Aiticle Effective Communication in Organizations Communicate > Grow > Succeed! Communication! A concept so powerful that it can either make or break the performance and productivity of any organization! If-a genie were to appear before the leadership of any organization and deliver them one wish, to eradicate ‘one challenge or concem in their organization in their path to growth, development and success, at least 9 out of 10 would probably choose that challenge to be ‘communication’! Communication is the life blood of any otganization, the lifeline that lives through all of its ‘employees. Whatever be the role of an individual in an onganization, the ability to communicate appropriately is considered a vital ingredient. A failure to communicate effectively can create stress, conflict, strained relationships, misuncerstandings and problems between any two of more individuals. On the otherhand, effective and successful communication can result in many advantages such as mutual understanding, successful business agreements, harmonious family life, conflict resolution and finding solutions to problems, increased productivity and team work. ‘Commitinication is best judged by the effect it has on others ~ the impact it generates and the results it achieves. Organizations constantly keep facilitating workshops in many ways with many techniques to help their employees enhance their communication, In fact, there are way too many. Here, we will attempt to simplify the theories of communication concepts by learning a few simple, example driven set of techniques to remember, TALK ‘To communicate effectively in any situation in organizations, one just needy to remember to TALK effectively! This might appear to be simple common sense and one would ask, “What is that great about this as a technique?” To know this, let us expand TALK! Revathi Turaga International Trainer & inspirational Speaker Emall: revathituraga @ gmail.com ‘Think before you speak © A: Assert yourself © Le Listen to others # K: Konnect with everyone Leaming to apply each of the above 4 in their simplistic ways helps enhances. an organization's communication, thus also. creating multiple opportunities for cohesive and collaborative partnerships and leading to organizational as well as individual suecess! 1 et us explore each of the concepts Of TALK in detail. ‘T: Think before you speak Respond, don't react! — \ phrase so simple, yet very profound in helping one communicate effectively. .- and a simple yet methodical way of doing this is to ‘pause’! Every time there is an uncontrollable and unpredictable external stimulus that happens in any conversation tempting one to react, all the person needs to do is ~ to pause, and wait for the feeling to subside. Pause and ask themselves some of these series of ‘questions —*Wait a minute, the way Tam going to react now, is that the way Treally want to react, is that the best and most effective way of giving back at the situation of to the person? Is there a betier and more effective way of responding? What will happen if Ido ‘not react this way and instead respond in another way? Is this way of reacting really going to take me close to any of my major goals in life?" Practicing this technique in our professional lives can be done by following the Socrates’ Triple Filter Test. Socrates had 3 filters that he constantly wanted everyone to run their words through before they told it out loud to someone else, He always iterated that if the sentence does not pass the 1* filter test, then it must be taken to the 2 filter test, and if not passing that (00, has fo be taken through the 3" filter test, Any sentence, point, news, ete that did not get a yes from any of the 3 filters, May 30, 2012 |f EPEC Zaodew |] 19Article a. does not need to be told or spoken aut loud, thus giving us a formula to use to think before we speak... The 3 {Glters are (a) Is it the Truth? (b) Is it Good?, and (c) Is it Useful? ‘The above technique can help is in casing cominunication in- many ways. For example: Giving someone @ constructive feedback on their presentation ‘of a topic is not only the truth from your perspective, butit is also very useful for the other person to improve. However, it can be in a good way that motivates the. other to improve while it can also be in a destructive way to dampen the other's spirits, It is this difference that this technique wishes to highlight. One's ability ¢0 think before one speaks not only helps an individual to speak the appropriate sentences atthe appropriate ties and mote importantly, not speak the inappropriate, thus enhancing positive and effective communication all the way! ‘At Assert yourself | Many times itis taught in training workshops that assertiveness is about belng frank and to the point and being able to stand up for one’s rights whilst also respecting the other individual's. One of the most popular meanings of being assertive is an individual’s ability to say no, It is true that being assertive helps people in an organization to express their feelings and thoughts in a simple and acceptable way and definitely helps an organization in enhancing its communication ‘channels. In fact, along with all the above, assertiveness {s also about many more aspects of communication such as giving constructive feedback to an individual to improve their performance or appreciating @ team member for their achievements. : ‘Amongst the platter of techniques for assertiveness that exist, one simple technique is christened “B.LB.A ~ ‘Behaviour. Impact, Feeling. Action.™°"The ‘Behaviour’ part of the statement lets the other person what specific behaviour of that person has made you feel angry. ‘The ‘Impact! part gives specifies of the impact that the tehaviour has had and how it deviated things from how they should have been, The ‘Feeling’ partis the personal part of the technique where the person is told about the ‘one’s feelings because of what happened. The ‘Action’ part of the statement completes telling the other person how things should have been and what is preferred off that individual, For example, “yesterday in the team meeting, when you interrupted me in the middle of my sentence (behaviour), I lost track of what I was saying and could not continue (impact). Nowy, this left the point incomplete and 1 am frustrated about it. When you do something like that, it ivitates me, and T feel angry 20 || mpcel vice {] May 20, 2012 (feeling)! Now onwards I want you to listen when J am. talking, and before you speak, patiently wait fil 1 ‘complete what I am saying (action), I shall of course, do the same for you too" “This technique encourages communicating one's feelings in.a non emotional and rational responsive way! Ls Listen to others In today's corporate scenario, it is neither just technical competency nor just the hardworking ability that take priority whilst employing individuals. Communication is one of the vital aspecis taken into ‘consideration f00, and & core. aspect of communication is the ability to listen. In today's fast moving world, maintaining professional relationships while also communicating effectively has sometimes become a challenge, especially: when every team member is busy ‘with their respective jobs and have lesser and lesser time to give to bond with each other in the organization In many such cases, truly listening to the other person can be an effective solution. It cannot be just a coincidence that the words LISTEN and SILENT are anagrams i.e, are made out of the same alphabets! It is therefore, but natural that for us to lear how to LISTEN, one must learn to, be SILENT first! ‘The § of Silent is Sincere i.e, to be sincerely interested in what one is supposedly listening to, The I part of SILENT is to be Inquisitive i.e. curious. Asking relevant questions to clarify helps the speaker to ‘understand that the other individual is truly listening and attempting to understand what is being said, ‘The L part of SILENT is to Like i.e. enjoy / cherish the company of the person one is having conversations. ‘Many a time I have seen listening, of an amazing topic go flat just because according to the listener, the speaker's behaviour and value system did not resonate ‘with what was being said and such situations need to be avoided for effective communication. The E part of SILENT is to Empathize i.e, to listen not just what is being said, but it is also about feeling what the other person is feeling, especially in the corporate scenario where emotions are usually given least importance. The N part of SILENT signifies the importance of Non- verbal communication which make simple” leaning forward, showing facial expressions, etc lets the other individual know that one is listening! The T part of SILENT interestingly means Talk ic, using techniques such as paraphrasing, self-disclosure ancl summarizing during conversations to continue conversations smoothly,K: Konnect with everyone IF the first thought that crosses one’s mind is that connect starts with aC and nota K, then this point has maide iis impact! The concept of being able (© connect with other team members and colleagues at work is so important that one needs to constantly make an effort to keep that rapport alive, even when. it comes to the person naturally. Every manager, every leader, every successful entrepreneur who has worked with an individual in any professional capacity has constantly maintained that the {wo most important aspects that create a make or break situation are ‘trust? and ‘connect’ with the individual ‘Thus, across various communication models, the most ‘common set of techniques one finds is on how to connect with the other individual, on how to build that rapport that begins a trusting long lasting relationship. Connecting with an individual is being in harmony or in synch with that individual. = ee inatiele Using shnpie techniques such as VAK (visual Auditory-Kinaesthetic) or Matching & Mirroring, ctc individuals in today’s corporate world of communication need to build a two-way rapport between themselves and thelr team, thus developing @ bond of trust and ‘connect with each other thus leading fo @ comfortable discussion and working relationship. In today’s very competitive and learning oriented world, using the above set of techniques helps individuals have seamless and smooth communication thus work more effectively with each other, and walk confidently in their path to individual success and organizational productivity. Learn (0 TALK! Leverage communication to succeed! ‘You have the power!