Sunday, September 4, 2011

Working Towards Better Workplace Communication

By Lindsay Barnes


In a workplace, you can't expect to go through the day without communicating with any of your coworkers, even if you declare that you will be working flat-out throughout the day with no interruptions. You will still have to speak with a colleague or two regarding a project, and with your boss for a quick meeting or updates. Communication is definitely vital to a workplace, but you have to make sure that it is properly conducted and that people are not communicating haphazardly or without thinking about the effects of their interaction, by ensuring that communications training takes place.

Employees can stand to learn a lot from communications training, which will help them sidestep any conflict that can be brought about by confusion about something that has been expressed, for starters. Conflict will almost certainly take place in an office setting, and people can avoid it by simply knowing how they can express dissenting opinions better and finding ways to solve ongoing issues. When people are able to communicate in such circumstances, they can cooperate better to resolve issues and set aside any differences.

Another basic thing that employees will learn is the ability to communicate verbally or in written form. Verbal communication is particularly important if there are presentations to be made, and this will also come in handy for people in sales. Written communication should also be a priority. Employees must know how to compose grammatically correct memos and texts, the better for them to be understood. At the same time, it makes employees look more knowledgeable; you can just imagine how other people would scoff to read a letter or a report that contains numerous typographical errors.

Of course, listening is another vital aspect of communication. For the most part, people tend to just prefer saying what's on their mind rather than hearing other people's points of view, or when they let the other person talk, they're composing their next responses in their minds at the same time rather than absorbing what the other person is saying. Communications training also includes developing your ability to listen carefully and understand what is being said, which will teach you to refrain from reacting impulsively.

Communications training doesn't just focus on how you speak and express yourself. It helps you learn that communication is a two-way street and you don't have the right-of-way all the time. Knowing how to properly express what is on your mind and how to react in the event of a conflict will create a more harmonious workplace, and will lead to better collaboration among colleagues.




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