EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION REVISITED

Every living organism communicates. Every instance of communication has a purpose. Have you heard dogs bark? Their barks have different tones. A low pitch bark means anger, stay away from me, and a high pitch bark means it is okay to approach. Since dogs do not have specific words, their communication is clear, a dog does not bark to say something and mean something else. Few animals also display emotions with their expressions, which do not have any ulterior meaning. Animals can communicate only with tone or expression. Fortunately, humans are the only species endowed with the faculty of speech apart from tone and expressions.

Speech is an extraordinary tool, which is highly prone to miscommunication. The way in which humans communicate is a direct result of their environment. The culture in which the person lives has an immense influence on communication. The interference of upbringing, culture, and environment dilutes the effectiveness of communication, hence behavioral psychologists have developed several models showing how to eliminate the influences of environment and make communication effective.

Let us explore some the ways in making communication effective

The first important step in communicating effectively is to have a clear purpose in mind. To achieve the clarity of purpose one should ask questions to self before initiating the process of communication.

Question such as –

?       Who is the receiver of communication?

?       Is it necessary to communicate?

?       What is the purpose of communication?

?       How will the communication benefit the receiver?

?       Is the communication useful to the receiver?

?       Is the communication complete and correct?

?       Is it the right time to communicate?

?       Is the environment appropriate to communicate?

?       Is there any kind of anxiety?

?       What is the ability of the receiver? (Linguistic / Physiological)

?       What is the intended outcome of communication?

The above question will help the sender to develop clear thoughts, which will help in making the communication effective and result oriented.

Once the sender has thought through the above question, encapsulate them in words. Here is where the ambiguity starts because similar words have different meaning and if the improper grammatical syntax is used entire communication can go haywire. Syntax in is proper placement of the parts of speech in a sentence. The framing of sentences should be such that they are easy to comprehend and interpret.

The amount of impact accurate framing of sentences gives is only seven percent of the overall communication, it means that ninety-three percent is still missing. Let us see what the ninety-three percent is.

There are three parts of effective communication i.e. Verbal, Non-Verbal, and Tonal. The seven percent that we discussed above is only verbal communication. Non-verbal amounts to fifty-five percent and tonal thirty-eight percent.

Body Language plays a very significant part in effective communication. When communicating, ensure to have proper expression, gestures, and postures.

When approaching a receiver to communicate, the facial expression should be as positive as possible. Positive facial expression puts the receiver at comfort. Communication should begin with a welcoming enthusiastic smile. Showing any kind of irritation, frustration, boredom or letting personal problem interfere with your expressions will hamper the chances of communicating effectively.

Hand gestures are the second aspect of body language. Always keep arms open when communicating. Speaking with closed arms gives the feeling of defensiveness and disagreement to receiver Gestures should be very subtle, not giving a feeling of either aggression or submissiveness.

Standing posture is the third aspect of body language. The way a person stands and walks create an impression on the receiver's mind. A slumping posture may give an impression of a dull lazy person whereas a stubborn posture may give an impression of aggression. The posture should be such that it is neither slumping nor stubborn. It should be a very comfortable posture.

Tonal communication is the third aspect and plays an equally important part in effective communication. When communicating, speak in tone, which is confident, enthusiastic, and friendly. Never speak in a flat voice.

Using proper verbal, non-verbal, and tonal communication together makes the communicating effective and result oriented.

Having thought thoroughly about all the aspects of effective communication, a sender sends the information to the receiver, now it is the role of the receiver to understand how to make the best of received information.

For the receiver of information, listening is the most important skills. Listening is different from hearing. In hearing various types of sounds reach the eardrum, however, the mind does not try to analyze or understand the sound it just ignores the sound. When humans receive communication in any form speech, music, or just sound made by an infant, humans analyze and try to understand the sounds and its meaning. Utilization of ears and mind equally is listening.

There are two types of listening, passive and active. When a person seems to be listening with the mind occupied in some other thought it is passive listening, this is same as hearing. Complete involvement of mind without any kind of diversion is active listening.

There are many ways of active listening. Listening selectively to the speaker, meaning, the listener only retains information, which matches the already existing information in the mind and rejects all other information, this is selective listening. A listener may be aware of the shared information and keeps thinking ahead of the speaker, this type of listening is forward listening.

In the current age, especially millennials have a very poor attention span, even if the topic and speaker are interested, it is likely that the listener might drift off in thoughts or get occupied in viewing social media on mobile phones. A good listener is a one who listens to the speaker with an open mind and full attention by not succumbing to personal or environmental distractions.

The second important aspect to keep in mind for the receiver is the body language. It should be suggestive of openness to listening. The listener should make a good eye contact, have an amicable facial expression, and open arms while listening to the speaker.

The third and most important skill of a good listener is questioning. A listener should ask open-ended WH questions to the speaker, which motivates the speaker to share more information, bringing clarity to communication and coming to a common agreement.

Finally, after receiving and understanding accurately the receiver takes the role of the sender and gives feedback on the received information either in words or action.

All of the above steps seem too daunting at first, however, with practice, it becomes natural.

Effective communication is not only important at the workplace, it is also important while speaking with family and friends.