Communication skills

This quote by James Humes probably summarises the communication skill concept very well. A person who communicates very well will surely be a great leader!

Maybe one of the most overlooked skill in a professional and personal life is that of good communication skills. I often see the line “Candidates should possess good communication skills” on most job descriptions but is it just a cliched expression or is there more to that?

With experience in personal and professional life we know that good or bad communication skills can make or break business/personal relationships.

Scour the net and you find many factors that bolster good communication. Some of them are listed below:

1. Listening
2. Verbal cues
3. Non-verbal cues

1. Listening:

We may have heard this over and over again – “Listen to understand, not to reply” but can we do it perfectly in the real world? Very few of us can listen fully and then respond appropriately( I know, I can’t!! :))

Listening is quite an art and patiently listening is an even bigger skill. Hence, listening is the first and most important factor for effective communication. Once we listen well, we can respond better thus paving the way for great communication and lesser misunderstandings.

2. Verbal cues

The second and most obvious point in an effective communication strategy is obviously the way a person expresses themselves verbally. If one can speak without going around the point but can say it neatly, politely and confidently the majority of communication is done.

3. Non-verbal cues

Maybe the last point in good communication depends on the non-verbal cues such as facial expressions, gestures, tone and pitch of voice, dressing and body language.

Apart from these points, good communication can also come from writing, creating presentations, sending emails and other modes in the written format.

Good communication skills hence come from a marriage of great listening, good verbal skills and appropriate non-verbal skills.

Business Communication in the pandemic world:

The pandemic of the past 18 months has put the communication world in jeopardy. We are not able to see our new/existing co-workers, our new/existing bosses, our new classmates, our new teachers in this new world and yet we have to communicate effectively.

How do we ensure that we communicate well in spite of these shortcomings?

Here are some tips as we swim through the pandemic era:

1. Online platforms are great and by now most of us would have gotten used to this new way of life (Zoom, Teams, Slack, Discord)
2. Since we are doing business by this new way, the communication strategies have to be expanded since no one can see each other physically
3. There has to be more email coordination, online meetings, ensuring that the whole team is present and no one is left out
4. There can also be more conference calls ensuring that the whole team is on the same page
5. The points about listening and verbal communication mentioned earlier can be adhered to appropriately in the online world too
6. Effective communication is needed from both sides of a party
7. In a country like India, which is multi-lingual, a common language for effective communication must be chosen and adhered to.

These are some points that will help better communication in personal and business environments. What do you think? How has communication been impacted for you in this pandemic and how have you overcome it?

This is the fourth post for #BlogchatterHalfMarathon by @Blogchatter