To most people, communication is something that we do not
think twice about before carrying it out. After all, we have been doing it
since we were born. But what most of us are not aware of is how important effective communication is, and how difficult it is to
achieve. In class, we have mostly explored the personal arena, therefore I
would like to focus on the importance of effective communication in the
workplace.
In the past, it used to be enough for employees to just be
equipped with the technical know-how, but now as jobs are becoming more complex
and employees start working in teams to take on projects together, more
employers seek applicants with communication as well as technical skills. An
engineer in the past need only know enough to build a house that will not collapse,
but now he has to ask his client about his taste and preferences, work with the
architect to make the design structurally sound, and motivate his workers to
finish work on schedule. All of the above job requirements involve not only
technical knowledge, but also effective communication skills.
The truth is, in the modern world, communication skills are
an unwritten requirement in the workplace. Even in our first job, information
would have to be read, we would have to listen to instructions, questions would
be asked, and we would solve problems with other workers in teams. In any
company, secretaries would have to take down phone messages, employees would
have to make boardroom presentations and listen to meetings and bosses have to
give instructions. It is of little wonder, then, that communication ability
often ranks first among the qualities that employers look for in graduate
applicants.
What do others think of us? This, I’m sure, is something we
want to be positive (as we agreed during class, everyone wants to be liked). Our
identities (both personal and professionally) are largely determined by what we
say (ie. verbal) and do (nonverbal communication) and in turn, our identities determine
how much power we have to influence others and outcomes. In order to develop
positive identities, it is vital to understand the roles that verbal and nonverbal
communication play in how others perceive us. Only when we are more conscious
of our overall verbal and nonverbal impact, we can then monitor our behavior, choose
strategies for improving our image, and thus develop our identities.
6 comments:
Hi,
To begin with you have done a great job of describing the importance of effective communication in our workplace. It is quite true that potential employees no longer look to just impressive resumes and outstanding technical ability but also the way we communicate. In fact that is the first way by which we try to impress our employees (that is in interviews).I think the example you have given also helps us to relate to its importance much better. Also you highlighting the importance of non verbal communication is pretty good because these days people think of communication as only verbal. In all a very good blog post.
One other thing to bear in mind is the fact that out there in the work world it will be difficult to be the 'nice' guy all the time. there will be times when you have to convey negative information or even caution someone about his/ he performance/ behaviour etc. How do you do this and still earn the resoect of the receiver; still maintain your self-esteem?? It goes back to what we talked about in class about truth, integrity and respect for the other person.
Hi Edwin! Thank you for your comments. I'd just like to add on - you're right that non-verbal is as important as, if not more than, verbal communications, something that most of us did not know about (but now know after hearing all the statistics). However, we may be aware of all the body languages and paraverbal cues, but what is important yet only briefly mentioned by Tobias during his dry run is that they all need to be taken into context ie. the physical and cultural environments. In fact, culture is a significant barrier that everyone needs to make the effort to overcome in order to be a better communicator. Since we are all raised differently, it is natural that we have different cultures and hence different beliefs, different thinking, different interpretation. It does not even need to be within countries/ races; different companies have different cultures too! For example, Japanese organizations tend to respect seniority and be more hierarchic, whereas American corporations deem merit more important and are more flexible. Since culture can add to "white noise" (quote: Ka Yan) and impede clear interpretation, we need to take culture into consideration in order to be an effective communicator.
-kirstie
Hi Kristie!
This is again, my second time posting because something went wrong with my first post...
I totally agree with what you said about how people's perceptions of us are shaped by the way we speak. In other words, our words represent us.
I don't know much about Margaret Thatcher's political views, but I do like this quote very much:
"Watch your thoughts for they become words. Watch your words for they become actions. Watch your actions for they become... habits. Watch your habits, for they become your character. And watch your character, for it becomes your destiny! What we think we become."
Thoguhts are private, but words, actions, habits, they are all physical manifestation of what we believe and we get judged by these things. living in city, we are always surrounded by people. getting judged for who we are is bad enough, but getting judged for something that is not even who we are, being judged just purely based on misunderstanding is the worst!
Yes, being conscious of our words and the non-verbal communication is a must!!
Thank you for your enlightening post =)
Hi Ka Yan!
I'm SO sorry for the missing comment - I tried to search for it but I couldn't find it. Did I do something by accident? I hope no other comments accidentally got deleted too! That'll be terrible :\
Thank you for your comments, I think you're really an insightful person, and I'm glad you decide to share some of your thoughts with me.
To be honest, I have always thought that the reverse is true: That personality shapes thoughts. For example, an optimistic person tends to think positively. That's why we judge people by their actions and their words, because that's the only way we get to know someone better. The problem, however, is that different people have different personalities and therefore different perspectives and interpretations of the same thing. What someone sees as a virtue, others may find disagreeable (for example, racial jokes). And that's where effective communication comes in.
The need for the ability to put our ideas the way we think it is even more important in this period of time, where there are even more interference than in the past. With information explosion, people nowadays want information all at once, in an attention-grabbing, eye-catching, CONCISE format, that more and more often, things get taken out of context (ever wondered why tweets and facebook wall posts are so short?). And that's your technological interference, which causes communication breakdown.
Well, even though we both have different views, the conclusion that we both arrive at is essentially the same: no matter what, being able to communicate effectively (keyword is effective, because anyone can communicate) is vital. Knowing this is the first step, being conscious of our flaws is the second, and able to change will be the next (and hardest).
Thank you for your insightful comment, Ka Yan!
Hi Kristie!
thanks for replying =) lol, i'm sure its no fault of yours, because some of my comments at Ye Chuan' and Clarence's blogs got deleted as well...maybe i didn't post properly? =/ i had to redo most of my comments last night =(
hahahah, i think this exchange is turning into a philosophical discussion. "we judge people by their actions and their words, because that's the only way we get to know someone better. The problem, however, is that different people have different personalities and therefore different perspectives and interpretations of the same thing. " this is precisely the point that I want to get across =)
but does personality drive thoughts though? i wonder about that. we can't really "see" personality. we can't really say who we are. an optimistic person can only say he or she is optimistic by deduction i.e, he or she thinks mostly positive thought, and therefore he or she is optimistic.
LOL but this is beside to point! missing u already! see ya tmr!
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