Effective communication

Effective Communication

Effective communication is a cornerstone of a well-functioning workplace. It can mean the difference between a well-oiled machine and a workplace of chaos. If there is no effective communication, things won’t get done, the right information won’t go to the right people, and in general, things will slow down.

Effective communication usually has 3 parts: the source (the place where the information is coming from), the tool (the method or medium of communication), and the recipient (the person you’re communicating to).

Principles of effective communication

This falls into 3 main areas: general communication skills, interpersonal skills, and written communication skills.

General Communication skills

Cultural awareness

Show an awareness/tolerance of the range of cultures and religions in the workplace. This does include things like religious holidays, the types of clothes they might wear, prayer time, etc. But also, cultural differences don’t just mean religious differences. People from different places can have wildly different cultures as well. Showing awareness/tolerance of these differences helps the workplace gel, and helps people work together in the long run.

Adapting to audience needs

If your audience consists of the blind, the hard of hearing, or of a certain demographic, knowing how to adapt your own personal communication to suit their needs can work wonders. It can also keep them interested in what you have to say if you cater to their needs.

Question and answer/meetings

Having regular meetings/question and answer sessions can improve understanding between colleagues, offer chances to put forward different opinions, offer a neutral environment to work through potential problems, and overall connect people that otherwise wouldn’t be.

Accuracy

The information you present to your audience HAS to be accurate. This helps your audience put their confidence in you and your opinions. If you give your audience inaccurate information, or facts that are just plain wrong, this can make your audience not believe you, not trust you, and after a while you lose integrity.

Interpersonal communication skills

Methods

Methods of communication are the ways you get information over to your audience.

Verbal: use of sounds and words to express yourself.

Body language: Actions speak louder than words. Body language can be conscious (posture, gestures, facial expressions) and subconscious (attitude, certain body postures like slouching and hunching over, breathing)

Sign language: used for the hard of hearing, sign language can help deaf people follow along and feel like a part of the conversation.

Lip reading: Another technique for deaf people, lip reading can do the same as sign language. It can help deaf people feel like a part of the conversation, and they can more effectively offer their opinion.

Braille: this method of feeling raised bumps in a certain pattern can help blind people read. If you’re giving out leaflets, books, or any other general reading material, it’s good practice to offer a braille equivalent alongside the normal reading material.

Techniques and Cues

Body language can drastically change how communication is interpreted. If someone was to come into a job interview and slouch, hunch over, and generally act like they don’t care, the interviewer wouldn’t even give them a second look. And rightfully so. That first impression implies that they don’t really care about getting the job, they just care about earning money.

Tone of voice also matters. If someone was to give an order in a passive voice, there’s a chance that that order will be carried out to a substandard quality, or it could get ignored completely. But if that order is given in a more authoritative voice, it can get done.

Active engagement

All of these techniques are all well and good, but mean nothing if your audience isn’t engaged. If they’re not listening because of one reason or another, it’s a problem, because they won’t retain the information if they’re not interested.

Barriers

Understanding and overcoming different barriers of communication can improve inclusivity. Say someone in your audience speaks French. If you have a French translation of your info, or an interpreter, it can help them to be included in the conversation. There are other barriers too, but people deal with and overcome them in different ways.

Types of question

Asking the right types of question can help you get the right type of data you want. For example, if you were doing a survey on people’s tastes in music, you’d ask a closed question by listing different genres. But if you wanted a group of people’s opinion on a topic, you’d ask an open question. Closed questions give the recipient options, but give the person asking them a specialised set of data. Open questions, however, can act like taking the pulse of a group of people. Then there’s also probing questions. These are used to get really specific data from a certain point. They’re also used to clear up any vague areas of questioning.

Written communication skills

Email, letters and fax

These are the 3 most common forms of written communication in the workplace. In this digital age, emails are the most effective way to get a message across to a team of people. Knowing how to write an email, compose a letter, and mail a fax is obviously very important too, as you want to get the message across in the most efficient way possible.

Spelling and grammar

Correct spelling and grammar is absolutely essential for the recipient to understand what you’re writing, and for the recipient to have confidence on the content of the document you write.

Emoji

Emoji are visual representations of emotions, ideas, concepts, and other basic things. These can be used as shorthand to free up space in a text, to express emotions and other concepts quickly, and to add a bit of flair to an otherwise boring wall of text.

Structure

Structure refers to the order of ideas; the different ideas you have must be laid out in a clear way, easy to read, and it also makes it easier for the writer to organize their material. Having a good structure is especially important if you want a cohesive thread running through your information.

Proofreading

Proofreading usually takes place after the main write up of text. It consists of: checking grammatical errors, checking spelling errors, punctuation, making sure the text flows properly, and so on. This is needed so that people can read the text properly.

Reviewing and editing

This takes place either before proofreading or alongside it. Reviewing the content of the text and checking the structure to ensure that it meets the needs of the audience is important, as you may need to change it later on.