Importance of communication skills at home, office or overseas


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By Francis Saldanha
Bellevision Media Network

  • You can have brilliant ideas, but if you can’t get them across, your ideas won’t get you anywhere!

 

20 Sep 2015: Your ability to communicate defines you as a person. You can be the most knowledgeable person around, but if you cannot share your ideas and if you cannot communicate, your knowledge may not mean much.

 

Good or effective communication skills are very important, both in a social circle as well as at the work place. Communication skills play a key role in our life in so many ways: Making a good first impression, expressing you very clearly and concisely, attracting audience to your ideas and presentations are some of the important ingredients of good communication. Making new friends and gaining confidence among your friends and peers and developing better relationships are quite important for one who seeks success in life. Negotiating for what you want at work or listening better so that others feel understood and valued, having meaningful and entertaining conversations, minimizing confusion and vagueness and becoming popular helps in broadening the network of friends and to build self-esteem and to become more successful. It is important to have effective communication skills and it is never too late to start anything, including improving your communications.

 

One of the main hurdles in adapting to a new place or becoming a part of the new culture is the difficulty of integrating into the new society. Our ability to effectively communicate with others is very important in adjusting to a new place or a new culture. In fact, our success or failure in any walk of life often depends on how well we communicate with others. Any business, any workplace, any relation, any family, any society is built around communication.

 

 

 

In the basic sense, communication takes place when two or more people share or exchange information, ideas, gossips, knowledge, etc. The main ways of communications include: verbal or oral communication which is the first and foremost in everybody’s life. This is where we talk and listen. The ideas are exchanged, the rumors are discussed, a mother sings a lullaby to the little one, and a leader delivers his / her vision to the followers.

 

Most of our daily communications are oral, unless you are a writer hiding in the basement, writing away your ideas or fantasies, waiting to be discovered. The oral communication almost always involves personal contact with the audience, with some exceptions such as talking on the phone.

 

 

 

This is the area the verbal exchange, where most of us struggle in a new place or in a new culture. The verbal communications are often different from place-to-place, even if the same language is spoken. Every place has its own ways of communicating: Written Communication is what literally everything is evolved around. Sending an email or text messages are relatively newer ways of written communication. Writing a paper or publishing your ideas on a web site are other more traditional examples. With popularity of email and texting and whatsAap, the written communication is becoming popular again, but in different ways more like a conversation than  formal writings of olden days. When adapting to a new place or culture, written communication is easier to get used to if you have the knowledge of the language. For Indians, as we are used to writing in English back home in India, written communication is not as steep a hurdle as the verbal one due to very different accent and informal style of verbal communication.

 

Non-verbal Communication is where anybody can visualize from a distance.  Yes, you can speak volumes through your body language. Your expressions can show if you like or dislike someone, if you are confused or just not paying attention.Every culture has its own rules or habits of body language. Making an eye contact, meaningful hand gestures and a genuine smile, yes, smiles are main part of body-language in every culture.

 

 

We tend to overlook the importance of communication because we all seem to be able to communicate without any special effort to learn ways of communication or in actually communicating. However, today’s world of complicated technology, big organizations, multiplicity of products and consumer preferences, and wide and varied markets, the amount and complexity of information to be exchanged and used has increased enormously. We need to communicate objective data to accomplish a task. In addition, we need to convey and elicit personalized subjective feelings and emotions for motivating people on work and deriving satisfaction from our work.

 

This makes communication a fairly complicated activity. To be able to communicate effectively and efficiently we need to design and implement effective communication systems. Also we need to develop skills of interpersonal communication to be effective as members of work groups.

 

 

 

As proven, practice makes a man perfect. Improving your communication skills is an art that comes with regular practice. No matter how intelligent you are, your communication skill is the only attribute that will help you to convince the person opposite to you or the audience in front of you.  So it is important to make wise use of your words skillfully. An individual with excellent communication skills is an asset to every organization. No matter what career you plan to pursue learning to express yourself professionally in speech and in writing, will help you to get there.

 

 

Comments on this Article
Ryan Ballesteros, Philippines / Bahrain Mon, September-28-2015, 7:19
Every individual needs to be well equipped with the tools to communicate effectively whether it is on the home front, personal or at work. In fact according to the management gurus, being a good communicator is half the battle won. Yes! I do agree with Ann/Goa that communication starts from home. As we all know very well that even the newborn baby will have his/her first eye contact with the mother and thereon…..
ann, goa Thu, September-24-2015, 3:48
Yes! I do agree that good communication is very important..it should first start at home where the family lives together and if the family has a healthy way of talking and correcting each other..then only will one be able to adapt a good communicative skill..if we are working together with multi nationals there are so many words, expressions that we would come across that other nationals dominate in english which are not proper..but if you are able to communicate well..then its just impossible for you to digest what is being said and will try to not get instigated with the accent as well..also its very important to allow others to feel comfortable and avoid using jargins or slang .. yes it does not matter how much educational background you have..but if you are in the company of people who communicate well and a clear you will always be clear..weather it be on the phone or in person always try to listen and then speak .. never interrupt this creates confusion and misunderstandings..good communication skills are always prime factor if you are in a sales field..one only communicates well if one is confident about him/herself....cheers!
Benedict Noronha, Udupi Wed, September-23-2015, 8:04
wonders of communications: when I was in Sixth Standard, my English teacher was explaining writing practice. He asked me to write on the Board, Hyderabad Madras Calcutta . I wrote: Hyder a Bad Mad rasCal cutta. You may appreciate this in the light of with communication! How the meaning... ?
Divakar, davangere / Karnataka Tue, September-22-2015, 6:14
Honing your communication skills will certainly pay you back many times over. If you get it right you are guaranteed to have a much smoother path through life and your career and that is the essence of good communication. Happy to read an article on BV related to one of the very important aspects of our daily life!
Philip Mudartha, Navi Mudartha Tue, September-22-2015, 2:10
Francis has chosen a subject which is close to my heart. He has done a commendable job of articulating his ideas on the subject. I trust he understands when I take liberty to take the discourse a little further. In that organization, I led a team that mapped competencies, designed a development model and put a follow-up (training assessment retraining) for departments to follow. "Communication skills" was one out of 20 competencies with a weight of 5/100 in the performance management system. We placed it as a generic competency, which means it can be learned, unlearned and even faked. Any generic competency built on foundations of core competencies (6 key ones, integrity being the top) will only deliver success, that too in a corporate cultural environment that is committed to ethics at its core. For example, Cricket ex-boss Lalit Modi is a great communicator. He was very successful; look where it has taken him. You can cite examples that you like. I recommend BV to publish exclusives from authors like Francis oftener.
Lovejoy Rodrigues, Mangalore Tue, September-22-2015, 1:09
Definitely ! Totally agree with your article Sir. I like the title very much, very apt! "You can have brilliant ideas, but if you can’t get them across, your ideas won’t get you anywhere! Its like a painter/artist without a painting brush. Thank you for sharing us your valuable thoughts and definitely after reading one can make a difference so that we can be understood better and with it comes everything. Looking forward for many more articles and wish you all success.
Jeevan Thapa, Kathmandu / Nepal Mon, September-21-2015, 9:53
No matter what is your chosen career, great communication skills will give you a competitive edge!
Sanjay Kudavalli, Bangaluru Mon, September-21-2015, 2:11
Very often, what we try to communicate gets lost in translation despite our best intentions. We say one thing, the other person hears something else and misunderstandings, frustration and conflicts ensure. That is why it is really essential and vital for everyone why we need to communicate as best as we can. Good read from Bellevision.
Francis J. Saldanha, Moodubelle / Bahrain Mon, September-21-2015, 12:34
It takes time and effort to develop these skills and become an effective communicator. The more effort and practice you put in, the more instinctive and spontaneous your communication skills will become. Hence I fully agree with you Dear Benedict Noronha, thank you!
Francis J. Saldanha, Moodubelle / Bahrain Mon, September-21-2015, 12:33
@Philip, Communication is a learned skill; it is more effective when it is spontaneous rather than formulaic. A speech that is read, for example, rarely has the same impact as a speech that s delivered (or appears to be delivered) spontaneously. The large organization where you served earlier was very fortunate to have someone of your caliber, smart, intelligent a genius working for them, so it is understood that blaming everybody for lack of communication but still they (QS!) made mega profits
Benedict Noronha, Udupi Mon, September-21-2015, 8:20
Very good writeup. Yet communication is not complete. Keep on writing so that readers/viewers of belle vision may be benefitted. I thank you for the good article.-benedict Noronha, Udupi
Philip Mudartha, Navi Mumbai Mon, September-21-2015, 8:17
In a large organization I served, lack of communication was blamed for all everything by everybody from CEO to tea-boys. It was voted as number one problem. Everyone blamed everyone else except him/her. Everyone bitched about the other, behind their back, everyone spoke about each other but never to each other. The company made mega profits, they were all happy and for ever after, they said lack of communication is to blame!
Lajith S., Kerala / Bahrain Sun, September-20-2015, 6:42
Francis, communication is also a two-way street. It is not only how you convey a message so that it is received and understood by someone in exactly the way you intended, it is also how you listen to gain the full meaning of what is being said and to make the other person feel heard and understood. Good article to contemplate on.
H. Alomran, Bahrain Sun, September-20-2015, 11:30
I would say good communication is a true expression of the inner-person. It sells a person well and also it depicts ones attitude and entire personality. Educative article from dear Francis! no doubt…!!
Keerthi, Tumkur / Karnataka Sun, September-20-2015, 11:02
Good communication skills are some of the simplest, most essential and most useful tools for success one can possess. In fact, they are probably the no. 1 ability sought by employers. Enjoyed reading the article!
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