You have probably heard very often the phrase communication is fundamental for success. However, to understand communication skills and how to improve them, you must look back in time.
70 000 years ago, a group of homo sapiens left Africa. Within a short time, they dominated the planet. How was that possible?
According to historian Yuval Noah Harari’s book Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind, a cognitive quality emerged around that time: the ability to communicate using a shared language.
Language allows the accumulation and sharing of knowledge, forming abstractions, and shared imagination. The genetic mutation enabled both effective collaboration in large groups and superior planning. As a result, sapiens, unlike other species, could create stories and civilizations. In short, language has made sapiens what it is now.
Thousands of years later, companies are in the midst of a battle for survival in the competitive work environment. Just as shared language allowed Homo sapiens to thrive, effective communication enables companies to win. Let’s discover the successful communication skills used by leading pros and find ways to boost your existing abilities.
Contents
Before answering this question, let’s establish the exact definition of communication.
Communication is the process of sending and receiving messages through verbal or nonverbal means, including speech or oral communication; writing and graphical representations (such as drawings, maps, and charts); and signs, signals, and behavior.
More simply, communication is the creation and exchange of meaning. Every communication process has a sender and a receiver, a message, and interpretations of meaning on both ends.
Effective communication consists in successfully delivering a message to a target audience. For the communication to be effective, both the sender and receiver will share the same information in a way that guarantees adequate reception and understanding.
Effective communication is crucial to the success of every business. Several messages are delivered daily vertically, horizontally, and from the organization to the outside. Because of that, people must communicate all messages properly. You need to remember that content, language, remarks, tone of voice, and non-verbal communication affect the effectiveness of messages.
Excellent communication skills are a benefit in every aspect of our lives. Whether you order pizza or speak in public, listening and communicating are vitally important. Effective communicators improve work relationships and increase employees’ engagement and productivity.
Countless skills make a great communicator, some innate, others developed through continuous practice and experience.
To strengthen your communication skills, you should consider the common characteristics of great communicators.
In the following lines we will expand in each of these skills, and find ways to improve your abilities for each one of them.
Listening is a key element of effective communication. Active listeners better understand the message, even if the speaker is not highly eloquent. Effective communication is the foundation of a deeper connection. It is crucial to be an attentive listener if you want to build trust and boost your employees’ morale.
If you’re looking to improve your active listening skills, then start to practice the following these tips:
Body language plays an essential role in effective communication. No doubt, words are important. Nonetheless, your tone, eye contact, facial expressions, and hand gestures are equally important. Using non-verbal communication while speaking delivers your message more conveniently and effectively.
Another vital skill for being an effective communicator is to be precise and univocal with your message. Your audience can comprehend you better if you provide sufficient details, facts, and figures. Use simple vocabulary, an active voice, and a well-defined message so others can improve their performance in a short time.
Stress and anxiety can alter your message and cause you to be an ineffective communicator. Remaining calm during a conversation helps you choose the right set of words and the proper reply. Being relaxed ensures that you make excellent decisions and avoid time-consuming complications.
If you will have a difficult conversation, we have some strategies that can be implemented easily, that will bring maximum benefits:
If you want to improve your confidence, then start by embracing the following habits:
Find out two more essential tips within the confidence section of the key leadership qualities guide.
You should not be angry or frustrated when your opinions contradict other team members. Delivering a message with empathy and respecting the receiver’s values, beliefs, opinions, and ideas are essential for an effective communicator. To be more empathic rather that offering a quick solution to the your colleague who needs some empathy, just listen.
Tip: By improving your emotional inteligence you improve your abilities to understand other people, let go of mistakes easier, will be more difficult to offend, and be more curious about other people.
Giving and receiving feedback is one of the core skills for effective communication. You might not get all the feedback stating how good of a person you are. Sometimes feedback may be tough to swallow, but you must listen, understand, and act positively to improve your effective communication skills.
Effective employee feedback factors
Remember that giving feedback to your peers is a communication experience. And this interaction can boost the employee performance or not. Here are aspects that we would like to highlight in this sense:
To communicate effectively in a workplace, you must know your team members. Don’t waste time by spending your coffee or lunch break alone. Use that time to learn more about your colleagues, their hobbies, and what makes them happy or troubles them. The better you know and understand your team members, the better you communicate with them.
Here are some additional ways to be a better people person:
Related: People management skills to master in 2023.
We've made a simple image with the above mentioned ways to improve your communication skills at work. We hope you enjoy it.
When you want to become an effective communicator in your workplace, then we have a set of tips that you can start embracing in your daily communication with your coworkers:
Depending on the situation and the context, you might choose a better communication type from the following four:
Just delivering a message is not effective communication. Every message has a clear purpose to meet.
Here are the main attributes which make communication effective:
A. Clarity
The message must be to the point, simple, and easy to comprehend. The receiver must understand the meaning of the message exactly as the sender wants to transmit it. There should be no room for confusion, misinterpretation, or ambiguity. The sender must choose precise, accurate, and familiar words. Avoid academic words, make it simple, straightforward language. If the message is clear, the receiver is much more likely to understand and act on it.
The Gettysburg Address by Abraham Lincoln is an example of clarity in communication, and also the most memorable speeches in history with only 272 words.
Tip: When writing an email, by having a clear title, you will get a better and faster response. The same is clear when you write a memo, follow-up on a request on Slack or draft a agenda for the next meeting.
B. Correctness
Effective communication must not be false, manipulated, or exaggerated. The information must be free from errors and grammatical mistakes. Lack of proper grammar and syntax affects the effectiveness and credibility of the message, creates ambiguity, and raises doubts.
Tip: Before sending your email, double-check what you have written, make sure that the call to action is clear, and that the message what you want to convey is well articulated.
C. Brevity
Brevity is the quality of using a few words while speaking or writing. Conciseness is a crucial virtue of communication. The message must be communicated using simple and short words instead of metaphors, allegories, and repetitions.
As George Orwell wrote in his essay Politics and the English Language, if it is possible to cut a word out, always cut it out.
D. Completeness
Effective communication must be complete in all respects. The sender should transmit a comprehensive message and ensure that the receiver will not need new information, details, or clarifications.
Communication is the base for decision-making. If the information is incomplete, it may lead to wrong decisions and waste time and resources. Effective communication builds the reputation of the company.
Tip: Pick the phone, and share the details verbally. Calling the person might be more effective, convey the details more clearly and easier than writing a long email.
E. Empathy
Before you convey your message, consider the potential effect of your words on the other end of the communication channel. Empathy is a critical pillar of good workplace communication. Being thoughtful about other people’s feelings is a healthy attitude, builds strong teams, and paves the way for smooth and effective communication.
F. Politeness
Being polite is a soft skill we learn when we are children, and it is crucial in everyday life and a corporate setting. Practical and good communication generates trust, goodwill, and happiness. To achieve this goal, both the sender and receiver must be thoughtful and appreciative of the other’s point of view. They should show genuine consideration, humbleness, and respect towards each other.
Regardless of the type of communication: verbal, nonverbal, written, listening, or visual, if you don’t have the skills to communicate effectively, you can drive your team to significant setbacks. Missed deadlines and opportunities, wasted resources, employee and customer churn - to name just a few of the possible outcomes of poor internal communication. These miscommunications are symptoms of more serious barriers that may be affecting your entire organization:
Six main communication barriers are challenging effective communication:
1. Language barriers
Language barriers are linguistic limitations that create confusion, miscommunications, or prevent comprehension.
People working in the same organization may struggle with differences in vocabulary. The terminology used during a conversation may act as a linguistic barrier. For example, a message that includes specific jargon and abbreviations will not be understood by a receiver unfamiliar with the terminology.
2. Cultural barriers
People come from different backgrounds.
They don’t share the same culture, education level, gender, etc. These differences majorly affect the efficiency of the communication process.
Addressing inequality and emphasizing diversity and inclusion in your company culture will help team members feel valued, regardless of their background.
3. Physical barriers
Distance is the first that comes to mind when we think of physical barriers. In the past years, remote work became increasingly common, with teams scattered around the globe. When people communicate over long distances, they overlook the non-verbal aspect of communication. They will struggle to communicate effectively without the technology to keep them connected.
4. Psychological barriers
The psychological mood of the communicators will influence the entire communication process. Disagreements are inevitable in the workplace and can cause serious problems. Absenteeism, lack of employee engagement, and collaboration between team members are signs of psychological barriers.
5. Technological barriers
Technological barriers to communication emerge if people don’t have the right tools or training. Your team needs three essential things to communicate and function effectively: up-to-date systems, proper business tools for their duties, and training.
6. Organizational tools
Organizational barriers can affect all businesses. They often occur from a lack of understanding of your business vision and individual responsibilities.
In such organizations, people may not know their role in the communication chain and how to share or request information.
Effective communication is beneficial not only in the workplace but also in virtually every area of your life. Dynamic communication builds bridges and connects people. Being an effective communicator at work is vital.
Excellent communication in the workplace helps you avoid unnecessary problems and promotes better performance. Communicating effectively in the workplace increases overall productivity and creates a strong team. When employees consult with each other and consider different perspectives, they will be interested in cooperating more, innovating, and finding the best solution together.
As an HR manager, team leader, employee, or employee, it’s essential to master effective communication. Business is done with people; however, work is done with people. People share tasks, discuss milestones, agree on specific roadmaps, negotiate, question unclear elements, seek advice, and present results. You can say that such communications are encountered at work and in your day-to-day activities beyond work.
Moreover, depending on your role, you will handle:
Especially within the knowledge economy, communication is essential; however, think about industries, construction, and manufacturing; once again, you need to communicate efficiently, or else you risk making mistakes and disappointing management or customers. Handling each situation like a pro is necessary if you want to be respected and successful. Stats from Linkedin highlight that communication is the number one soft skill.
The culture of effective communication at work can result in:
Conclusion
Now you have the right set of skills, tips, and attributes to become a successful communicator. It’s now time to practice, constantly these new abilities. Some of them will feel natural; others may be a bit forced at the beginning. Don’t try to implement them all at once; just take your time. And remember that some of us are more inclined towards verbal communications and will take the phone at any moment to discuss any problem at any hierarchical level; others will prefer to write an email. And if your communication strategy within the workplace is effective, you will encounter easier team buy-in, less conflict, clearer direction, less misunderstanding, and increased levels of engagement.
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