Communication is the sister of leadership.
–John Adair
As human beings, communication is one of the most essential basis for our survival. We thrive to put across our ideas, to be heard and to effectively learn from others. In an era where we equate our success to how far we reach in our career, it becomes essential to enhance our communication skills. As we often hear, communication is the key to becoming a good leader and an effective team member.
This is where the role of workplace communication comes into play.
Understanding Workplace Communication.
A workplace is an ever competitive environment that requires a person to take up multiple roles and responsibilities. One becomes a leader, a team member, an employee and so many other things at the same time. In this scenario, it is vital to be able to put across ideas and understand the feedback of the others, in order to make it a suitable environment for all. Workplace communication involves being able to effectively exchange information and ideas, both verbally and non-verbally. It is important becomes it allows companies and the employees to prosper and increase productivity. By aiming to better your communication skills, you will be able to establish strong business rapport with people in and out of your organizational workforce.
There are various facets of communication that become essential in the workplace. The most essential and used ones are:
Verbal – The way you orally communicate
or share a message amongst your employees becomes essential in deciding how a
message is understood. Verbal communication
is essential as it is majorly used during everyday meetings and client
interactions.
Non-Verbal Communication –
Communication doesn’t only include what is being said, it also includes how it
is being said. Non-verbal communication forms take up an important part of
workplace communication, wherein the use of facial expressions, the tone and
pitch of the voice, gestures and body language all come into play. Non-verbal
communication reiterates and emphasizes on the verbal messages by adding
emotional tonalities to it, ultimately making it more effective.
Written Communication – It involves any type of message that makes use of the written word. Written Communication plays a pivotal role in the workplace as a lot of messages and ideas are conveyed in the form of emails, memos, bulletins and reports. It becomes essential to have good written skills in order to effectively communicate messages in a concise manner.
Why is effective workplace communication essential?
Effective workplace communication allows companies to be productive and operate effectively. Proper communication within the employees within the workplace can help increase the productivity, efficiency, morale whilst promoting the overall growth of the organization. It helps in effectively carrying out the managerial functions of Planning, Organizing, Motivating the workforce.
Good communication skills improve relationships of the employees ultimately increasing their sense of responsibility towards the organization and ensures commitment and reliance. It helps to bring clarity and cohesion in the tasks being undertaken.
Effective communication binds employees together, it helps to build a good team with multi-varied members who can easily connect and complete their projects. Good communication increases enthusiasm amongst the team members leading to more efficiency and productivity.
It improves workplace environment where people are bound together in a healthy atmosphere. Effective workplace communication breaks the authoritarian top-down approach of communication and makes the environment more horizontally integrated. It allows for easy communication for all levels of employees to talk to everybody in the workspace. The employees can voice their opinions and raise concerns without hesitation. This improves he the transparency amongst the employer and employee and ensures smooth functioning of the work.
Good communication skills are the most basic skills that you can possess as an employee, however not many people emphasize on being a good communicator. To become a good communicator, one must possess few basic skills.
Here a few tips on how to become a better workplace communicator
- A communicator is essentially a good listener – Good communication is all about listening effectively. One must be an active listener, someone who critically analyzes what is being said, asks questions and is inquisitive.
- Positive Body Language – Non-verbal communication forms an integral part of workplace communication. The body language communicates a lot of aspects about the communicator and receiver’s presence of mind and energy. One must make eye contact, uncross arms and sit attentively while communicating. In larger setups the use of effective hand gestures helps in emphasizing on what is being orally communicated.
- Emotional Intelligence – Emotional Intelligence (EI), is the ability to understand and effectively manage and use your emotions while communicating. Having a good EI capacity makes the individual a more self-aware individual who can avoid stress, overcome challenges and empathize with others.
- Open Mindedness and Receptivity to New Ideas – Communication is not just about conveying one’s ideas, it is a two-way process that is completed only when feedback is received. When one communicates an idea and the receiver gives in their opinion and feedback, a clarity and cohesion of thought can be achieved.
- Be concise– It is essential that there is a clarity of thought while communicating. You should avoid confusing speech and use simpler words so that the intended audience receives the message without confusion.
Further, one must also know how to communicate in different situations inside an organization. The understanding of Organizational Behavior comes into play during this time. Organizational Behavior, examines human behavior in a work environment and determines its impact on job structure, performance, communication, motivation, leadership.
Meetings and group conversations govern almost the day to day activity of the organization, it is essential to effectively communicate in such scenarios. Here is how you can become a good communicator is such situations:
- Have all round knowledge of the topic being discussed.
- Have clarity of thought and use concise sentences.
- Have an analytical and rational approach while presenting or giving inputs.
- Have foolproof evidences to support your claims.
Workplace communication & Organizational Behavior
Organizational Behavior seeks to understand the role and impact of the behavioral patterns of people in a group. Its facets help us to understand the kind of behavior that will help in effective operation of businesses. An organization can only be fully functional when there is proper group dynamics and rapport between the employees. It is based on a few fundamental concepts:
- Individual Differences
- Perception
- A whole Process
- Motivated Behavior
- The desire for involvement
- The value of the person
- Human Dignity
- Mutuality of Interest
How to ensure proper organizational behavior?
- Improving Communication Skills
- Total Quality Management
- Respecting Diversity
- Empowering people
- Stimulating innovation and change
- Improving ethical behavior
A proper understanding of organizational behavior helps create a better working environment, wherein they become agents who integrate various factors of production and get desired results.
