or inclining their head towards you. You can confirm your understanding of what has just been said by summarising it, before going on to make your own comments. You might also paraphrase what has been agreed between you.

Types of question: Communication is not just two people speaking in turn. There needs to be a link between the people and questions can help to create such a link.
An open question is an invitation to the other person to pick up the conversation and take control. For example, if you ask ‘How are you today?’ there are a multitude of possible responses. The conventional response is ‘ I'm fine, thanks. And how are you?’ whether or not this is true. During a debate on an issue, a constructive open question might be ‘What do you think about this?’ This invites the other person to express their views. Closed questions are expressed in such a way that the options for a reply are limited, perhaps only to ‘yes’ or ‘no’. ‘Would you like a cup of tea?’ is a closed question. The question can be made less specific: ‘Would you like something to drink?’ but this may still result in a yes/no answer. To find out exactly what is required, you would need a follow up question: ‘What would you like to drink?’

Either form of question is acceptable during most conversations. With open questions, you may not find out what you want to know; in this case, you will need to follow up with additional questions called probing questions to extract the information you want. In personal conversations, such questions might be considered unacceptable because they delve too deeply into a person’s private space. In some circumstances, it may be effective to repeat questions, but this may be considered aggressive or impolite.

Communicate in writing: Written communication is fundamentally different from other forms of communication. It requires special skills in the construction of the message – not least, the ability to handwrite or type. It also requires a good knowledge of the vocabulary and grammar of a language (such as English) so that the written word conveys the intended message to the audience. You cannot use visual cues such as body language or oral cues such as tone of voice. Writing something can seem very easy, but effective written communication is another matter. You need to understand how you can best communicate in writing and what constraints might be imposed by your working conditions. We will identify how you might use the tools at your disposal to communicate a message to your audience, minimising the risk of misunderstandings. 

Guidelines: As an employee, you will be expected to follow organisational guidelines and procedures. You will be allocated space in which to work, and you will be given notice of the times you should attend the office and/or be available for others to contact you. You will be supplied with the communications equipment you will need in your day-to-day work, such as a computer, a telephone and stationery, and you may be given access to other essential materials such as a shared fax facility. There may be guidelines restricting the ways computer equipment is to be used. For example, there could be rules relating to the use of emails and faxes and the type of information that can be sent by email or fax (for reasons of confidentiality). Organisational guidelines are created to ensure a consistent and secure style of communication from those within the organisation to those outside the organisation. As a representative of the organisation you will be bound by these guidelines.

Smileys or emoticons: Smiley’s also called emoticons can be used to express a frame of mind. These are used in text messaging and on Internet forums and social networks like Facebook. They are not suitable for serious communications and would be frowned upon in the workplace. A smiley or emoticon is a sort of logo, or drawing, usually obtained by means of a computer keyboard. Most smiley’s represent facial expressions because they are meant to show the feelings of the person using them. As body language can be used in real conversation, smiley’s can be used in computer communication and e-mail.

Key messages: Whatever form a written communication takes report, letter, fax or email there will be a key message to be conveyed. Within a letter, this may be flagged by the inclusion of a heading, immediately after the salutation electronic faxes and emails use a subject line to convey the key message. Key messages are the core of your writing. Key messages open the door to direct communication with your audience, because they bridge what your audience already knows and where you are trying to take them.

Grammar and spelling: The body of a report, letter, fax or email will add substance to the key message. It may provide an explanation or apology, it may contain further information, such as directions or an itinerary, or it may request action. Whatever the content of the communication, it is important that it is written using correct grammar and spelling. Mistakes convey an unprofessional image to the reader; they can also create confusion if the mistakes result in the message being difficult to understand. There are 3 ways to ensure that your grammar, punctuation and spelling are correct when you send out important pieces of writing.

1.     Learn them yourself

2.    Hire someone who can proofread your writing before it goes out.

3.    Use technology such as a word processing spell-checker, grammar-checker, and punctuation-checker. 

Structure: If the message runs to more than a line or two, make sure you structure it in a way that aids the reader’s understanding. A logical framework with material presented in a sensible order – using headings and perhaps bullet lists – should help the reader to take in the information without a struggle and without having to read the material more than once. You might decide to number your points, or present some material in bold so that it stands out. An illogical framework will mean that the reader has to work harder to interpret your meaning, and this could result in misunderstandings. You may be presented with templates for letters and emails, with standard wording that you are expected to adapt for specific communications with suppliers, customers and colleagues. If not, it is a good idea to reuse and adapt communications that you have used previously to convey a similar message.

Identifying relevance: When reading your report, letter or email, the recipient will try to identify relevant information within it. In a structured message, this task is made easier. However, if you have hidden relevant information within a mass of other details, the reader may miss important facts. Underlining or emboldening important relevant information such as the date of a meeting is one way of ensuring that such facts are not missed. However, by pruning the message so that it contains only relevant information is even more helpful to the reader.

Proofreading: Before you send a written communication such as a report, text message, email or letter, it is essential to review and check your work for accuracy. When you first create a written communication, the document is called a draft. Each time you redraft your document, you should proofread the text to check that you have not introduced errors. This is in addition to the use of tools such as a spell checker. Finding errors in your own work is tricky; your eye reads what your brain thinks you planned to write and compensates for it. Even when there are spelling errors, your brain can make sense of the text. There are various techniques you can try to improve your proofreading ability. Arrange with someone else that you will proofread their work and they will proofread yours. Some people are better at spotting errors anyway, and each pair of fresh eyes is a bonus. Your reading of their work will improve your ability to spot mistakes. Allow time to pass before you proofread, so that you have distanced yourself from what you wrote. Look at it with fresh eyes yourself. Read your piece more slowly than you normally would, out loud, focusing on one word at a time. Read the piece line by line, backwards.

Alternative viewpoints: Some documents can be used to present alternative viewpoints (for example, a report or a letter), and the structure of such documents must make it clear where each viewpoint starts and ends. The structure may include an introduction to explain the purpose of the document and a summary to précis the main points covered. For example, a report may consider the effects of two different courses of action – a table may prove useful in presenting the pros and cons of each situation and graphs may help to show alternative results. 

Note taking: You will not be alone in generating written communications in your workplace. Colleagues will be sending you documents, which you might need to edit before they are circulated. Alternatively, you could receive a document before a meeting which you need to review so that you are fully informed and ready to discuss the content at the meeting. You may receive documents from external sources, which you will need to review. For instance, a supplier might present a quotation or you might commission some research to help you make a decision regarding new equipment or a course of action. When reviewing a communication, you may find it helpful to take notes. This is especially useful when the communication is long and contains a lot of information. Note taking may involve: handwriting key points on a new sheet of paper, annotating a hard copy of the message, writing in the margin, underlining key phrases or using a highlighter pen for important facts and dates or times using reviewing tools to annotate the electronic document with your comments.

Capitalisation: Capital letters are used at the start of a sentence (like the C in this sentence) or for proper nouns like James and Portugal. They are also used for abbreviations like UK and USA and for acronyms like WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get). In written communications, especially text messages or emails, capitalisation of entire words or phrases is taken to mean shouting, and is therefore to be avoided (unless you intend to shout). The systematic use of capitalized and uncapitalized words in running text is called "mixed case". Conventions for the capitalization of titles and other classes of words vary between languages, and to a lesser extent between different style guides.