In today’s world of complicated technology, the amount and complexity of information to be exchanged and used has increased enormously. We need to communicate objective data to accomplish a task. We also need to convey and elicit personalized subjective feelings and emotions for motivating people on work and desiring satisfaction from our work. This makes communication a fairly complicated and resource communication activity.
When a business suffers from poor communication, this generally leads to misunderstandings, lack of information, poor performance, frustration, increased turnover, etc.
Effective communication does not happen accidentally. It requires time and resource investment. Management must face squarely the challenge of formulating strategies to encourage personnel to communicate effectively.
It starts with YOU! As a manager, you need to consistently plan for communication. Managers have to set the example. They need to realize that successful communication is no one-way process.
Communication is a matter of human relationships. Managers are far more than givers of information or instruction. To communicate successfully, managers have to understand the other person, and have to work hard to get the other person to understand them.
If you learn to communicate effectively in the workplace, you have a skill that can help you enhance your image, resolve conflicts, build networks and facilitate teamwork. Without workplace communication, nothing would be accomplished. The five functions of management — planning, organizing, staffing, leading and controlling — are all dependent on communication.
According to Azriel Winnett, the following are Four Steps to Effective Communication:
1. Attention
Managers need to make sure that the person whom they are communicating with is fully attentive, and able to digest what is being said.
2. Apprehension
It is important that the person to whom you are talking understands what is being said. He/ she should not be afraid.
3. Assimilation
This is the conscious decision by the recipient of the instructions to work hard in achieving the objective set.
4. Action
This is putting what is heard and understood into practice through active work, with the clear objective in mind
As the manager, convey your ideas in a positive, clear and convincing manner. Listen to your employees’ opinions or ideas and give them honest consideration. Be clear and concise in your correspondence. You cannot take back what you said, and you cannot take back what you wrote.
Effective communication in the workplace results in a:
• Greater trust and understanding between colleagues
• Employees feeling encouraged to express their opinions
• Equal information between colleagues
• A developed understanding of unity towards a common goal