Communication Skills

Introduction
• Challenging job

• Dynamic and collaborative process leading to

growth of personality, character, knowledge
and wisdom.
Road blocks towards a knowdgeable society

• Differences in Scio cultural perspective

• Differences in knowledge levels
• Lack of good command of English Language
• Tendency to stereotype a person or situation
• Problem of strong emotions
• Self-centeredness
• Attitude of procrastination
 Communication:
Its Types and Significance
• What is communication?
Greek word ‘communicate’, meaning “to share”

“All speech, written or spoken, is a dead

language, until it finds a willing and prepared
hearer”
(R.L. Stevenson, Lay Morals)
 What is communication?
COMMUNICATION is the art of transmitting information, ideas and
attitudes from one person to another. Communication is the process of
meaningful interaction among human beings.

ITS ESSENCES :
PERSONAL PROCESS
OCCURS BETWEEN PEOPLE
INVOLVES CHANGE IN BEHAVIOUR
MEANS TO INFLUENCE OTHERS
EXPRESSION OF THOUGHTS AND EMOTIONS THROUGH WORDS &
ACTIONS.
TOOLS FOR CONTROLLING AND MOTIVATING PEOPLE.
IT IS SOCIAL AND EMOTIONAL
 Process of Communication
• Communication occurs within a common frame of
reference called the “communication environment”
• The message sent may not be the same as message
received.
• Message may not necessarily produce the intended result.

Communication is a complex process

• Effective communication is fundamental to the success in

our personal and social life.
• The process of communication is affective by
the backgrounds, experiences, objectives and
aspirations that both sender and receiver have
in common.

• A message can be communicated through oral

channels like, face to face conversation,
telephone conversation, audio visual channels
like radio and television and written media like
books, computer, internet, etc.
 Types of Communication
• Vertical Communication

• Lateral Communication

• Diagonal Communication

• Grapevine or Secret Communication

 Vertical Communication
Upward and downward, from management to employees and
reverse.
HIERARCHY LEVEL
Executive Director
Manager

Vice President

A.G.M.
Supervisor 1 Supervisor 2 Supervisor 3

Manager

Supervisor

Forman
 Lateral Communication
• Members working at same level,
• Among colleagues.

However, it often degenerates into rumours and

gossips
 Diagonal Communication

Among various departments to get support

from each other. It is a mixture of vertical and
horizontal movement.
 The Grapevine
• Backbiting or backstabbing

Two Americans have tried to analyze the pyscho-

sociology of backbiting.

• Andrew Du Brin, Winning Office Politics (Prentice Hall,

1990) and
• Gray Namie, The Bully at Work: What Can You Do to
Stop the Hurt and Reclaim Your Dignity (Prentice Hall,
1997)
 What You Can Do to Keep From Becoming a
Victim?

• Think Before you Speak

• Learn the Signs that You have been Targeted.
• Watch for Backstabbers up and Down the
Professional Ladder
• Distance yourself from backstabber but not
from Others “lessen your emotional proximity
and you deny them the means to hurt you”
• Of course you may not hear the Rumours

• Confrontation
– Enlist supporters
– Plan the approach

• “if you have a problem with something I have done, we should talk about
it and try to resolve it”
• “we need to work together. Here is what we can do to ensure no
repetition of this situation”
• “there is a way you and I can improve our work relationship. Are you
interested in hearing about it?

Public or private?
Keep your boss Informed
• We should not be optimistic about the
support we can expect from management

• What if the backstabber is your boss?

Success rate : zero to 40%

 Why do we communicate?
 What do you think?

Take a few moments to

write down some of
your thoughts…
 Why we communicate
 We communicate to:
 Share our ideas and opinions
 Provide feedback to others

 Get information from others

 Gain power and influence

 Develop social relationships

 Maintain self-expression and our culture

 and other ideas you may have thought of

 How do we communicate?
 Think of the many ways in which you
communicate…

Take a few moments to

write down some of
your thoughts…
How we communicate
 We communicate and build
interpersonal relationships through:
 Speech
 Writing
 Listening
 Non-verbal language
 Music, art, and crafts
 The Media of Communication
• Written Communication

• Oral Communication

• Visual Communication

• Audio-visual Communication

• Computer and Internet based Communication

 Choosing your medium
 Depending upon the situation, one method
of communication may be better than
another.
 In person: one-to-one
 In person: meetings, small groups
 In person: presentations, large groups
 Letter
 Memo
 Note
 Email
 Voice mail
 Choosing your medium
 To determine the best medium for your
message determine:
 What you as the sender need to achieve
 What the receiver needs to know. What
the receiver wants to know
 How detailed, important, and or personal
the information in the message is
 Which behavior you want to influence and
how
 Choosing your medium
 How would you communicate…
 an organizational change in your unit
 the introduction of a new employee
 a change in someone’s job duties
 a reprimand
 notice of a meeting

Take a few moments to write down some of

your thoughts…
 Written Communication: Merits and
Limitations
Written Communication

Merits Limitations

• Accurate • Time consuming

• Precise •Expensive

• Legal document • Quick clarifications not possible

• Wide access

• Helps to fix responsibility

 Oral Communication: Merits and Limitations
Oral Communication
Merits Limitations

• Saves time • Not possible for distant people in the

• absence of telephone or mobile
•Saves money
• Unsuitable for lengthy messages
• Highly persuasive
• Messages cannot be retained for long
• Conveys shades of meaning
• No legal validity
• Immediate feedback
• Greater chances of misunderstanding
• Immediate clarifications
• Not easy to fix responsibility in case of
• Can be informal misunderstanding

• More effective with groups

 Choosing your medium
 The best way to communicate…
 an organizational change in your unit by
memo and small group meetings
 the introduction of a new employee by
group and one-on-one meetings
 a change in someone’s job duties by
memo and one-on-one meeting
 a reprimand in a one-on-one private meeting
 notice of a meeting by memo and email
Types of Communication
 Verbal and Non Verbal
 Intrapersonal Communication
 Interpersonal Communication
 Group Communication
 Mass Communication
 Vertical and Horizontal
Intrapersonal communication
 Day Dreaming
 Loud Thinking
 Writing one’s Thoughts
 Making a gesture while thinking
Inter personal Communication
 Face-To-Face meetings,

 Telephones,

 Video Conferencing

 Meeting

 Class room Teaching (Involves gestures and words )

Stages of Interpersonal Communication

 Phatic Stage----------Exploratory

 Personal Stage----------lower your guard

 Intimate Stage=======Close
Group communication
 Theatre

 Dance

 Group
 Mass Communication
 Mass Communication Messages distributed by the
institutions such as media, have the potential to reach
very large and anonymous audience in a process called
Mass Communication.
 Involves sharing ideas across a large audience either at
a given point or extended time frame and usually
involves a professional communicator.
 Media include newspapers, magazines, books, films,
TV, radio & now internet. The fact is, it is the group
communication which is extended by the mass media
tools.
 Elements of Effective Telephonic
Communication
• Clear pronunciation
• Brevity “brevity is the soul of wit”
• Precision
• Conviction
• Logical sequence
• Proper choice of words
• Avoiding jargons, hackneyed phrases and clichés
• Natural and unaffected tone of speech
• Try to tune yourself to the wavelength of the listeners
 Barriers to communication
 What are barriers to communication
that exist in any work setting?

Take a few moments to

write down some of
your thoughts…
 Barriers in Communication
• Interpretations of words

• Perception of reality

• Attitudes, opinions and emotions

 Barriers in Communication
• Noise
• Inappropriate medium
• Assumptions/Misconceptions
• Emotions
• Language differences
• Poor listening skills
• Distractions
 Effective Communication
Rules
1. plan and clarify
2. Create a climate of trust and
confidence
3. Time your message carefully
4. Reinforce words with action
5. Communicate effectively
6. Clarity in message
7. Purposeful communication
Methodology
Test thinking
Collate ideas or suggestions of others
Support decision making
High-level motivation
Win trust and confidence
What, where, why, who, when and how?
Practice what you preach
Use feedback
Use of simple and meaningful language
Try to make one-to-one communication.
Be sincere and honest what you say.
 Obstacles to sharing ideas
 What can make sharing ideas difficult?

Take a few moments to

write down some of
your thoughts…
 Obstacles to sharing ideas…
 Your own shyness
 Fear of rejection
 Peer pressure
 Unorganized thinking
 Others possibly becoming defensive
 Physical disabilities (impaired sight, hearing, speech)
 Having to deal with aggressive people
 and others you may have thought of
 SHARE your ideas – a model
 State the main point of your message
 Highlight other important points
 Assure the receiver’s understanding
 React to how the receiver responds
 Emphasize/summarize your main ideas
SHARE – an example
State the main point of your message
“I’d like to talk to you about the new employee welcome program”.
Highlight other important points
“We need to discuss the new schedule, locations, and presenters”.
Assure the receiver’s understanding
“Do you need me to further clarify how we are making invitations”?
React to how the receiver responds
“I understand your concern about parking”.
Emphasize/summarize your main ideas
“To wrap-up, I’ll develop the schedule and make the room
reservations, if you can line up the guest speakers”.
 Getting good information
 Why is it necessary to get good
information from others?

Take a few moments to

write down some of
your thoughts…
 Get good information to…
 Find out facts and details
 Get directions or instructions
 Try to understand another’s point of view
 Help someone solve a problem
 Resolve a team conflict
 Solve work problems
 and other ideas you may have thought of
 Obstacles to getting good
information
 What can make getting good
information difficult?

Take a few moments to

write down some of
your thoughts…
 Obstacles to getting good
information
 Lack of trust
 Assuming you already know it all
 Jumping to conclusions
 Not valuing diverse opinions
 Weak reading skills
 Weak listening skills
 Weak questioning skills
 and other ideas you may have thought of
The power of listening
The philosopher Epictetus stressed the
power of listening in this quote:

“Nature gave us one tongue and two

ears so we could hear twice as much
as we speak.”
 Hearing Vs Listening
• Hearing – Physical process, natural,
passive

• Listening – Physical as well as

mental process, active, learned
process, a skill

Listening is hard. You must choose to

participate in the process of listening
 Value of Listening
Listening to others is an elegant art.
 Good listening reflects courtesy and good manners.
 Listening carefully to the instructions of superiors improve
competence and performance.
 The result of poor listening skill could be disastrous in business,
employment and social relations.
Good listening can eliminate a number of imaginary grievances of
employees.
Good listening skill can improve social relations and conversation.
Listening is a positive activity rather than a passive or negative activity.
 Difficult negotiations
• Put your tendency to evaluate others on hold
• We must try to see things from the speaker’s
perspective
• Reflect at the content, meaning, intention and feeling of
the speaker as we talk to them .

Normally we do these things. What is emphasized here is

that we must do consciously and not react to them on
the spur of the moment.
 How to Communicate Effectively in Our
Pluralistic Society?
1. Show full respect to a man or a woman even if he or she is
dressed differently from you

2. Always give helpful and smiling eye contact

3. Your body language must be highly pleasing. Even if you don’t

agree with the person, be extremely courteous and helpful

4. Learn to appreciate as an individual, not as a stereotype such

as Kashmiris, Pathans, Punjabis etc.

5. Put your prejudices always on hold

Some Aspects of Global Communication
• Taking information from the speaker while
remaining non judgmental
• Acknowledging the speaker in a way that
encourages him to talk
• And providing some input to the talker’s response
so that his/her ideas may be fully unfolded.

Listening with understanding is key to effective

listening.
 ESSENTIALS OF COMMUNICATION
Dos
Always think ahead about what you are going to say.
Use simple words and phrases that are understood by every body.
Increase your knowledge on all subjects you are required to speak.
Speak clearly and audibly.
Check twice with the listener whether you have been understood accurately or
not
In case of an interruption, always do a little recap of what has been already said.
Always pay undivided attention to the speaker while listening.
While listening, always make notes of important points.
Always ask for clarification if you have failed to grasp other’s point of view.
Repeat what the speaker has said to check whether you have understood
accurately.
 ESSENTIALS OF COMMUNICATION
DON’Ts
Do not instantly react and mutter something in anger.
Do not use technical terms & terminologies not understood by
majority of people.
Do not speak too fast or too slow.
Do not speak in inaudible surroundings, as you won’t be heard.
Do not assume that every body understands you.
While listening do not glance here and there as it might distract the
speaker.
Do not interrupt the speaker.
Do not jump to the conclusion that you have understood every thing.
 How to Improve Existing Level of
Communication?
 Improve language.
 Improve pronunciation.
 Work on voice modulation.
 Work on body language.
 Read more
 Listen more
 Avoid reading or watching or listening unwanted literature, gossip, media presentation etc.
 Interact with qualitative people.
 Improve on you topic of discussion,
 Practice meditation & good thoughts.
 Think and speak.
 Do not speak too fast.
 Use simple vocabulary.
 Do not speak only to impress someone.
 Look presentable and confident.