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Importance of Communication Skills
The purpose of communication is to get your message across to others. This is a process that involves both the sender of the message and the receiver. This process leaves room for
error, with messages often misinterpreted by one or more of the parties involved. This causes unnecessary confusion and counter productivity. In fact, a message is successful only when both the sender and the
receiver perceive it in the same way. By successfully getting your message across, you convey your thoughts and ideas effectively. When not successful, the thoughts and ideas that you convey do not necessarily
reflect your own, causing a communications breakdown and creating roadblocks that stand in the way of your goals – both personally and professionally. In spite of the increasing importance placed on
communication skills, many individuals continue to struggle with this, unable to communicate their thoughts and ideas effectively – whether in verbal or written format. This inability makes it nearly impossible for
them to compete effectively in the workplace, and stands in the way of career progression. Getting your message across is paramount to progressing. To do this, you must understand what your message is, what
audience you are sending it to, and how it will be perceived. You must also weigh-in the circumstances surrounding your communications, such as situational and cultural context.
Communications Skills - The Importance of Removing Barriers:
Communication barriers can pop-up at every stage of the communication process (which consists of sender, message, channel, receiver, feedback and context - see the diagram below) and have the potential
to create misunderstanding and confusion. To be an effective communicator and to get your point across without misunderstanding and confusion, your goal should be to lessen the frequency of these barriers at
each stage of this process with clear, concise, accurate, well-planned communications. We follow the process through below:
Sender...
To establish yourself as an effective communicator, you must first establish credibility. In the business arena, this involves displaying knowledge of the subject, the audience and the context in which the
message is delivered. You must also know your audience (individuals or groups to which you are delivering your message). Failure to understand who you are communicating to will result in delivering
messages that are misunderstood.
Message... Next, consider the message itself. Written, oral and nonverbal communications are
effected by the sender’s tone, method of organization, validity of the argument, what is communicated and what is left out, as well as your individual style of communicating. Messages also have intellectual and
emotional components, with intellect allowing us the ability to reason and emotion allowing us to present motivational appeals, ultimately changing minds and actions.
Channel...Messages are conveyed through channels, with verbal including face-to-face meetings,
telephone and videoconferencing; and written including letters, emails, memos and reports.
Receiver...These messages are delivered to an audience. No doubt, you have in mind the actions or
reactions you hope your message prompts from this audience. Keep in mind, your audience also enters into the communication process with ideas and feelings that will undoubtedly influence their understanding
of your message and their response. To be a successful communicator, you should consider these before delivering your message, acting appropriately.
Feedback...:Your audience will provide you with feedback, verbal and nonverbal reactions to your
communicated message. Pay close attention to this feedback as it is crucial to ensuring the audience understood your message.
Context...The situation in which your message is delivered is the context. This may include the
surrounding environment or broader culture (i.e. corporate culture, international cultures, etc.).
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