igcse english essay sample

igcse english essay sample

The Importance of Effective Communication in the Workplace

1. Introduction

The most obvious result of poor communication is when messages are not clearly understood. This can happen for a number of reasons. Perhaps not enough attention had been paid to making the message clear. Perhaps the receiver is at fault because he did not ask questions to clarify, or perhaps he was not listening effectively and missed key parts of the message. One message tends to generate another, and so messages have a cascading effect. Even a single unimportant-seeming message sent between an authoritative figure and a subordinate in the workplace has the potential to lead to serious consequences. Conflicts and disasters are not predestined and can be avoided. If this could be achieved, management would have significantly fewer problems in the workplace. Meetings aimed at resolving conflict and solving problems would be minimized and greater productivity could be achieved.

Most of the misunderstandings we experience could have been avoided if we had just communicated better. In many organizations, effective communication is a foreign concept. This indicates that people are often not prepared to engage in effective communication by communicating clearly, asking questions, listening, and ensuring that they have grasped the sender’s intended message. Corporate results can be greatly enhanced by creating a communication culture in which employees recognize the importance of effective communication in the workplace and are encouraged to practice it daily. It’s not enough to just talk to one another and people need to find ways of communicating their messages effectively.

2. Benefits of Effective Communication

Employees are motivated and committed to practicing effective communication because they are familiar and approachable with the company’s goals and objectives. They understand the roadmap, depending on the company’s priorities, and make committed to the organization and its success. It results in better work and service and ultimately in a successful business. An organization that flourishes helps personnel. Any positive professional behavior is taken through effective communication. It is vital for staff to understand what is expected if they are to succeed. Clearly written job descriptions and written norms provide clarity. Feedback is crucial because it makes it known what works well and how the work can be enhanced. If management is not approachable and focused on open communication strategies, employees can feel dissatisfied. They negatively affect productivity and prompt the team members to look elsewhere for work.

Effective communication is essential in any workplace, whether it is a team of two people working together or a large corporation with thousands of employees. Employees need to understand the instructions given to them, perform their roles efficiently, and engage with their customers on a personal level. Proper internal communication promotes good relationships at work, boosts job satisfaction, employee morale, job performance, and teamwork and will reduce personnel turnover. A company can work like a well-oiled machine with a motivated workforce that is satisfied. Both little misunderstandings and large errors resulting from lack of communication may be avoided, and team members are more trustworthy and emotional while working.

3. Strategies for Improving Communication

Although she writes of students’ common reticence in speaking up during class, it is easy to surmise that these strategies for improving communication, such as including examples and speaking in smaller groups, can apply to many business meetings. Raymond begins with the importance of trust and points out that trust-building is relatively simple. It is a prerequisite for clear, brave, kind, and clear communication, which she recommends for developing trust in a classroom. “Successful communication in the workplace is at the center of both personal and professional satisfaction,” states Erica Olsen in her article “5 Reasons Why Effective Communication Should be a Focus in Your Situation.” Olsen goes on to list the benefits of better communication in a workplace, pointing out the ease and efficiency in collaboration, a smooth flow of ideas, and an appreciation for diversity.

Communications scholar Teri Susan Kiel explains that effective communication is a mutual interaction that involves understanding and dialogue, and that it helps two people or small groups to bridge differences as they strive for common understanding. Oftentimes, however, the process of communication breaks down. In her article “Top 5 Reasons for Ineffective Communication,” Abigail Raymond explains some of the common barriers to communication, such as physical and environmental ones and emotional ones like anger, sadness, and anxiety, which make it difficult to communicate effectively. She also lists strategies for avoiding those barriers or breaking them down as appropriate. The same strategies can be adopted in many workplace situations. Raymond also discusses how a lack of background knowledge of or experience with the subject matter can lead to ineffective communication.

4. Overcoming Communication Barriers

Whether you work in an office or not, effective communication is essential to your company’s productivity. But consider the company you work at, can you communicate more effectively? Especially if you work in an office, poor communication can be felt in the atmosphere, like in a thick mist. One of the biggest barriers to effective communication in the workplace is, not surprisingly, the use of technology. In a 2016 report on trends in communication and collaboration, ForgetCodes reports that there will be 272.6 billion emails transmitted per day by 2017, and later on, reports the average business user sends and receives under 115 emails every day. Email may sometimes even seem like the best solution for project management communications. However, work communication quickly succumbs to more (face-to-face, telephone, or even printed documents) traditional forms of communication for quick exchanges. Since the creation of Skype and Slack, the “global company village” has become a very close-knit one-community voice was restored; just high-tech conferences of the traditional and spontaneous nature.

In any company, effective communication not only ensures employees have a full understanding of the company’s vision, the direction it is taking, and why, but they are also less reluctant to embrace this new direction and are generally more committed to the company’s success. Overcoming communication barriers is paramount to successful change. “Saying we value clear communication is one thing, actually living out these values is really the most important”, says David Hassell, co-founder of 15Five. According to a report conducted by US Consultancy firm Holmes Management, companies that have engaged employees have an average operating margin of 27%, however, companies that have disengaged employees have an average operating margin of just 10%, a whopping 17% difference.

5. Conclusion

In conclusion, as the article has shown, effective communication is crucial in the workplace. It creates abilities for one’s idea to be accepted and builds loyalty and morale, which helps keep employees from leaving. If effective communication is not presented, this can lead to a decrease of employee creativity and ideas. Instead, the worker will focus on completing only the things that are assigned to them. Furthermore, employees feel more valuable when communication is opened in their workplace; therefore, they will be more likely to be more engaged and put more effort towards their work. Being able to face the challenges of the company can cause changes in the thoughts of employees to keep working towards a vibrant environment. Employee confidence will grow because employees will always be able to communicate and solve any problems.

If communicate effectively, workers can leverage help from anyone they need to complete a task. For instance, if an employee cannot attend a meeting, they can ask someone else to go in their place. Additionally, rather than pennying away with a colleague, let it be known if they are facing any problems. Good chances are, a colleague may know exactly what you are doing wrong and what you need to do to fix it. If employees did not have open communication with peers, employees may not share the errors they are making. Think about effective workplace communication can bring employees together. It is a stress relieving feeling just to talk to a peer about a project that has been difficult and progress to do it together. If employees work together on every project, stress can be spread out among all members, getting the job done. Communicating verbally makes it easier for employees to get their work on the right track and ask for any help they may need.