Communicating at Work - Report Example

COMMUNICATING AT WORK Presented By goes here] To [Your goes here] [Your goes here] s [City and state] [Due date of the paper] TABLE OF CONTENTS Contents Page 1. Introduction 1 2. Assessment of Effective Communication 1 3. Role of Effective Communication in the Management of a Work Team 2 3.1 Effectiveness of Verbal Communication 2 3.2 Effectiveness Non-Verbal Communication 3 4. Effective Communication with the Work Teams 3 5. Drawbacks of Ineffective Communication with the Work Teams 5 6. Conclusion 6 References i Effective Communication at Work 1. Introduction Before going into the details of impact of effective communication on the management of work teams, let us get a better understanding of what effective communication actually is. Effective communication is a skill related to the successful transfer of knowledge from one person to another. Effective communication is one of the critical factors of work team management. Communication plays a vital role in every field of life because a person cannot perform a task without having complete knowledge regarding that task, and that knowledge comes through the use effective communication skills. Kern (2010) asserts, “Effective communication helps in that the message is enable to achieve its goals and helps in receiving the desired response from the reader of the message”. 2. Assessment of Effective Communication Effective communication skills are essential for the management of an effective work team regardless of the total number of members of the team. Assessment of the communication skills is also very important in order to improve the skills because effective communication involves evaluation of skills and use of the evaluated skills in the management of the work teams. Evaluation of the skills reflects the staff’s overall performance related to the use of effective communication skills. The key issues related to effective communication, which we need to assess, include level of attentiveness while listening to other people, ability to ask questions, participation in the discussions, ability to listen and respect other person’s viewpoint, ability to understand the language of foreign people, and ability to make other people understand the real meaning of any specific information. 3. Role of Effective Communication in the Management of a Work Team Role of effective communication in the management of an effective work team is of critical importance. There are two types of communication, which can be used to deal with the members of a work team. These types include verbal and non-verbal communication. In verbal communication, a manager makes use of tongue in order to transfer some information to the team members whereas in nonverbal communication, gestures and body language play the role of communication with the individuals. 3.1 Effectiveness of Verbal Communication Effective verbal communication and perception plays a critical role in the successful management of a work team. The communication becomes effective and result-oriented if the management of a company successfully perceives the nature of its employees. Every individual involved in the process of communication should try to perceive the nature and attitude of other persons in order to make the communication more dynamic and effective. The management staff of any company needs to communicate verbally with the employees in order to transmit information. The work team becomes more enthusiastic, dedicated, and task-oriented if the boss expresses faith in the team members through the process of effective verbal communication. Without effective verbal communication, no knowledge or information can be transferred form one person to any other person. For a manager, being able to communicate effectively is not only important to build a successful career but also it helps the manager in establishing an effective work team. 3.2 Effectiveness Non-Verbal Communication Sending and receiving of wordless messages or information is known as nonverbal communication because it does not involve speaking abilities of a person. Gestures, glances, postures, body language, eye contact, tone of voice, and facial expressions are used instead of words in case of nonverbal communication. Nonverbal communication also involves a manager’s dressing style, outlook, and various body movements. Nonverbal communication is extremely effective in the creation of a dynamic work team. The manager interacts with the employees using the body language and gestures, which are very effective ways of nonverbal communication. For example if the boss comes close to an employee and puts his hand on the employee’s shoulder, it gives a message of appreciation to the employee regarding the work. Similarly, eye contact with the employees while discussing some issue or making some deal delivers the message of trust and faith of the manager in the employees. Hopkins (2004) asserts, “Good eye contact helps your audience develop trust in you, thereby helping you and your message appear credible”. 4. Effective Communication with the Work Teams The importance of effective communication with the work teams can be known by the fact that if the manager of a company communicates effectively with the employees working under his supervision, the employees will have no problem in performing the required tasks in a proper manner. Problem occurs when a manager fails to provide a clear understanding of the tasks to the employees. In this case, the employees do not know exactly what they need to do regarding any specific task. Creation of an effective work team highly depends on the level of communication between the members of the team and the management. If there is a high level of communication between the work teams and the manager, the team will become more productive and effective. On the other side, if there is low level of effective communication between the work team and the manager, the team will become less productive and ineffective because the members of the team will have no or less understanding about their job responsibilities. Employees need complete information and knowledge regarding the tasks, effective communication with the management, and understanding of the tasks in order to be creative and productive for their company. A manager should clearly communicate goals and policies of the organization to his subordinates and should get feedback on these goals and policies (Juneja 2008). Management of a work team is not a complex issue but it can become a very complex issue if the top authorities such as managers and supervisors lack the ability to communicate the job responsibilities to the employees in a proper manner. Employees need to be instructed and informed about the nature of any task that is being assigned to them by their boss or manager. If the manager fails to provide the employees with a complete understanding of the task, the employees can never deliver their best. The lack of ability of a manager to communicate effectively with the employees results in work team’s ineffectiveness and less productivity. Ineffective communication leads to misunderstandings between the employees and the management, decrease in the employees’ performance, and decrease in the company’s productivity (Kondrat 2009). Listening to the employees is one of the important factors of work team management. People sometimes concentrate more on what they have to say instead of listening to the other person with full attention (Turner 2009). It is very important for the managers to listen carefully to the employees about their plans towards the completion of any specific task because it may not only help the managers in knowing some unknown facts related to completion of the task but also it makes the manager aware of the employees’ approach towards the completion of the task. Effective communication with the employees belonging to other societies and cultures is also very important to manage a work team because a foreign employee may not be familiar with the ways of communication between the people of another country. Therefore, it is important to communicate with a foreigner in an expressive way by using effective verbal and nonverbal communication methods during the communication. Nonverbal communication plays an effective role in conveying the actual meaning to the other person by making use of our gestures and body language. Effective communication acts as the foundation for the creation and management of an effective work team. The key elements for the effective management of a work team include open communication with the employees, providing information about the tasks to the employees, and interacting constantly with the employees in order to make them feel valued and praised. 5. Drawbacks of Ineffective Communication with the Work Teams There are many drawbacks associated with the ineffective communication of the managers with the work teams. Johanssen (2006) asserts, “When people do not communicate effectively, their productivity decreases and everyone gets stressed”. Some of the most common drawbacks of ineffective communication with the work teams include ineffective work teams, less productivity, low level of efficiency, increased absenteeism, lack of focus on the tasks, lack of information about the tasks, and poor customer service due to lack of knowledge. It should be one of the core responsibilities of a manager to encourage effective communication between the work teams and the management. 6. Conclusion Summing it up, we can say that effective communication is the backbone of an effective work team. Effective communication is one of the critical factors of work team management and it relies heavily on the ability of a manager to communicate effectively with the employees. Communication skills’ assessment is another critical factor of the work team management, which involves evaluation and improvement of the managers’ communication skills. Managers make use of verbal and non-verbal communication in order to deliver their messages to the employees. Effective management of a work team plays a decisive role in the success of a company. The lack of manager’s ability to communicate effectively with the employees results in work team’s ineffectiveness and less productivity. Therefore, effective communication between the management staff and the employees is a critical factor in the management of an effective work team. References Hopkins, L 2004, Nonverbal Communication in Business, viewed 08 September 2010, . Johanssen, R 2006, How Important is Effective Communication in the Workplace?, viewed 08 September 2010, . Juneja, H 2008, Workplace Communication, viewed 08 September 2010, . Kern, T 2010, 10 Steps to Effective Communication, viewed 08 September 2010, . Kondrat, A 2009, Effective Communication in the Workplace, viewed 08 September 2010, . Turner, J 2009, How to Build Effective Communication Skills, Viewed 08 September 2010, . Read More