Wednesday, November 10, 2010

COMMUNICATIONS SKILLS

COMMUNICATIONS SKILLS

By M.Srinivasa Rao

The ability or the skill to transfer one’s thoughts, ideas and information from the sender to the receiver with the latter being understood the same effectively and efficiently is known as communication skills. It is one of the greatest skills of the soft skills and its importance is growing rapidly due to the rising complexities as a result of technological inventions.

In corporate terminology, communication is the process of exchange of information from the sender to the receiver and vice versa. There are different types of communication such as downward communication, upward communication, horizontal communication, crosswise communication, verbal communication; written communication etc., In downward communication, the flow of information is from the people at the superior level to the people at the subordinate level. On the other hand, in upward communication, the flow of information is from the subordinate level to the superior level. In horizontal information, the flow of information is from the people of same level to that of their counterparts at the same level. In crosswise communication, the flow of information is from one level to any other level which is either diagonal or crosswise without any reporting relationship. In verbal communication, the flow of communication, which is transferred orally to any level, and it is the most effective one as one can communicate effectively with one’s body language so as to have profound impact on the receiver. Whenever, there is a need to record the information in black and white, and then people go for written communication in which the communication is through mass mailing in written form.

Any communication has seven elements, apart from the noise, which is known as the barrier in communication and also can be treated as the eight element of communication. The first element being the thought or an idea, the second is encoding the same, third is the transmission of the message or the channel, fourth being the reception of the message and the decoding the same is the fifth element, understanding of the decoded idea or thought is the sixth element and the last and final element i.e. seventh element is the feedback of the receiver to the sender as a sign of confirmation of the communication. Any effective communication must possess the seven elements and the communication is complete with the combination of these seven elements. In case, if there is any gap between the sender and receiver or vice versa then there is communication gap or miscommunication or which is technically called as noise. The so called eighth element is the culprit of communication and all efforts must be made to eliminate it.

Every leader or manager must have great command over communication skills as communication takes major portion of time in any organization. It is aptly said, ‘Communication is the life blood of an organization’. It is through communication all the people are connected in the organization and all the activities are coordinated to achieve their goals and objectives.

The media of communication is divided into verbal communication and non-verbal communication. Both the oral and written communication falls in the fold of verbal communication. The non-verbal communication is divided into body language and sign language and the latter is further divided into visual signs and audio signs. As it is quite obvious, oral communication is the exchange of ideas, thoughts and information in oral form and if it is in written mode, it is known as written communication. A person must be strong at both oral and written forms. When an individual work in the capacity of a manager he will be required to give presentations frequently and he must be in a position to deliver the same effectively. Similarly, he may be asked to write reports on various projects or tasks and possession of written communication is sine quo non.

It is said that 93 per cent of our communication belongs to body language and the systematic study of body language is known as kinesics. It shows the impact of our body language. It is the combination of facial expressions, eye movements, gestures, posture, tone control and our over all physical features. The oral language is always supported by body language and there has to be consistency in both oral and body language, otherwise, it will give rise to credibility crisis. For instance, when an autocratic manager of an industry talks about the application of participative type of management hereafter by thumping his desk physically with force is an indication of inconsistency in his body language with that of his oral language. In a nutshell, our body language conveys our true intentions unconsciously although we may consciously speak orally different. Body movements and gestures contain 55 per cent, voice tone and inflection contains 38 per cent and the combination of the both is 93 per cent, which conveys our body language. While the rest 7 per cent belongs to verbal communication. The combination all the percentages becomes 100 per cent which becomes the media of communication.

Characteristics of an effective communicator:

He must be very clear in his mind what he wants to convey so as to reach the audience effectively.
The language must be simple, straight and should hit the bull’s eye. It is the quality not the quantity of the message that counts.
He must demonstrate his confidence by way of his body language and must radiate energy and enthusiasm so as to create positive impact in the minds of the receivers.
He must assess the maturity level of the audience and must communicate accordingly.
He must not use loaded language with phrases or complicated terminology or jargon to avoid confusion.
Must organize his mind properly with thorough preparation and enough home work to make it reachable and everlasting.
All out sincere efforts are to be made to prevent barriers in communication.
Must be total consistency in his verbal and body language
Should adjust his tone level as per the message of his speech, with pauses and emphasis whereever it is essential.
Must have ability to raise the curiosity level of the audience.

All efforts must be made to enhance the quality of communication from time to time with innovative methods and approaches. For instance, Swami Vivekananda referred the audience at the Chicago conference as the brothers and sisters of the world, which is still memorable even today. He was a great communicator and speaker.

When Stephen had beaten Abraham Lincoln. A. Douglas in the race for the US Senate, he admonished his followers," not to give up after one or one hundred defeats”. He was also a great communicator and motivator.

Communication skill is one of the top ten soft skills without which soft skills are irrelevant. Those who are qualified in their academics and try for placement, the interviewing officer lays more emphasis on this ability. A weak communicator creates problems for himself and for others. The interviewing officer can not afford to take a risk by accommodating a poor communicator. Good communication is a feature of effective personality development. Those who want to succeed in their careers; it is imperative to possess good communication skills.

T H E N D

Tuesday, November 9, 2010

Workplace Communication - How To Make The Best Use of It


In its simplest form, communication is a system for sending and receiving messages. And when we do any of that within the workplace, as we do every day, we have "workplace communication". How do we make the best use of it?
To understand what workplace communication is, one needs to first understand what communication itself is. Communication is a giving or exchanging of information, signals, or messages by talk, gestures, writing, etc., to give information and messages.
Communication is a process we use to have and keep a meaningful relationship. It is a system for sending and receiving messages as by telephone, telegraph, radio, etc... It is a system of routing for moving things from one place to another. It is the art of expressing ideas, especially in speech and writing. It is the science of transmitting information in symbol. It is all of these things and more.
Like all other basic communication, it needs to be developed, practiced and improved on a continuing basis. In the workplace, because we spend a large part of our daily lives at work, we first need the ability to communicate with others.
Within workplace communication we need to manage ourselves, our co-workers, our bosses, our suppliers and customers. We need to establish, cultivate and nurture business and personal relationships effectively and successfully.
How do we do that? For many, it does not come naturally. We get irritated by things and by people around us. We get frustrated if we cannot express ourselves properly. Many folks find it very hard to have any kind of relationship, let alone one at work. We often hear of conflicts, sometimes ending with tragic results.
One thing we all have in common: we all have to work at workplace communication. Some of us come into the workplace more equipped than others, some less. We decide what we need and initiate ourselves in the learning process. We may have to learn to communicate with diplomacy for example.
We may need to learn to become more persuasive communicators. We may need to learn to become better leaders in our own lives and in our own departments. We may need to learn to reduce stress in difficult situations, or in our overloaded responsibilities.
Whether we deal with our co-workers or our employees, we can improve workplace communication by learning to give and get constructive feedback. But first, we need to learn to be assertive. We need to be able to make contact with others and open up a conversation. We need to be interesting by reading interesting things that we can talk about, relating to our business. We need to smile more.
Workplace communication should flow from one person to another, from one department to another, from top management to bottom management.
Workplace communication takes many forms. It is verbal, nonverbal, written. It uses many means such as telephone, letters, memos, computers, Internet. Email has become the most common forms of workplace communication.
All of the above have one thing in common. It can all be learned. Whatever we are missing in workplace communication we can learn. We only need to be aware of it, be mindful of it and take the initiative to learn it and make the best use of it to our successful advantage. /dmh
Diane M. Hoffmann is the founder of Hoffmann-Rondeau Communications and the web site http://communication-verbal-nonverbal.com which is the home of her e-books "Improve Communication, Verbal and Nonverbal" and "Improve Communication, Organization and Training" as well as her 296-page printed book "Contextual Communication, Organization and Training". You may reprint this article making sure to include this bio with no changes.

Monday, November 8, 2010

Resolving Work Place Conflicts


Resolving Work Place Conflicts is very important to have a stress free work environment and also to pull off your work smoothly.
One can be the best in behavior, attitude and personality, but you never know how and when you rub off on the wrong side, and without your knowledge you end up have conflicts, disagreements and dispute with fellow employees.
There are different ways of dealing with differences; most are in favor of ignoring any such differences and minding your own business. But, the question is, is it possible to work hassle free with an intense environment around you. Sometimes it is OK, but most times, it builds up into a very toxic environment and could cause immense pressure.
So it is best to deal with it in the initial stages. The simplest way of dealing with it is by opening an honest discussion with the perceived counterpart. Remember there are always 2 sides to a coin. You are familiar with yours, now is the time to familiarize with the flip side. That throws a lot of insight to what could be the core issue for the tension.
You could start a discussion by stating what you think is the problem, beware not to set a blaming tone. State your point of view and why you believe so in a blunt and straightforward fashion. Now this give the other employee a cushioning ground to open up.
Facilitate by asking questions.
Let them talk, don't interrupt or argue. Try to understand where they are coming from.
Give them feedback as you what your understanding of the situation is.
Actually speaking if you go far, you are close to the solution.
It is possible that there is no actual problem at all, most of the time it is all perceived based on one's personal views. So it becomes very important that you set aside your emotional views, your personal judgment of the person based on his behavior etc. Just stick to work related aspects.
Gain the person faith by acknowledging his point of view and getting an agreement on the problem.
You have reached a stage where both understand each other better and so you start discussing the possible solutions to settle a dispute
At the end of this discussion you will understand that each of you were right in your own ways and was simply trying to do your jobs better. Once you have clear and logical understanding of your roles and how it affects each other, come to a solution that is acceptable for both and is the best way to carry out a task.
Ask for commitment. Maintain and practice a professional and harmonious work culture!
Nithya Mehta

Sunday, November 7, 2010

3 Suggestions for Effective Communication


In an office, one morning, Mr. Smith talks with 2 of his coworkers. Mr. Smith, the general manager, asked them why sales of a new product is not growing as expected. One of his coworkers, Bill, answered back "Mr. Smith, the growth can not be expected in a short period. It was just a month since we launched the product. The growth expectation was too big from the beginning." Mr. Smith asked Bill if he has some idea to increase sales. Bill answered that sales would not grow without spending more money for promotion than they did. Mr. Smith did not say anything.
Instead, he turned to the other coworker, Tom to check his opinion. Tom answered "I agree that the sales growth was not as expected." He continued, "We all may need to accept that sales expectation might not be realistic." He concluded that additional promotion would help to improve the situation. Mr. Smith liked Tom's opinion and asked Tom to give him planning for the promotion. One month later, Mr. Smith transferred Bill to another division.
Were not Bill and Tom saying essentially same thing? What was the difference between 2 coworkers talking with their boss? The difference of two is their response style. The style Bill used can be called "disagreement style". He disagreed several points of Mr. Smith. He disagreed that sales are not good. He disagreed that the growth cannot be judged in a short period. He disagreed that growth expectation was not right. At least, Mr. Smith heard his statement as the manner above described.
Let us examine the response from Tom, next. His style can be "agreement style". He agreed that sales are beyond expectation. He agreed that they both made a mistake planning the sales expectation. He agreed that sales promotion would increase the sales. Tom did not have to deny any of Mr. Smith point suggesting his own opinion.
There was a discussion about effective talking in a SNS. One of the participants, who is business consultation presenter, raised his problem that his statements build a wall to the listeners. He uses disagreement style, because he hopes to be constructive to the listeners. He thinks being denial to his listeners can give them new impact and constructive suggestions. The question here is if one needs to be denial or disagreeable to give listeners constructive suggestion. It is more effective to agree and admire some points and open the mind of listeners and give them suggestions. If they were denied, rejected, and disagreed, they feel offended and close their mind. As a result, all one could get from his listeners would be rejections to presenter's points.
3 Suggestions for Effective Communication:
1. Agreement tends to open minds of listeners. Presenter should be prepared for agreeable points of listeners and start from pointing them out.
2. Remember rejection will invite rejection. Presenter should not start from rejections. They should not repeat rejections. They should not stick to rejections.
3. If you need to point negative issue, you may hope to get yourself to be a part of it. Remember Tom said, "We all need to agree that sales expectation was not right."
Remember that even saying the same thing, if one's way of presenting is not right, he will develop opposite reaction from the people.
Shaw Funami is an owner of "zhen international, inc.", known as a mentor for cross cultural relationship called "Fill the Missing Link". You can learn about his profile in Facebook, http://www.facebook.com/shaw.funami. Please feel free to contact him at "hisashi.funami@zhenintl.ws" or visit his business website.http://shawfunami.com/shawfunami00/

Saturday, November 6, 2010

Business Associate Gifts


Starting a career in gifts business is a special task for very few people who understand the task of picking the right gift for the people, particularly in the business sector. This type of business requires passion and dedication since it will be your job to help people find the right gift for a particular person.
Business associate gifts are not that common to the market and have a huge room for growth in the coming years, especially with the business and corporate community looking for expansion plans.
For these expansion plans to push through, many people in the corporate world will have to find something to give to their business associates as token of appreciation. And gifts connected to the business are just one of them.
One thing you need to know before starting a business gift store is the market that you will operation in. In choosing your products, you will have to consider the people who will buy them and the current market trend.
The qualities of "The Perfect Gift" will not depend on your taste but rather on the specification of the people who will give it. Your products must be timely and should coincide different occasions like birthday, anniversaries, and seminars.
You should also consider giving your clients special gift ideas like corporate baskets and other goodie bags, which is one of the most commonly used gifts in the business world today.
You should also keep a good detailed record of each client so that every time they come in to your store, you can always be ready with a very good selection. This can also increase your chances to expand your clientele.
On the other hand, when you are just starting your business gift stores, you have to remember that it is like any other business but only requires more personal touch in each product, meaning that you have to react quickly on last minute changes of the clients.
You should also have a good delivery service or a welcoming store front to attract customers into your doorsteps. This includes business cards and other advertising promotions that will help you catch the eyes of your clients.
Also, know your clients' birthday and other celebratory dates so that you can send them a gift of your own to them. This will give you a closer bond between you and your clients.
If you own a small business then this is the time to think about christmas gifts for office.

Friday, November 5, 2010

Adapting To a New Workplace Culture


Adapting to any new social environment is a challenge. Whether it is a new job, a new school or a new city or town there will be a period of adjustment or culture shock so to speak. In a way adapting to a new workplace is a form of culture shock just on a much smaller scale.
Nobody likes being the 'new guy' at work. However, the best part about being the new guy is everybody was in that position at one point in time or another. So everybody knows how it feels to be the new kid in town. If you're determined to 'fit in' to a new working environment, your natural instinct may be to get to know people and establish some good relationships as quickly as possible. However, if you're overzealous and go overboard it could backfire on you and people may think you're trying to get attention.
The best thing you can do, at least for the first couple of days, is to casually observe what's going on around you. By doing so, you'll be able to get a feel for your surroundings, and the people you will be spending the majority of your time with, without coming across like you're obnoxious. Practicing this technique when you first start a job will also help alleviate some of the "culture shock" you'll be experiencing.
While you are quietly adjusting to your new work environment be sure to observe what is expected of you. In addition, make note of what is acceptable and/or not acceptable ways of conducting yourself as an employee. That's not to say you shouldn't be friendly. It just means that you shouldn't go 'overboard' and try to stand out in the first few days. Try to find one or two people that you really click with and allow them to mentor you. Take the opportunity to ask them questions, get feedback on your performance and listen objectively and find out if there are any unspoken rules that weren't covered in orientation.
The last thing you want to do is give your employer or co-workers a reason to complain about you. Start each day with your best foot forward. Be on time, offer assistance, share ideas, own up to your mistakes if you make them, don't make excuses and if it is at all possible do not call out of work. Adjusting to a new job doesn't happen overnight. However, if you follow these basic guidelines you will find that adapting to a new workplace culture wasn't really hard at all.
Jerry Haney is a well-known Keynote Speaker and the author of the renowned book on Organizational Culture Change called Making Culture Pay.

Thursday, November 4, 2010

Problems With Your Boss? - Here Are Some Solutions


Every work environment should encourage teamwork, productivity, and the meeting of objectives. Unfortunately there are times when conflict may arise and make it a tough place to work. One of the most difficult conflicts to manage is one involving your boss. The unwanted tension can have a negative affect on your job performance and even your home life.
Conflict with your boss may be difficult but manageable. You can tackle this problem by utilizing conflict resolution methods that will create a more peaceful work environment.
One step is to schedule a personal meeting with your boss. Emails and phone calls may seem easier but they are not as effective in resolving conflict. Be sure you speak honestly and openly with your boss. Remember that it's acceptable to disagree but do it respectfully.
Think about what you want to say to your boss before you have your meeting. Find a friend who will play the role of your employer and you can practice emulating the event. During your practice session pay close attention to their reactions. This will help you take notes on what to say and the best way to say it.
Try to keep your conversation with your boss positive. Before you address your concerns, tell your manager what you feel are some of the positives with your job and their management ideas. This will help show them that you are someone who wants to work out a solution as opposed to being their enemy.
When you have your conversation with your boss, try to put yourself in the manager's position. By putting yourself in their shoes it will give you a better perspective on what they will lose or gain with certain outcomes. This will help you work towards a resolution that will work for both of you.
Discuss and brainstorm with your boss possible solutions to your conflict. Talk about each one individually and show your desire to compromise. If you work together as a team you can achieve the best possible outcome for everyone involved.
Finally, ask your boss if they would be willing to put in writing the resolutions you agreed upon. This will help cement and reinforce the ideas you discussed. Follow these simple steps and you will be on your way to a more enjoyable work environment!
This author enjoys writing about a variety of topics including antiques, sports, fitness, and more. Check out his latest websites Dinosaur T Shirt and Dolphin Decor