Friday, April 19, 2013

Improving Business Communication Skills



Good relations among members of a business are critical for success Good communication skills are an important element for the development of good relationships Poor communications starve a relationship while good communications nourish it. This is true regardless of whether you are a member of a committee looking at starting a business or a member of a team operating a business. So, improving communication skills is important for success. But this doesn’t just happen. Both the receiver and the sender must work at developing verbal and listening skills.
Business Discussions
Do not allow ridicule, punishment or lecturing in business discussions. Encourage listening, understanding, finding alternatives, commitment to action, and support for one another. Listen not only to what the other person is saying, but also to what he/she is feeling. Being respectful of all team members is important at all times.

Attack, Counterattack, Withdraw
When we are under pressure we become frustrated and may verbally attack the behavior of someone we work with. The other person feels hurt by our comments and counterattacks. This system of attack and counterattack continues until someone withdraws from the conversation.

Instead of counterattacking, the other person may hold their feelings and the situation will not escalate However, the other person will harbor these feelings and the emotions may be vented later.

Sharing our Feelings
Instead of attacking and judging the other person’s behavior, we could have shared our feelings about our frustrations. This will tend to bring us together rather than drive us apart.

Making Judgments vs. Sharing Emotions
Judgments and emotions are different. Judgmental statements are “I am right, you are wrong.” Statements of emotions are “I am angry, I am afraid and I am worried.” Judgments are often the result of how we feel. It is often an expression of our feelings.

Judgments are much more likely to be heard as criticisms than are feelings. If I say, “You are wrong,” you are likely to feel criticized and attacked. As soon as we feel criticized, it is hard to hear anything else that is said. Our mind is consumed by the criticism.

However, if I say, “I am angry,” you are less likely to feel attacked. This is because expressions of emotion (how we feel) are true statements. If I say that “you are wrong,” you will probably disagree. But if I say that “I am angry,” no one can argue.

Although expressing our feelings seems to make us vulnerable, they really make us safer. If we make a judgment and attack the other person, we are isolating them and inviting them to counterattack. However, if we share how we feel, we are exposing ourselves to the other person. This makes it easier for the other person to respond in kind. Both people feel safer.

Ideas versus Feelings
Communicating ideas brings our minds together. But communicating emotions brings us together as individuals It is assumed that we should share ideas but keep our feelings to ourselves. This is part of the culture of rural communities. However, emotions are very powerful and cannot be ignored. Feelings are more important than ideas at influencing our behavior and decisions.

Keys to Effective Communication
Below are keys to effective communications. But just reading these points will not improve your communication skills. You must practice them. Practice them until they become habits.

Give your attention - When someone starts to talk to you, stop what you are doing and thinking. Face the person and devote your whole attention to what and how it is being said.
Listen, not just hear - One of the keys to good communication is the willingness to listen for meaning in what the other person says and not just for the words. Watch facial expressions and body language.
Don't let your mind wander - While the person is talking, do not think about your answer or response. Listen until the person is finished, then decide what you are going to say.
Check for accuracy - When the person is finished talking, paraphrase back to the person what was said to you. If you heard right, then respond to that statement or question.
Be aware of other's needs - You need to be aware of the needs of the other business associates. Each person has different needs that should be considered and respected. Although each of us has differing needs, all of us have a need for trust, responsibility, praise, security, sense of belonging, and recognition.
Ask, don't tell - demonstrate equality - Do this by asking for advice or asking a person to do something. This shows you respect the other person as a peer or equal. Telling often implies a superior/subordinate relationship, such as boss vs. employee.
Keep an open mind - Do not criticize, pass judgment, or preach. It is extremely important to learn to make objective evaluations about ideas, people, and situations. You are making a value judgment when you attach your values, beliefs, or needs to an appraisal.
Offer advice, don't give advice - Learn to offer in-sights, advice, and expertise without being forceful. It is wrong to say “this is how you should handle it” or “this is what you should do.” It is better to say “what do you think about this way,” or “I suggest we....” However, sometimes it is not appropriate to even soft-pedal advice. You should offer it only if asked for.
Develop trust - Trust is the product of open and honest communications. So it is important that good communication channels exist. Also, trust is an essential ingredient of teamwork. If trust exists among business associates, teamwork and cooperation are much easier to achieve.
Create feelings of equity - People share a sense of equality if all parties are informed, trust exists, and work is based on cooperation. For business ventures to succeed, all the parties must feel that they are equals. If one party feels left out or feels like a subordinate, success becomes less likely.
Develop comfortable relations - Tension and stress are normal in any relationship. However, the level of tension and stress can be reduced in businesses that develop teamwork and trust through open and honest communication.
Become genuinely interested in others - All of us have a need to feel important and be understood. One of the ways we feel important is if others are interested in us. So talk in terms of the other persons’ interests and try to understand another point of view. If we expect others to understand us, we must first understand them.
Motivate others - There are several ways to motivate people. Both negative and positive reinforcement are effective. But in the long run, negative reinforcement like criticism or punishment often creates a desire for revenge. Too often we think of positive reinforcement as receiving more income, but other positive reinforcements that require little effort are praise, trust, interest, and recognition.
Keep a sense of humor - Laugh at the goofy things that happen. Laugh off little annoyances. Smile at every opportunity. Seeing the humor in a situation can often defuse it.

Tuesday, September 11, 2012

Functions of communication, activities of communication

Functions of communication, activities of communication

Hello dear friends here you will get Functions of communication or activities of communication, Function of business communication, Importance of business communication, Advantages of business communication.

Communication performs variety of functions within a group or organization. It helps in transmitting information and exchanging opinions and ideas among the employees of an organization. Basic communication functions are discussed in the following manner: Functions of communication.

1. Informing messages: An important function of communication is to inform any subject matter to others. Communicator informs any subject matter, information or data to the receiver through communication. If the receiver understands the real meaning of the message, communication becomes complete.

2. Persuasion: Another important function of communication is to persuade employees so that they can perform duties and responsibilities according to the desire of the management. Communication helps employees to know the techniques of performing their jobs well.

3. Directing: Communication helps in giving direction to the employees to accomplish their assigned duties and responsibilities. It transfers orders and instructions from the superiors to the subordinates. It helps in explaining the ways how jobs are to be done. Functions of communication.

4. Solving problems: An important function of communication is to help in organizational problems. It helps to find out the problem and creating an atmosphere to discuss the problem and solve them. It helps in exchanging opinions between the contrasting parties and to arrive at a solution.

5. Helping planning and decision making: Another function of communication is to facilitate in decision making. Communication helps in decision making by supplying relevant information. Moreover it supplies information for the purpose of making plans.

6. Forming opinions: An important function of communication is to help in forming opinion. It assists in exchanging ideas, thoughts, beliefs and information among human beings and helps in forming favorable opinions.

7. Coordination and cooperation: Communication performs another important function in coordinating the activities of various work groups and departments within the organization. It helps in removing the inconsistencies and brings harmony in the work field.

8. Maintaining relations: Communication helps in developing and maintaining good relations between different parties. It helps in minimizing misunderstanding and difference of opinion and creates a healthy atmosphere in the organization which facilitates in developing human relations.

9. Publicity of products: Modern age is the age of publicity. It is very difficult to attract customers and create market without proper publicity in modern age. Communication plays a very vital role in this connection. Functions of communication.

10. Exchange of information: The main function of communication is the exchange of facts and information between human beings. It transfers massages form the sender to the receiver.

11. Controlling: It helps in controlling the activities of the subordinates by providing communicational measures at different levels of the organization. It helps in monitoring and evaluating the performance of the subordinates and taking corrective measures.

12. International relation: Another function of communication is to build up international relations. No country of the world is self-sufficient at present. Every country is to take other country’s support and help for its own interest. So there is a necessity to develop good relations. Improved communication helps in developing such relations. Functions of communication.

13. Building image: Strong image of the organization helps to gain competitive advantage in the market. Communication helps to build up image of the organization through timely contact with the stakeholders, advertising etc.

Dear friends please go to this link for more information about Importance, Usefulness, Advantages of Business Communication.

Functions of communication, activities of communication

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Monday, September 10, 2012

Scope of communication skills

Scope of communication skills

Hello dear friends here you will get Scope of communication skills, Communication scope, Business communication scope, Scope of business communication.

Scope of communication skills is wider than any other act of human behavior. The entire life of human being involves communication. No one can spend even a moment without use of communication. From dawn to sleep time people spend their time in any form of communication. Any kind of activity whether it is personal, organizational, political, social, religious or cultural falls within the scope communication. Scope of communication is shown in the following figure:

1. Communication in personal life: The entire life form birth to death of any person involves communication. No one can spend any moment without communication. A man interacts with his family members, fellow friends or colleagues involve communication. Even when he enjoys a T.V. program or reads newspaper, he is engaged in communication. Scope of communication skills.

2. Communication in social life: Man is a social being. So, people live in a group in the society. To live in a society a man is to take part in the social functions and to maintain relations with the other members of the society. He is to play different roles in the society activities.

3. Communication in organizational life: Communication is most important in business organization. No organization exists without communication. Communication is used in the following organization activities.

(A) Planning and decision making: Managers are to take decisions and make plans for the business. For these purposes they are to collect information and consult with others, which involve communication. Scope of communication skills.

(B) Selection and training: For selecting employees for the organization is needed advertisement, and take interview. Which involves with communication? Giving training to the employees also involves communication.

(C) Directing: To implement a plan managers are to give orders and to issue instructions to the subordinates-which requires effective communication.

(D) Coordination: Managers are to use communication to coordinate the activities of various work groups or departments.

(E) Distribution and Marketing: In marketing activities communication plays a very vital role. Without use of communication, no organization can promote its products in the market. Scope of communication skills.

(F) Establishing relations: Communication helps in establishing harmonious relationship between labor and management.

(G) Controlling: All controlling functions involve communication. Managers can effectively control the activities of the subordinates by using downward and upward communication.

4. Communication in political life: Political parties give special emphasis on communication. Success of any political party depends on mass communication system.

5. Communication in state affairs: Various Government department used communication to run the administration and to inform people about development programs and other issues.

6. Communication in religious life: For the spread of religion communication is used. Religious leaders inform different aspects of religion to the people. So, in the religious life communication is used comprehensively.

7. Communication in foreign trade and international affairs: Today every country of the world is dependent on other countries in different affairs. That’s why every country is to establish and maintain international relations. Improved communication system helps to establish good relations with other countries. Scope of communication skills.

Hello dear friends please go to this link for more information about Scope of Business Communication.

Communication skills

Hello dear friends thanks for visiting this site and post. Business communication degree solutions. Friend if you like this Scope of communication skills article then do comments and share. Friends you will get another supper related post "Characteristics of communication or features of communication".