Communication Gap
Communication Gap
Communication Gap
Bangalore
A REPORT ON
EXECUTIVE COMMUNICATION ON
Resolution for Communication Gap
Introduction
Effective communication is a building block of successful organizations. Communication is an important facet of life. Communication skills are essential in all spheres of life. Be it an interview or dealing with the project leader or working out a solution with a team or writing a report, getting across the point effectively is what matters. The success of an endeavour hinges on the ability to communicate effectively in today's fast paced life, everyone is asked to do more with less. In such a scenario effective communication holds the key. Effectively communication centers round the usage of words, speed of delivery of words, pitch modulation and body language. Using the right tools to communicate the right messages at the right time can salvage a crises and motivate people to work towards success. Truly said, communication works but for those who work at it. In the existing globalization scenario, most of the Information Technology, I.T Enabled Services, management institutes, public and private sector, multi-national Companies, Union Public Service Commission, and State Public Service Commission are search for a right and suitable fresher for executive posts. Whatever be the recruiting criteria that I.T, ITES, industry giants had in their agenda, once this was clear a first class degree would not serve the purpose, the candidate have to satisfy the skill sets that the companies were looking for. And unanimously, the skills set that they were looking for communication skills. People in organizations usually spend 75 percent of their daily time on communication through writing, reading, listening, speaking, inter-debate etc. Effective communication is an essential component for organisation success, whether it is the interpersonal intra group organisation or external levels. A recent newspaper report said that our of very hundred interviews, only five qualified for the employability. It is not that were technically not sound but they lacked in communication skills. Communication skills are as important as technical qualifications for youngsters aiming at a bright career. Communications hold the key. Poor communication skills, low confidence levels and improper body language have resulted out in the job race. The person recruited will have to deal with the global clients directly. The command over the language and accent neutralization also plays a vital role in the recruitment process.
1. Communication will help strength relationships and will improve bonding among the people in a team or organization. The more you communicate openly and frankly, the listener will tend to build his levels of comfort and confidence in you. Once the confidence level increases among the team members, the goal turns into a common one and thus can be easily achieved.
2. Effective communication will prevent many misunderstandings in general. Assumption is a major adversity as many people tend to think that others know what they are thinking. But when opinions clash, it turns into misunderstandings and conflicts. Such problems can be resolved by taking time to convey across thoughts and feelings in an accurate manner. Thus communicating is important so as to make sure that everyone is in synchronization to avoid misunderstanding and conflicts.
3. It is a must that important decisions and factors are documented for reference in future. This kind of written communication can be held as a proof for future use. Also such kind of documentation helps in keeping the team members in synchronization with the goals and standards that were formulated even before they joined the team.
4. Communication is always not necessarily from the top management. It also needs to be equipped by every member of the team to send their thoughts and views. When there are cases of complaints or misunderstandings, team members need to communicate that to their leaders following the right hierarchy so as to reduce the level of frustration and friction within the team.
5. Decision making in an organization hugely depends on the thoughts and ideas that are communicated from all the employees. Strategies like brainstorming and other kind of decision making tools need thoughts and views of all the involved members as the prime input. Such kind of methods require effective communication processes to make the entire process a success.
6. In a huge team, it is mandatory that all the team members are on the same levels in terms of information knowledge and messages conveyed. In these scenarios, team meetings and discussions will help resolve misunderstandings and communication gaps. So to ensure the success in a team effort, the information needs to be effectively communicated to all the members. Oral communication followed by verbal communication will ensure that the information passed to all the members is same and accurate.
7. Job delegation and responsibility assigning is a frequently encountered act in organizations and teams. But if the job details are not effectively passed on, the work will not be completed satisfactorily and would cause failure of the job. Thus communication plays an important role again in this regard. Communicating the job details accurately is important and necessary so as to get the job done as per requirements.
Thus based on the above factors and discussions, we can conclude that communication is not just a necessary ingredient for success but is also needed for maintaining harmony and a peaceful professional relationship within the organization.
Conversation skills
"Conversation" is defined as 'an informal talk involving a small group of people or only two on a particular subject or selected topics'. The aim of this skill is to help you to become a good conversationalist. Conversation should be like a Tennis match, each person having his turn to give and receive. The true art of conversation is talking and listening. Good conversation requires delicacy and tact, give and take.
Allow your conversation partner to speak. Respect the other person's point of view. Concentrate on the conversation. Only hearing rather than listening will cause you to miss vital information. Find out what your listener wants. To gain the most from any conversation, focus on your listener. Ask questions and listen to the responses. Define terminology so there is less chance of misunderstanding. Speaker and listener should maintain cordial and friendly atmosphere. Clarify each other any misunderstandings and solve the problems by accepting amicable solution.
Positive language
Words are the best tools of communication. choose words carefully. Words can hurt and words can heal. What are the characteristics of positive language? People who use positive language are effective communicators. Their message, written or oral, would be polite, pleasant, practical, persuasive and powerful. Your positive attitude makes you think positively. Your positive language creates a positive impact on the receiver and it helps you to attain your goal and achieve success.
An effective communicator checks whether his/her message is received positively or negatively. Language is a powerful tool and it can help people to make wonders. Communicating in a a positive way helps people project themselves positively. People who use positive language play a constructive rather than a destructive role. Negative words hurt the feelings of the recipient and tell the person that he or she has done wrong. positive words encourage the person and tell him or her that they are respected. Positive words have a healing touch. Choose the words carefully.
Communication Gap
A communication gap is a state that occurs when communication is not happening when it should be. For example, a well reported communication gap is present between Ministers of the European Parliament and voters. With such vast areas to represent they gauge very little of the general opinion and because of this difficulty people decline to provide input and comment and ultimately it leads to a lack of progress. This is the exact same in a business; be it internal management or external advertising. Beating the communication gap is a major hurdle in the organisation's pursuit of prosperity and progress. With the gap unresolved it leads to goals and objectives not being met and this hinders a business fulfilling its potential. The general reasons for a communication gap vary, and can be anything from differing languages and the differing quality of language (both high brow and rude) through to vague instructions, poor definitions and contradictory messages. It can often be down to gender differences or a clash within the workplace. The challenge is for managers and employees to be able to discuss the problems and where the confusion lies and why they feel there is a problem, and then to work through and close the gap. If the instruction is convoluted (complex) then change the wording. At the end of giving an instruction, ask the employee if they understood what is required of them. Simple adjustments to how dialogue is performed but it can make a huge difference. Going back to the gender divide, women tend to ask questions before they get to work, unlike men who just set about being productive. The result is that men assume women are incompetent and that's why they need additional information, when really they are just trying to verify they understood correctly so they can improve their performance. With the majority of managing types being men, and with men generally growing and vying for leadership along the way, it results in a clash and frustration at the difference in methods and responses and interaction preferences.
Step 4 Train employees on the new communication methods. Hold training seminars for new technological devices or host cross-cultural exercises if the communication gap is related to cultural sensitivity issues. Ask for feedback in this process to better assist workers with transitioning to any new system. Step 5 Follow up on the issue to verify the communication gaps have been resolved. Determine a follow-up date when the training is conducted, such as in one week's time and again after three to six months. Facilitate open communication by offering an open-door policy, which permits workers to express grievances without retribution
fun. It will also foster team cohesiveness as they must work together to accomplish the task. Step 5 Institute a 360 degree evaluation for employees. Allow all team members to evaluate every member of the team on their communication skills. Let these surveys be anonymous and provide them to the employee. This will give them an idea of skills that are lacking as well as what they do well. Step 6 Connect employees together to help one another. If one employee is lacking in verbal communication, team him up with someone who excels in this area. Let them learn from each other. If possible, team people together who can help each other with skills rather than one who is teaching and one who is only learning.
Issue a Regular Update Memo Distributing a daily or weekly memo about projects, announcements and deadlines keeps employees and managers on the same page about whats happening in the office. A memo can reiterate key elements of staff meetings, provide notice about upcoming vacation days, business events and important timelines that need to be met. Put it in Writing Any time an important interaction takes place between a manager and employee, the results of the communication should be documented in writing by the individual who initiated the meeting. For example, if a manager holds a one-onone meeting with an employee to discuss a salary adjustment, the manager should follow up the meeting with a written statement to the employee outlining the terms of the salary change. Following this approach ensures that everyone is operating with the same information and expectations.
Conclusion
Communication is one of the basic functions of management in any organization and its importance can hardly be overemphasized. It is a process of transmitting information, ideas, thoughts, opinions and plans between various parts of an organization. It is not possible to have human relations without communication. However, good and effective communication is required not only for good human relations but also for good and successful business. Effective communication is required at various levels and for various aspects in an organization such as For manager employee relations: Effective communication of information and decision is an essential component for management-employee relations. The manager cannot get the work done from employees unless they are communicated effectively of what he wants to be done? He should also be sure of some basic facts such as how to communicate and what results can be expected from that communication. Most of management problems arise because of lack of effective communication. Chances of misunderstanding and misrepresentation can be minimized with proper communication system. For motivation and employee morale: Communication is also a basic tool for motivation, which can improve morale of the employees in an organization. Inappropriate or faulty communication among employees or between manager and his subordinates is the major cause of conflict and low morale at work. Manager should clarify to employees about what is to be done, how well are they doing and what can be done for better performance to improve their motivation. He can prepare a written statement, clearly outlining the relationship between company objectives and personal objectives and integrating the interest of the two. For increase productivity: With effective communication, you can maintain a good human relation in the
organization and by encouraging ideas or suggestions from employees or workers and implementing them whenever possible, you can also increase production at low cost. For employees: It is through the communication that employees submit their work reports, comments, grievances and suggestions to their seniors or management. Organization should have effective and speedy communication policy and procedures to avoid delays, misunderstandings, confusion or distortions of facts and to establish harmony among all the concerned people and departments. So, effective communication is very important for successful working of an organization. Good communication skills place an organization at the correct slot in the society. The image of an organization depends on its ability to communicate with, the society around it. Good communication promotes better understanding between the employer and the employee. In this competitive environment, organizations vie with each other to acquire an employee friendly image. Thus, communication skills help in establishing, running, producing and marketing of products by commercial establishments.