Saturday, 23 August 2008
Importance of Effective Communication Skills
Many people thought that being able to write, speak, hear and comprehend means we have the skills needed for an effective communication. Regrettably, this used to be my mindset as well. Not until recently where I had a chance to flip through some pages of my friend's communication textbook did I realized the misconceptions that I had.
Based on my understanding, communication is about creating meanings verbally and non-verbally, and on top of that one needs to be able to exchange ideas with others. However, there are much more to it to be an effective communicator. It is not just about being able to converse with someone, interact within a group, or even giving public speeches. To be an effective communicator, one will need effective communication skills so that he can convey his messages successfully. By that, I mean to say that his/her communicating partner/s or audience needs to understand him perfectly without misinterpretation and minimizing potential conflict.
I personally feel that intercultural communication skill is a must have at this time and age; showing a “thumbs up” hand sign to a friend here would be praising the person or job well done, but this may not be the case in Iran. Native Iranian may take an offence when you show that sign to them, as it has a rather derogatory meaning rather than praising that person (for those interested to know, you can email/ask me personally). Hence, we need to be sensitive and respond smartly at different context and time.
Relating back to this module, one can easily see the importance of communication in a workplace. Not only will a worker have to communicate with his colleague (interpersonal communication) and work in a team (teamwork skills), he/she may also be required to lead and motivate others (leadership skills). Furthermore, the effective use of other portal of communication such as letters or e-mails is also necessary. One slight error in any of these areas may give employers a bad impression and tarnish his/her future career opportunities. A lack of knowledge and ignorance could also lead to divergence in the workplace, hence affecting work efficiency.
In a year’s time, it would be my turn to join the work community. In order to ensure that I will be a fine addition to the pack, I have to be competent in my communication skills. At such, I look forward to the knowledge and skills that I would gain from this module.
By Woen Susanto
4:00 pm
