SKILL NUMBER 5: EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION (PART 1)

THE BOOK OF MANAGEMENT

THE TEN ESSENTIAL SKILLS FOR ACHIEVING HIGH PERFORMANCE

SKILL NUMBER 5: EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION (pg. 282 - 319)

 

Communication is the most valuable skill.  It is the link between ideas and action.  It is the process by which people interact with each other, a way of seeking information.  Communication is the emotional glue that binds humans together in personal and professional relationships.

Communication is a process involving senders and receivers who encode and decode messages transmitted by various media that might have been impeded by noise.

COMMUNICATION SKILLS

1. Principles

• Dynamic
• Continuous
• Circular
• Unrepeatable
• Irreversible
• complex

2. Overcoming barriers
• 2 barriers to successful communication:

·   The operations of the body and the mind

·   The assumptions that other people make

• Culture and our life norms and standards can influence how people perceive the messages, events and experiences
2. Communicating at work
• Adapt approach to accommodate the office needs
3. Planning the approach
• Factors that have a direct impact on your communication:

·   Message

·   Medium

·   Code

·   Feedback

·   Noise

·   Effect

5. Understand the audience
• Look in similarities
• Level of audience
• The ethnic origin
• Know the economic status and lifestyle
6. Match the message
• Don’t speak down to the audience
• Reaching out to the audience:

·   Primary audience

·   Secondary audience

·   Gatekeepers

·   Opinion leaders

·   Key decision makers

7. Choose the right medium
• Factors govern your choice of medium

·   The preference of the audience

·   The characteristics and benefits

SPEAKING AND WRITING

These are two of the most important skills for a manager, that is to deliver a presentation and to communicate effectively in writing be it formal business letter, email correspondence or detailed reports.

1. Define substance and style
• Content is the king of speeches
• Substance matters and there is absolutely no substitute for knowing what you are talking about
• Tailor the content to meet the audience’s expectations
2. Determine your purpose
• Know why you are speaking
• Identify your role for speaking
• Know the context in which the presentation will take place
3. Prepare your speech
• Make a detailed plan of your speech
• Be completely familiar with the structure and content of your speech
4. Develop visual support
• Visual images can have a powerful effect on the process of learning
• 3 main important reasons of having visual support

·   Helps explanation

·   Attraction attention

·   Recognition of ideas and points in presentation

• Use visuals effectively

·   Simplicity

·   Clear, and in order

·   Color for explanation and attraction

5. Improve confidence
• Know your material
• Understand the message
• Have a well-organized speech
6. Improve your delivery
• Rehearsal will help improve

·   speech and raise level of confidence

·   transition

• use notes
6. Deliver your speech
• bear in mind that no one in the room is born with great public speaking ability
7. Be a better writer
8. Deliver your speech
• Organize

·   Good writing takes time, careful thought and revision

·   Good business writing is simple, clear and concise

·   Do your research and identify key issues

·   Find out the reader’s expectations, wants and needs

·   Always separate facts and opinions

·   Writing style should be precise and concise

·   Use simple down to earth words

·   Be direct and avoid vague terms

·   Make sure everything is grammatically correct

·   Keep paragraphs short

• Make your writing come alive

·   Vigorous and direct

·   Free of clichés and jargon

·   Make up of short sentences

·   Connecting with the reader

• Show interest

·   Three criteria

·         Compact

·         Formal

·         Organized

·   Show genuine interest

• Hit the right tone
• Effective email

·   Email is a tool, don’t let it become your master

·   Check emails at regular intervals

• Plan your report

·   Four main points to consider when writing a report:

·         The audience

·         The ideal format

·         The right information

·         Properly organized

·   Three important section of a report

·         Front matter which includes title page, abstract, table of content, and list of figures and tables.

·         The main body

·         End matter which includes bibliography, appendices, glossary and index.

Short notes from:

THE BOOK OF MANAGEMENT

The Ten Essential Skills For Achieving High Performance

Darling Kindersley Limited (DKL), Penguin Group (UK)