Importance of Communication Skills

.....difficult, facilitating and fostering proper communication in all necessary and needed forms is vital and one must consider culture and gender when it comes to the same

Principles and Barriers to Communication

There are both guidelines and barriers to good communication

Examples include when to say something, why to say something, how to say something and what can get in the way of all of the above

Examples will be given of all of the above

Role of Communication

In self-concept, self-image and self-esteem

How you see yourself impacts how you speak and how you react to others

How you feel you stand compared to the other matters and so does how you perceive that they look at you

Self-Disclosure

Who to disclose things to Must be careful who to disclose things to Must know why someone "needs to know," who they are relative to the situation and so forth

b. When to disclose them

Timing can also be important

Are there people around that should not be privy to the conversation?

2. Is it something that needs to be told right now? Why or why not?

3. Does the situation call for disclosure at this time?

c. How to disclose them

i. There has to be a method as to how something is revealed

1. Do you pull them aside?

2. Do you just wait and hold out for a good time?

3. Do you have the chat while others are around

d. Why to disclose them

i. Must be rationale as to why something is shared

1. Is it life and death?

2. Is it vital to the business?

3. Is it a personal matter?

V. Communication Strategies

a. Resolving conflicts

i. Resolution of conflicts has to be done in an orderly and proper way

ii. Failure to control the situation can make the problem worse

b. Identify the problem

i. This is the absolute priority when it comes to conflict resolution

ii. Must be a full and complete accounting for what is going on iii. There might be more than one problem and all issues need to come out

c. Work towards a resolution

i. Once problems are identified, solutions can then be figured out and suggested

ii. Compromised might be needed to get the best results

d. Best practices

i. Keeping things calm and orderly is huge

ii. Letting everyone (calmly) say their opinion is good as well iii. Find a solution that is amicable and acceptable to all

iv. No raising of voices or accusations

VI. Gender & Culture in Communication

a. Why gender matters

i. Gender truly and modernly defined

1. Can relate to biological sex but many people identify on a different or expanded way when it comes to gender

2. Sexuality and such mostly not relevant to workplace or organizational setting but it can be a factor if someone is mistreated due to their perceived or actual gender

b. Why culture matters

i. Different levels of culture within a work environment

1. Race

a. Being within a minority, either of a group or of society in general, can be very intimidating

b. Organization needs to ensure that all voices are valued and included

2. Ethnicity

a. Related to race but not the same thing.

b. An example would be that many people from Haiti or Britain or France are black...but the culture of those people are different from black people from Africa (currently) or the United States, for example.

3. Class

a. Refers to the amount of wealth (or lack thereof) that someone currently has or that was raised with

b. Common groups in this realm are the working poor, blue collar families, middle class and the more affluent

4. Upbringing

a. Can refer to the parent structure, discipline and environment that someone was raised in

b. No two people are the same when it comes to upbringing.

c. The aforementioned class issue is very related to this one

VII. Medium & Its Effect on Communication

a. Computer Chat/Email

i. Efficent way to communicate

ii. Impersonal and emotions can be misinterpreted

b. Skype/Video Chat

i. Not in person but is a way to put a face to a communicatin

ii. Not everyone has the money/resources to have the equipment

c. Phone Calls

i. This gives a voice but no face, typically

ii. Tone and pace are huge when it comes to phone calls

d. In-Person Formal

i. In-person meetings where manners and tact are important

ii. This would include meetings, etc.

e. In-Person Informal

i. Chatting around desks or otherwise in an unformal setting

ii. Need to be mindful that people are working...so positioning and volume of voice is important.

VIII. Conclusion

References

Bano, M., Zowghi, D., & Sarkissian, N. (2016). Empirical study of communication structures and barriers in geographically distributed teams. IET Software, 10(5), 147-153.

Kenton, S. B. (1989). Speaker Credibility in Persuasive Business Communication: A Model

Which Explains Gender Differences. Journal Of Business Communication, 26(2), 143-

Martin, J. C., Davis, B. D., & Krapels, R. H. (2012). A Comparison Of The Top Six Journals

Selected As Top Journals For Publication By Business Communication

Educators. Journal Of Business Communication, 49(1), 3-20.

doi:10.1177/0021943611425239

Ruppert, B., & Green, D. A. (2012). Practicing What We Teach: Credibility and Alignment in the Business Communication Classroom. Business Communication Quarterly, 75(1), 29-

44. doi:10.1177/1080569911426475