ROLE OF EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION IN MANAGEMENT - Essay Example

? ROLE OF EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION IN MANAGEMENT goes here] [Your goes here] [Due the paper] Table of Contents Contents Page Introduction 1 Principles of Effective Communication 1 Best Practices for Effective Communication 2 Assessment of Effective Communication 4 Barriers in Effective Business Communication 5 Effectiveness of Nonverbal Communication 7 Conclusion 8 Role of Effective Communication in Management Introduction Effective managerial communication refers to successful or result-oriented communication that takes place at administrative or managerial level. Managerial communication is a form of communication that takes place in any workplace setting, either between managers and employees or between delegations of different companies. Effective managerial communication helps a company in the achievement of goals and objectives. Some of the main benefits of effective managerial communication include timely communication between departments, improved and more efficient business processes, improved decision making, improved level of understanding between managers and employees, and improved working relationships. In this paper, we will discuss the role of effective communication in management. The paper will also include a discussion on the barriers in effective communication and the ways to overcome those barriers. Principles of Effective Business Communication There are some key principles of effective communication that make the process of business communication successful and result-oriented. Those principles include starting the communication process in a friendly manner, showing interest in each other, giving sincere appreciation to the other parties involved in communication, overcoming barriers to communication, giving value to the viewpoints of each other, using appropriate body language, and giving instant feedback. The process of communication should take place in a friendly environment. Moreover, there should be clarity in the messages and the tone of communication should be polite so that other people taking part in communication should understand the concerns of each other easily. Another important thing is that all participants should show interest in knowing the viewpoint of each other in order to create a respectful and peaceful environment for communication. The participants should show and give due respect to each other because successful business communications occur only when all parties show interest in each other and value the feedbacks and viewpoints of others. No one should show any kind of attitude or disgrace because it makes other people uncomfortable. Next, there should be no barriers to communication because barriers adversely affect the overall process of communication. Feedback is one of the most important principles of effective managerial or business communication is continuous feedback. Feedback makes the communication process meaningful and effective. All participants of the communication process should provide instant feedback to the viewpoints and concerns of others because it helps the participants gain more confidence and understanding of the issue. Best Practices for Effective Communication Along with the principles of effective communication in management, managers and employees also need to focus on some effective communication practices in order to make the communication process successful. Both managers and employees need to be able to communicate effectively with each other at the workplace because ineffective communication, bad attitude, and personal and work related conflicts and misunderstandings can affect the communication process and can create many problems for employees, as well as for the company. Convenience, freedom of expression, and timely communication are those elements of communication that play a major role in effective workplace and managerial level communication (Means, 2010, p. 45). Convenience From managerial communication perspective, managers and employees need to express their willingness to share business related information with each other in a friendly manner so that there should be no pressure on employees. Moreover, there should be no communication gap between managers and employees because such gaps not only reduce the level of trust between the communication participants but also decrease the productivity of the business. A pressurized form of communication results in nothing where managers and employees are not ready to develop a mutually adaptive and friendly relationship. Listening to the Concerns Another point regarding effective communication is that a person should be a good listener, as well as a good presenter both at the same time to be a good communicator. In case of business communications, a person should listen to the concerns and viewpoints of other people with full concentration because it helps in getting a correct idea of the situation. Similarly, expressing ideas to others logically is also important to convince others. If any of these two skills is missing in a person, the communication process becomes ineffective and unproductive. In addition, all communication participants should convey their viewpoints clearly and completely to others in order to make the communication process effective and result-oriented. Freedom of Expression Freedom of expression is another practice which makes business communication effective. Communication cannot be result-oriented if each person involved in it is not given the due respect and time to express his/her viewpoint. Freedom of expression is something that promotes fairness in communication. In business communication settings, if managers keep communication distance with their employees because of their higher positions, the employees in such situations cannot express their concerns freely to the manager. Therefore, it is essential for the managers, as well as for employees of a company to promote a collaborative working environment and show respect and courteousness to each other in order to ensure success of the business communication process. Value of Time Time is another important factor of effective business communication. It is very important for the managers to make timely decisions in order to achieve the business goals. Managers can take timely decisions only if they have good working relationships with the employees of the company because decision making needs proper collaboration of all key people working for the company. In business communication, late responses or delayed communication can make the process of communication ineffective which may result in delayed project submissions inappropriate business decisions. Assessment of Effective Communication Assessment of communication skills is very important for managers to learn and improve their communication skills. The key issues that need to be assessed for effective communication include the clarity of communication, the respect for other person’s viewpoint, the logical expression of the viewpoint, the way a document is written if engaged in written communication, and the ability to make other people understand the real meaning of the information being conveyed to them. Barriers to Effective Interpersonal Interactions Talking about effective communication in management, we should also discuss the barriers that are able to make the communication process ineffective and unsuccessful. Barriers to effective communication refer to those hurdles or difficulties that may arise during communication (Sehgal & Khetarpal, 2006, p. 91). These barriers stop the messages from reaching the intended receivers properly. Some of the main communication barriers include physical barrier, language barrier, interpersonal barrier, cultural barrier, perceptual barrier, emotional barrier, and attitudinal barrier. Let us discuss these barriers in some detail in order to know the way they affect effective business communication. Language Barrier Language plays a very important in the success of a communication process. Language barrier arises when a language is not understandable for some of the communication participants. This barrier also arises in business communication when during communication a participant makes use of such words that produce different meanings to people because of cultural differences. This problem is generally called semantic gap. Moreover, an improper message or a poorly expressed message sent by an employee to some other employee may result in breaking the relationship between them. To overcome this barrier, communication participants should use such language which should be understandable for all participants. Physical Barrier Physical barriers include difference of territories, location, and distance between the communicators. This barrier usually arises when the participants of communication do not have proper physical access to each other. For example, when there is long distance between the participants of communication or when there is much noise in the communication area. To overcome this barrier, communication participants should communicate in such locations and areas where they can clearly communicate their viewpoints to others. Perceptual Barrier Perceptual barrier is another form of communication barrier that arises when people think that all persons involved in the process of communication think the same way. However, in reality, there are many perception differences between people. Probability of perceptual barrier becomes high in such situation where a large number of people are involved in communication. To overcome this barrier, communication participants should listen to each other’s concerns carefully and should not try to impose their viewpoints on each other. Interpersonal Barrier Interpersonal barriers to effective business communication include the elements, such as, lack of respect, use of improper body language, lack of trust, lack of knowledge, and lack of motivation. To overcome these barriers, communication participants should not focus more on the personality of the other person. Rather they should focus on the purpose of communicating with the other people around them. Organizational Barrier Organizational barriers include stringent employment policies, poor organizational culture, unfriendly working relationship between employees and managers, and inadequate facilities. To overcome these barriers, managers should promote a supportive and friendly organizational culture in which employees should not feel any external or internal pressure. Effectiveness of Nonverbal Communication Along with verbal communication, nonverbal communication also plays a very important role in making the process of communication effective. Nonverbal communication proves to be extremely effective at the workplaces where managers show appreciation and positive reception to their employees using gestures (Guffey & Loewy, 2011, p. 67). Nonverbal communication plays a significant role in business communications (Lehman & Dufrene, 2011, p. 47). In case of business dealings, if the manager of a firm talks with the managers of other firms confidently using correct gestures and body language, it injects a positive image about the manager in the minds of other people. Ellgring (1989) found that nonverbal communication proves to be very effective in workplace settings because it makes the point clear to the audience in a short span of time. Nonverbal communication helps managers in sending meaningful messages to the employees. For example, if a manager comes close to his/her subordinate and puts a hand on the shoulder of that employee and gives him/her a smile of appreciation, it really works well for the employee because such expressions make employees feel satisfied and appreciated. Similarly, if two group members of a firm working on a project make frequent eye contacts and show thumbs up to each other upon accomplishment of some tasks, it results in improving the working relationship of those employees which consequently improves their group productivity. Conclusion Business communication takes place between employees and managers in a workplace setting. Effective managerial communication needs managers to adhere to the basic principles of effective communication some of which include clarity, convenience, relevance, and communication feedback. Some of the main outcomes of effective business communication include improved level of understanding between employees and managers, timely decision-making, improved efficiency of business processes, and improved working relationships. Along with the need to adhere to the principles of communication, managers and employees also need to reduce communication barriers in order to make the process of communication effective and result-oriented. References Ellgring, H. (1989). Nonverbal communication in depression, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press. Guffey, M., & Loewy, D. (2011). Business communication: Process and product, 7th edition, Mason, South-Western Cengage Learning. Lehman, C., & Dufrene, D. (2011). Business communication, 16th edition, Mason, South-Western Cengage Learning. Means, T. (2010). Business communication, 2nd edition, Mason, South-Western Cengage Learning. Sehgal, M., & Khetarpal, V. (2006). Business communication, New Delhi, Excel books. Read More