Importance of Effective Communication

Importance of Effective Communication

Þ 40-60% of the message is lost in transmission

Þ Tone of voice + vocal clarity + verbal expressiveness = 40%

Þ Facial expression + dress and grooming + posture + eye contact + touch + gesture = 50%

Þ Words = 10%

Þ Barriers Culture differences, values and attitudes, language, noise, hearing


Þ Clear
Þ Coherent
Þ Correct
Þ Concise
Þ Crisp
Þ Credible
Þ Convincing
Þ Customized
Þ Conclusive
Þ Complete
Þ Cost-effective
Þ Continual

Clear: Clear voice. Vary tone/tenor, pitch and volume, as required by situation, to add more punch to the message you wish to convey. Avoid mumble and jumbles.
Coherent: Besides clarity, coherent delivery of the message is perhaps as important. The cardinal rule here is to express yourself rationally & logically and, if possible, fluently. Command over the language to be used is an asset and hence in the beginning itself clarify the mode of communication to be employed.
Correct: This is most important, particularly if your message includes data, figures, coordinates, etc. Homework is vital
Concise: In most of the communication, it is always advisable to cut the bull and come straight to the point. Avoid beating about the bush. Even a humorous piece loses its punch if it is too long or has too many interruptions. Define the subject clearly, briefly. If possible, give a summary.
Crisp: If first four ‘Cs’ are followed in tandem, it becomes apparent to communicate crisply thus saving on time, effort and perhaps, money. Command over vocabulary and judicious use of phrases, helps. Crisp communiqués carry more punch and are more effective. You do not have to be curt to be crisp. Be cordial instead.
Credible: Credibility of the communication should be beyond doubt and it is almost synonymous to correct & coherent communication. Wherever factual information is to be conveyed and use of statistics & data is unavoidable, quote reference(s). If necessary, present back-up material.
Convincing: Any communication can become convincing if it is delivered with a smattering of examples, case studies, experiences, role plays, etc. These should be backed up with references to establish credibility. Clarity of purpose and sincerity of the one delivering the communication add to making the communication more acceptable.

Conclusive: Conclusive here also means all-inclusive. It is better to re-cap the entire communication towards the end, of course in brief. This helps in zeroing on to the vital, critical issues in the communication. As mentioned above, clear definition of the subject or the purpose of the entire process aids in concluding properly.
Complete: An effective communication must have a well defined ending, linked to subject. You can gauge the level of all the ‘C’s mentioned above by asking for a feedback. There are several ways to check completion and the easiest is to ask if the message had reached the audience.Cost-effective: This dimension has not even been touched upon in most of the material available on effective communication. In today’s world, however, it has assumed critical importance. It is not easy to make instant cost-benefit analysis of most communications but it is possible to have a fairly good idea. This is particularly true for lectures, training, interactions, etc. for which one has to pay to attend. In addition, your Communication should preferably be either Contemporary or Classic depending on the receiver’s background and also on the ambience. For example, to a young generation next audience, a Contemporary (chic) style and delivery will perhaps be more in order while a group of freedom fighters who took part in India’s struggle for independence would appreciate the Classic approach. Here, Creativity could play a crucial role. One need to be imaginative and a judicious mix of both these modes may help the sender to carry the day, particularly if the audience consists of a mixed bag. However, try and avoid use of clichés and too much jargon.

The Communication Process
message to be sent – decode (some error likely)
encoded by receiver (some error likely) message received
Although all of us have been communicating with others since our infancy, the process of transmitting information from an individual (or group) to another is a very complex process with many sources of potential error.
Consider the simple example:
Terry: "I won't make it to work again tomorrow; this pregnancy keeps me nausious and my doctor says I should probably be reduced to part time.
Boss: Terry, this is the third day you've missed and your appointments keep backing up; we have to cover for you and this is messing all of us up.
In any communication at least some of the "meaning" lost in simple transmission of a message from the sender to the receiver. In many situations a lot of the true message is lost and the message that is heard is often far different than the one intended. This is most obvious in cross-cultural situations where language is an issue. But it is also common among people of the same culture.
Look at the example. Terry has what appears to be a simple message to convey-she won't make it to work today because of nausia. But she had to translate the thoughts into words and this is the first potential source of error. Was she just trying to convey that she would be late; was she trying to convey anything else. It turns out she was. She was upset because she perceived that her co-workers weren't as sympathetic to her situation as they should be. Her co-workers, however, were really being pressured by Terry's continued absences, and her late calls. They wished she would just take a leave of absence, but Terry refuses because she would have to take it without pay.
Thus what appears to be a simple communication is, in reality, quite complex. Terry is communicating far more than that she would miss work; she is conveying a number of complex emotions, complicated by her own complex feelings about pregnancy, work, and her future.
She sent a message but the message is more than the words; it includes the tone, the timing of the call, and the way she expressed herself.
Similarly, the boss goes through a complex communication process in "hearing" the message. The message that Terry sent had to be decoded and given meaning. There are many ways to decode the simple message that Terry gave and the way the message is heard will influence the response to Terry.
In this case the boss heard far more than a simple message that Terry won't be at work today. The boss "heard" hostility from Terry, indifference, lack of consideration, among other emotions. Terry may not have meant this, but this is what the boss heard.
Communications is so difficult because at each step in the process there major potential for error. By the time a message gets from a sender to a receiver there are four basic places where transmission errors can take place and at each place, there are a multitude of potential sources of error. Thus it is no surprise that social psychologists estimate that there is usually a 40-60% loss of meaning in the transmission of messages from sender to receiver.
It is critical to understand this process, understand and be aware of the potential sources of errors and constantly counteract these tendencies by making a conscientious effort to make sure there is a minimal loss of meaning in your conversation.
It is also very important to understand that a majority communication is non-verbal. This means that when we attribute meaning to what someone else is saying, the verbal part of the message actually means less than the non-verbal part. The non-verbal part includes such things as body language and tone.
Barriers to Effective Communication
There are a wide number of sources of noise or interference that can enter into the communication process. This can occur when people now each other very well and should understand the sources of error. In a work setting, it is even more common since interactions involve people who not only don't have years of experience with each other, but communication is complicated by the complex and often conflictual relationships that exist at work. In a work setting, the following suggests a number of sources of noise:
Language: The choice of words or language in which a sender encodes a message will influence the quality of communication. Because language is a symbolic representation of a phenomenon, room for interpretation and distortion of the meaning exists. In the above example, the Boss uses language (this is the third day you've missed) that is likely to convey far more than objective information. To Terry it conveys indifference to her medical problems. Note that the same words will be interpreted different by each different person.
Defensiveness, distorted perceptions, guilt, project, transference, distortions from the past
Misreading of body language, tone and other non-verbal forms of communication
Noisy transmission (unreliable messages, inconsistency)
Receiver distortion: selective hearing, ignoring non-verbal cues
Power struggles
Self-fulfilling prophecy
Assumptions-eg. assuming others see situation same as you, have same feelings as you
Distrusted source, erroneous translation, value judgment, state of mind of 2 people
Perceptual Biases: People attend to stimuli in the environment in very different ways. We each have shortcuts that we use to organize data. Invariably, these shortcuts introduce some biases into communication. Some of these shortcuts include stereotyping, projection, and self-fulfilling prophecies. Stereotyping is one of the most common.
Interpersonal Relationships: How we perceive communication is affected by the past experience with the individual. Perception is also affected by the organizational relationship two people have. For example, communication from a superior may be perceived differently than that from a subordinate or peer
Cultural Differences
Majority of meaning comes from Nonverbal Communication Cues
A Short Example of Effective Communication

Example: Maria: My project coordinator, Judy, is in a slump; she's just not producing her usual caliber of work. I need to find out what the problem is.
On the surface, it would seem that getting good information is easy. But like other forms of communication, it takes planning and experience to develop skills in this area
Key Techniques
Focus the discussion on the information needed Judy, I've noticed in the past month that you've fallen behind on keeping the project schedule current. I'd like to figure out with you what we both can do to get it back on track.Use open-ended questions to expand the discussion You've always kept the schedule up to the minute-until about a month ago. Why the change?
Use closed ended questions to prompt for specifics "What projects are you working on that take time away from your work on this project (warning: closed ended questions are often disguised as open ended as in "Are you going to have trouble finishing this project?)
Encourage dialogue through eye contact and expression This involves nodding in agreement, smiling, leaning toward the speaker, making statements that acknowledge the speaker is being heard.
State your understanding of what you are hearing This can be done by restating briefly what the other person is saying but don't make fun of it"So it sounds like these phone calls have ended up taking a lot more time than you or Jay expected; you think the three of us should talk about priorities; is this your position?" Summarize the key points; try to get some agreement on the next steps and show appreciation for the effort made so far. "So let's call Jay right now and set up a time when we can meet and iron this out; keeping the schedule updated is a high priority and I'd like to get this settled by Wednesday.
Conversation starters that work like magic
1. Do not drill with questions
2. Be funny
3. Ask open ended questions
4. Make the other person comfortable
5. Bring up a subject everyone can talk about