Effective communications- Epicenter of Success.
Why at times communication fail?
All of us, must have encountered situations like this at one time or other in home, office or work place.
Boss tells the Assistant to book a hall for a conference without telling only 6 delegates will attend. As a result, the Assistant booked a massive hall that can accommodate a huge number of delegates.
Raman thought, he paid his son’s college fees. Raman’s son thought, his dad paid the college fees. As a result Raman’s son’s name was struck off from the college register.
These are just a few examples of Communication failure. When People fail to communicate in the right way or at right time, or when people take the things for granted and jump to conclusions like, “He knows, I need not remind” are the reasons for communication failure.
Where it leads to
- Stoppage of work
- Additional burden
- Breach of trust
- Chances of losing customers.
Tips to overcome
- It’s advisable to jot down all about the things you need to tell beforehand.
- Check and verify if the person who is supposed to attend the job is capable enough or not.
- If you think the person who is entrusted the job is inattentive, ask him to repeat what ‘s being instructed by you.
- Though communication plays a vital role in the management sphere, this was realized very recently. Vidura, an important character In the great Hindu epic, Mahabharata, well known for his political acumen after Krishna, advised about, the crux of communication in his treatise on political science called ‘Vidura Neeti’.
- His famous saying about the key components of communication are worth noting by all the students of management of today.
Vidura says,
“Abhyavati Kalyanam Vividham Vak Subhashita
Saiva Durbhashita Rajanna Nardhaayopa Padyate.”
It means, a gentle and soft talk yields good results. A harsh talk will yield bad results. Vidura has put the entire essence of true communication in a simple and direct way
Three important constituents of communication are,
- Thing to be communicated
- Way of relating
- How it’s received.
The following example illustrates the point.
“Doctor, I want to reduce my weight”, the patient asked the doctor.
“Simple. Walk ten Kilometers per day, for six months. Your weight will come down.”, doctor said.
After four months, the doctor received a phone call from the patient, “Now I completed four months.”
“I asked you to walk for six months is it”?
“But doctor I reached already Indo- Pak border. I can’t enter Pakistan ,Please advise, what else am I supposed to do”?
Now you think and find where lies the mistake. The doctor asked the patient to walk every day 10 Km and come back to his home. And next day, the patient has to walk 10 Km, just like yesterday.
But the patient understood in a different way. He started from his home and started walking every day 10 Km after 10 Km continuously and ultimately reached Indo- Pak border.
Lack of clarity in communication leads to such situations.
Intensity of your voice plays a vital role.
Just imagine, on hearing a tapping on your door, if you say, ‘Come in’ in a soft voice, the person who enters will certainly wear a smile on his or her face. If the same ‘Come in’ is uttered in a harsh voice, the person who enters will wear a feeling as if, he/she is entering a lion’s den.
The first instance will pave the way for a healthy and open conversation . Whereas the second instance will pave the way for Hide and seek type of conversation, which will never serve the purpose of a dialogue.
Avoid exaggerations.
When you instruct a person, say using simple terms like this. “Book flight tickets by King fisher. Power bills and telephone bills
are to be paid on the very next day of receiving the bills.”
Avoid, “You see last month, you made a grave mistake which attracted heavy penalty, which has upset monthly budget, which
again in their turn ……..”
Be a good listener
Communication is not just using mouth. Communication is using ears also. Remember, unless you gather information and consolidate your knowledge data base, you can never be a good communicator. And this is possible if you know how to use your ears. If you know how to use your ears to hear the masters.
Unfortunately we were taught to speak, not to listen right from our school days. The reason for this malady is we were grown with the belief Talking is every thing.
See a mother .On hearing her offspring utter ‘Amma’, she says with pride with her friends. “My kid started talking.”
Keep everything simple.
The best way is to remember KISS, condensed form of , “Keep It Short and Simple.”
To be sure, it’s better to repeat in a short form at the end of your instr5uctions.
Words work like Magic.
When Swami Vivekananda in his historical speech in the world congress of religions addressed the gathering, “ My dear brothers and sisters of America” , whole auditorium was silent for a moment . immediately followed by a thunderous applause.
Could you guess the reason for that unprecedented applause for Vivekananda’s intro?
The audience expected a usual, “Ladies and Gentlemen” intro. Swamiji’s intro was not only a pleasant change from the usual rut, but also the warmth in the words, “My dear brothers and sisters of America, made the American audience sit straight and pay all attention to each and every syllable of Swami Vivekananda’s speech.
It’s not all,Vivekananda’s speech has been hailed as one of the 10 best speeches of the world.
What’s so special about those 10 speeches?
All the speeches are short, crisp and to the point. All the speeches were spoken with simple words, unlike some
bombastic speakers whose speeches can be understood only by themselves.
A tribute to the spoken word.
An honor to simplicity.
How communication works?Effective communication works on 6 simple factors. They are
- Source
- Method
- Channel
- Receiver
- Result
- Feedback.
Now, let’s deal in detail
Source is the matter that is planned to be communicated. Along with the source, the related matter with the source with all intricacies are to be kept ready.
Method is all about the details pertaining to, ‘How the source has to be communicated and through whom the source has to becommunicated.’
Example, when an energy drink has to be projected, it should be endorsed by a successful sports personality.
Channel is all about the selection of right medium to project the source. That is to ensure the effective penetration of the source
through Print medium or electronic medium.
After fixing the channel through which your source is expected to reach the receiver, its essential to verify whether the source
has reached the receiver or not. Don’t forget youre source lands in a drain if the it fails to reach the receiver.
A careful observation of reactions and responses will decide the effectiveness of the source on the receiver. If your receiver responds in tune with your expectations, take it your mission communication hit the bull’s eye.
At the end, the inputs related to the above 5 factors, received through feedback will help in fine tuning your ‘Mission Communication.’
Your gestures and deeds also communicate.
Communication doesn’t mean mere talking in a way the other person understands. Your behavioral patterns, facial expressions, your dress, your way of sitting and standing also contribute considerably to communication. In the communication parlances, these gestures, movements and facial expressions are known as ‘Non- Verbal Communication.’
Etiquette
Etiquette is a French word which literally means, ‘Ticket.’ There was a practice of writing the rules and regulations on tickets about how one should behave . These small tickets used to be kept at the entrance of the castle or a Noble man’s residence.
Most of the features that form Etiquette are ‘Gestures.’ And it goes without saying that non- verbal communication in some aspects is more effective and powerful than the conventional communication.
Essence of communication
The whole exercise of communication revolves around the simple aim of conveying one’s thoughts to the other person without ambiguity. Though it sounds easy, it needs lot of efforts to achieve the desired results.That’s why they say,’ A good communicator can rule the world.’It’s a fact that the all the success stories around the world revolve around the nucleus, ‘Effective communications.’
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