Effective communication within and without of a company is critical to the success of a business. In addition, this communication must be effective in a variety of ways including e-mail, face to face, over the phone, through memos, and so forth.
If you are a manger or business leader of some sort, you are responsible for making sure that proper two way communication takes place. Yes, communication is two way, it is not a top down concept.
You need to listen to your employees and customers and they need to listen to you. There are many different ways in which you should indicate that you are listening.
Most people will stop talking to you if your eyes keep going to other things in the room, you start fidgeting, or if you make non-committal grunts in response. They may even become upset with you when you do not listen.
Your body language is a very important part of listening. It indicates to people whether or not you are really hearing what they are saying.
Do not fold your arms as this indicates there is a barrier or that you are defensive for some unknown reason. Instead, keep your arms loose and use your hands to indicate that you are listening.
Look straight at the person who is talking and make eye contact. Give related and thoughtful responses to what they are saying when appropriate.
When you do this, you may be surprised by how much you learn. You will learn how the other person feels about this subject because you are looking at them and you can read their body language.
You will also learn and remember a lot more of what they are saying. As a result, you will be a more informed and knowledgeable leader because you will have more information to base decisions on.
This will tremendously benefit you company. In addition, the person you were talking to will feel more appreciated.
This person may go back to work with more determination to achieve more and he or she may listen better to those underneath him or her. At the same time, it is important to understand that most people involved in a business are very busy and do not have time for long conversations.
As you talk to others, try to keep what you have to say very short and brief. Do not elaborate with long explanations or details that are irrelevant.
Your bosses and your underlings will be appreciative your ability to be straightforward and get to the point. If you are unable to these things you may find you have many communication problems because people become confused at what you are saying or simply zone out because you talk so long.
However, at the same time your memos should not be reduced to text lingo. You should still keep a professional air about you, but keep it short.
In addition, do not detail personal problems you are having with other coworkers as this is not related to the business. This habit can also lead to gossip, hurt feelings, and defensive barriers that may be hard to cross in the future.
As a professional, you should also always keep your cool. You should never lose your temper and yell or send a spiteful note to anyone who works for or above you.
This is one of the most effective ways to completely shut down free communication not only between the person you offended and yourself, but between others and yourself as well. Without free communication you will not be able to nearly as effective and your business will suffer.
As you learn to communicate well, it is important to remember that communication is not all about you. For example, if you feel like there are communication problems it may not be you that is the problem.
Perhaps the other person is simply shy or has other problems that they are preoccupied with. In addition, everyone comes from a different background and will have a different set of view points from which they will draw.
As a result, two people can view the same conversation in two completely opposite manners. As conflicts are bound to arise, you will also need to learn how to resolve disagreements effectively.
This is critical to any kind of communication you may have. In addition, you should resolve all disagreements as soon as you find out there was one so that it will not fester or become a lot worse.