Communication Skills

       
                               






                           Introduction :



                    Communication is a vital part of our daily routines. We sit in school and listen to teachers. We read books and magazines. We talk to friends, watch television, and communicate over the Internet. The workplace is no different. Experts tell us that 70–80 percent of our working time is spent in some kind of communication. We’re reading and writing memos, listening to our coworkers, or having one - toone conversations with our supervisors. Communication involves at least two people: the sender and the receiver. In this book, we’ll look at four types of communication between senders and receivers: writing, speaking, listening, and conducting meetings. Each one is important to your success in the workplace. For example, a poorly written cover letter can prevent you from being hired for a job. On the other hand, the ability to write effectively and make clear presentations can make the difference between your comunicate.

         ,,  being promoted or being left behind. As Ken Matejka and Diane Ramos explain in their book Hook ‘Em: Speaking and Writing to Catch and Keep a Business Audience, “You need effective, persuasive communication skills for career advancement.”
         


            Define :
                    A communication skill that’s often overlooked is listening. Yet recent surveys tell us that we spend 45 percent of our time listening. Do we listen carefully to what people are telling us? According to one study, we hear only one quarter of what’s being said. The rest of the time we’re daydreaming or just tuned out completely.

                          How to Spend our communication time?
                       

1.            Writing                9%
2.            Reading              16%
3.            Talking                30%
4.            Listening            45%                      

             

                            One sales manager in a printing company tells the story of needing a job rushed through in 24 hours so his best customer could have it on time. He gave careful instructions about the project to the production supervisor. But before he could finish, the supervisor had already stopped listening. He assumed that the customer wanted the job three days later, which was the usual deadline for most of these projects. When the sales manager went to pick up the job the next day, it wasn’t ready. As a result, he almost lost the customer. Unfortunately, stories like these are common in many organizations. Listening, writing, and speaking are all skills we use in meetings. Today, meetings are a common method for making decisions. More and more work is done by teams of people who come from different areas of a company. They accomplish many of their tasks in team meetings. In these situations, we must be able to speak and write clearly so others can understand us and listen carefully to what they say. Sadly, we waste many hours in meetings because of poor communication. A study by one university estimated that $37 billion is lost annually through unproductive meetings.

             Fact                                                                                                                                   :
                   
               A recent survey by Beta Research Corp., on behalf of the New York Times, asked several hundred hiring managers to name the most important behaviors that job seekers should demonstrate during an interview. “Effective communication skills” and “confidence in their abilities” topped the managers’ lists.
  
                 Whether you’re writing, listening, speaking, or attending meetings, communication skills are critical to your success in the workplace. In this book, we’ll look at some of the skills that will enable your communications to be more successful. These include:
       

•   Understanding the purpose of a communication 
•   Analyzing the audience
•   Communicating with words as well as with body language 
•    Giving each communication greater impact 

              

               Writing with a purpose 

           J ill’s boss asked her to write a memo on a school-towork program. The company where Jill worked was a leader in the computer software field. A school-towork program would give young people in school a chance to be employed part time and to learn the software business. If their work was good, the company might hire them for full-time jobs after they graduated. “Keep the memo short,” Jill’s boss told her. “And stick to the point.” Jill was supposed to explain the type of program her company should start. She sat down at her computer and began to write. On the first page, she talked about her own experience in a school-to-work program. Then she described what two of her friends had done in their programs. They had worked part time in other companies. Next she wrote about several school-to- 7 1 work programs described in magazines. Five pages later, she finally signed her name. “Well, I think the information my boss wants is in here somewhere,” she said to herself. Then she submitted the memo. Jill’s boss was a busy person. He received more than 50 memos each day, and he didn’t have time to read every memo completely. A memo writer had to get to the point quickly. Otherwise, Jill’s boss would read no further. He read the first paragraph of Jill’s memo. Then he scanned the second paragraph. “What’s the point of this memo?” he asked himself. He threw up his hands in frustration and threw the memo away.

       To write well, express yourself like common people, but think like a wise man. Or, think as wise men do, but speak as common people do. —Aristotle, Greek philosopher