Communication Skills
The Principles of Effective Communication
Effective Communication
It's important to have great communication skills when going into an interview as the employer will more than likely want someone who is confident in speaking to work associates and possibly customers or clients because not only will yourself the possible employee be representing yourself, you will be representing your employer and their company.
General Communication
First one that you must think about when speaking to a person face to face is that they may have Cultural Difference which means that they may be use to speaking formally than informally in interviews or meetings due to their personal background and this will be crucial as you do not want to insult or offend them by accident as that may harm the relations with the other person whether it be an employer or an allied company meeting.
Secondly the next contributing type of general communication is Adaptation In many situations you will have to adapt the person or people that you are speaking to.
You would have to adapt in the sense that the recipient may not like the way you are delivering a presentation or interview and they will dictate the method of speech or body language that you are giving out which would cause you to change your style or Tool of presentation whether it be the tone of your voice or even that if your sat slouching; this would give out the impression that you are not interested and may hinder the point of the situation.
Finally the third and final type of general communication is the Audience.
This is definitely one of the most important in certain situations such as: Meetings, Interviews and even social predicaments, this is classed as an important factor within general communication as this is greatly influential to how you come across and present towards the target group.
Keep an eye on your audience to make sure they are engaged and also keep them involved within what you're talking about or presenting and if they are not fully engaged it will make you nervous in speaking and make you rush which is the last thing you would want to happen when taking part within an interview or formal meeting.
Interpersonal Communication
When communicating with a person or work colleague there are methods in speaking face to face which you may not realise as you are paying attention to what the other person is saying and doing, the first method which is very normal in the context of speech and this is using hand gestures and it is a good thing as it does show that you are interested in the topic of speech and it also does keep the recipient involved within the ongoing conversation and you will not notice this as it is a common situation to be in and hand signing are a habit when speaking.
Another method is verbal exchanges which is where the conversations flows back and forth between the main talker and the recipient whether it be a friend or a work colleague and generally when you are in a verbal exchange it is a good sign as will start to build a bond whether it be about similarities in hobbies for example, this a key as it naturally builds this bond which will give you confidence in talking to this person or group of people.
Questions, now questions come across in the most basic scenarios such as your mother asking "what would you like for dinner?" But they also happen in work places very often such as your work manager asking "why have you not met the deadline?" You may of come across this but what you may not of noticed is that this sort of question is an Open Question which means the response is more detailed and will also cause them to think of an answer and when used it may help in the communication process and show that you have thought through there question and given them your explanation which they would appreciate more than a disheartened answer such as "I don't know, sorry."
In addition to this factor there is another type of question which is the complete opposite to an Open Question and this is called a Closed Question but this is more than just giving a simple answer as a Closed Question may have the recipient to give a factual answer or just a yes or no and an example of this would be "Have you took the dog for a walk?"
Then the reply would be " Yes I talk her to the park." or "No not yet."
The final part which makes up questions in communication is called a Probing Question this particular is used a majority of the time within everyday scenarios whether it be working at a company or business or even a friendly conversation.
A Probing Question is where more than response is given where every response allows another question to be asked which will then build up to a final answer which the source or person was asking for, here is an example in a working environment, "How did you get your computer to download this reports without missing half of the information?"
This again would entail a step by step question and answer exchange which is a great feat to use in communication.
Written Communication
It is so important due to the fact that written communication can build a good or bad impression of yourself towards your manager, work colleague or your new possible employer and when in these certain scenarios it is never good to give a bad impression.
One of the key factors of using written communication is always the structure that you have built in an e-mail or even a report and it is important as its always the main objective to retain your professionalism even when you are writing especially when you are e-mailing to find out about a job opening at a company you want to work for and this is because the structure not only looks good but it also says a great deal about what type of person you are which is a must when specifically applying for a job. If the e-mail has an informal structure and looks like a half-hearted attempt it would usually give the impression that you are not as interested for job role as you seem, so the layout is always a priority when writing an e-mail as it also sets the theme of professionalism which is one of the main things employers are looking for in a strong candidate for the job at hand.
Communication Barriers
Barriers To Effective Communication
Barriers To General Communication
An example of this at a work place is a call centre, although not all companies do this it is still quite common in most companies. In a call centre each individual worker has their own cubical type of space for them to work in which can stop the collaboration of two people in conversation of work related issues or an important situation that a certain person may need to know about, Physical Barriers don't just consist of walls or doors it can also be how away from the recipient you are and this is a barrier as the further away you are from a recipient the channel of communication is nullified due to the length of space between the sender and receiver and the reason that this is important to know at a work place is that you will not always be so close to someone who you want to receive your type of communication which would hinder and may stop the channel of communication completely.
Overcoming Barriers To General Communication
To overcome the barriers of general communication may not sound that easy but it is definitely able to be toppled.
One of the Physical Barriers that I spoke about was the distance between the sender and receiver of the communication and the way to overcome this is to possibly wait until the work colleague or person finish any work they might be doing so this may be on a break and then close down that initial length of the distance so the communication is clear, it does sound simple but it’s not just about closing the distance but it’s also about doing it at the right time so no other obstacle may interfere the communication at hand. This is also and always applicable in employment opportunities as you do not want to be shouting across the room to your possible employer as that would be unprofessional which would send signals to the employer about the type of person you may come across; therefore you would always want to remain professional and formal but also overcome that communication Physical barrier too so you would want to close that distance and greet in a formal way and carry on that communication to possible create a closer bond with the employer.
Barriers To Interpersonal Communication
The reason that this is a main type of a barrier within Interpersonal Communication is that you will be presented with the opportunity naturally to meet people that may come across with a bad attitude especially if you have just started at a new work place and this is a factor that contributes to this called a Vertical Communication as this is where a person who believes that they are at a higher level within the organisation that they can act like a hierarchy and cause this bad attitude and some people will commonly call this talking down towards another person or colleague.
Overcoming Barriers To Interpersonal Communication
To be able to overcome the barriers of interpersonal communication it is not a way one thing as to overcome the barriers and have the receiver or other person open up to you, you must do the same and not close off yourself due to the Attitudinal Barriers and this will not topple the interference of the channel of communication but just lengthen the period of time it will take to topple the interference entirely. To do this you must always believe and make sure that the statement or words you are using in communication are right and heard but that the other person understands the communication that you are sending them whether it be producing a problem within a system of the organisation that you are currently working for and to communicate with another colleague may be required for the problem to get solved especially if the problem is not just with the system but with the attitudinal barriers of the work colleague you are currently trying to collaborate with.
But also when in a job interview scenario make sure that any questions they may ask, even if they are a conductor of an attitudinal barrier; to always make sure that any statement you put across is understood and this will build a strong characteristic for the employer assessing you.