Effective Leadership

Effective Leadership

Just as there are different styles of communication there are different styles of effective leadership. Effective leadership is that which works in a given situation to get the results desired. Here are some examples of different types of effective leadership and how they lead and organization.

There is the telling leader. This type of leader is good for new and inexperienced members within an organization. These members need to be told what to do from soup to nuts. This is effective leadership for that kind of membership. Although it is effective leadership this type of leader doesn’t care about peoples feelings or relationships. The leader wants what they want and that’s that. This type of leader has to give very clear directions and follow up on the directions that were executed by the membership.

Then you have the selling leader. He uses the power of persuasion to get what he wants done. He sells his membership on his ideas by convincing them. The membership in this type of organization is more experienced. This type of leadership is effective because the leader explains the decisions made and give the membership a lot of opportunity for clarity.

Another Effective leadership style is the participating leader. This kind of leader actually works along side with the members of the organization. Together the leader and membership make decisions and carry them out. With this type of leadership style the group is the important factor to the organization’s success. The relationship the leader has with the group is more important than the task at hand. This leadership is also effective leadership because the leader gives the members encouragement to do well and compliments them when they succeed.

The last type of leader I will point out is the delegating leader. He hands the ball to the membership to run the show so to speak. He trusts the role members have in terms of their duties and lets them do what they have to do. This kind of leadership can delegate responsibility because the membership is experienced enough to work independently because they are fully capable of handling things. In an organization with this type of leadership the members handle their own affairs.

Even though those are effective styles of leadership all leaders have basic qualities that make them effective leaders. A person who has effective leadership qualities is able to give directions and communicate clearly. They can accept as well as offer constructive criticism. He or she can effectively meet deadlines. They have to be able to diffuse and handle conflict effectively.

Effective leadership can guide a group in setting their goals and reaching them. They are able to make decisions as well as delegate responsibilities. They can make presentations to the organization. The most important factor is their honesty and integrity. People will not follow someone they feel is not honest and plays dirty. The best leaders admit their mistakes and learn from them. This makes the membership of an organization respect them. Without respect it is almost impossible to lead.

Communication

What Is Communication?

Communication is defined as a process by which we assign and convey meaning in an attempt to create shared understanding. This process requires a vast repertoire of skills in intrapersonal and interpersonal processing, listening, observing, speaking, questioning, analyzing, and evaluating. Use of these processes is developmental and transfers to all areas of life: home, school, community, work, and beyond. It is through communication that collaboration and cooperation occur.Fundamental Beliefs About Curriculum and Assessment - If there is one unifying theme that crosses all disciplines, it is communication. Communication is our window to basic literacy and academic excellence. Reaching levels of excellence and accuracy of expression mandate mastery of formal English. These are the capabilities that cultivate the potential in each student and the possibilities for our future

Communication: is defined as a two-way process in which there is an exchange and progression of thoughts, feelings or ideas towards a mutually accepted goal or direction.
Communication as an academic discipline relates to all the ways we communicate, so it embraces a large body of study and knowledge.

Communication is a process whereby information is encoded and imparted by a sender to a receiver via a channel/medium.The receiver then decodes the message and gives the sender a feedback. Communication requires that all parties have an area of communicative commonality. There are auditory means, such as speaking, singing and sometimes tone of voice, and nonverbal, physical means, such as body language, sign language, paralanguage, touch, eye contact, by using writing.

Communication is thus a process by which we assign and convey meaning in an attempt to create shared understanding. This process requires a vast repertoire of skills in intrapersonal and interpersonal processing, listening, observing, speaking, questioning, analyzing, and evaluating. if you use these processes it is developmental and transfers to all areas of life: home, school, community, work, and beyond. It is through communication that collaboration and cooperation occur.

[1]Communication is the articulation of sending a message through different media,[2] whether it be verbal or nonverbal, so long as a being transmits a thought provoking idea, gesture, action, etc. Communication is a learned skill. Most babies are born with the physical ability to make sounds, but must learn to speak and communicate effectively. Speaking, listening, and our ability to understand verbal and nonverbal meanings are skills we develop in various ways. We learn basic communication skills by observing other people and modeling our behaviors based on what we see. We also are taught some communication skills directly through education, and by practicing those skills and having them evaluated.

Communication modelling


Communication is usually described along a few major dimensions: Content (what type of things are communicated), source, emisor, sender or encoder (by whom), form (in which form), channel (through which medium), destination, receiver, target or decoder (to whom), and the purpose or pragmatic aspect. Between parties, communication includes acts that confer knowledge and experiences, give advice and commands, and ask questions. These acts may take many forms, in one of the various manners of communication. The form depends on the abilities of the group communicating. Together, communication content and form make messages that are sent towards a destination. The target can be oneself, another person or being, another entity (such as a corporation or group of beings).
Communication can be seen as processes of information transmission governed by three levels of semiotic rules:
Syntactic (formal properties of signs and symbols),
pragmatic (concerned with the relations between signs/expressions and their users) and
semantic (study of relationships between signs and symbols and what they represent).
Therefore, communication is social interaction where at least two interacting agents share a common set of signs and a common set of semiotic rules. This commonly held rules in some sense ignores autocommunication, including intrapersonal communication via diaries or self-talk, both secondary phenomena that followed the primary acquisition of communicative competences within social interactions.

In a simple model, information or content (e.g. a message in natural language) is sent in some form (as spoken language) from an emisor/ sender/ encoder to a destination/ receiver/ decoder. In a slightly more complex form a sender and a receiver are linked reciprocally. A particular instance of communication is called a speech act. In the presence of "communication noise" on the transmission channel (air, in this case), reception and decoding of content may be faulty, and thus the speech act may not achieve the desired effect. One problem with this encode-transmit-receive-decode model is that the processes of encoding and decoding imply that the sender and receiver each possess something that functions as a code book, and that these two code books are, at the very least, similar if not identical. Although something like code books is implied by the model, they are nowhere represented in the model, which creates many conceptual difficulties.

Theories of coregulation describe communication as a creative and dynamic continuous process, rather than a discrete exchange of information. Canadian media scholar Harold Innis had the theory that people use different types of media to communicate and which one they choose to use will offer different possibilities for the shape and durability of society (Wark, McKenzie 1997). His famous example of this is using ancient Egypt and looking at the ways they built themselves out of media with very different properties stone and papyrus. Papyrus is what he called 'Space Binding'. it made possible the trasnsmission of written orders across space, empires and enables the waging of distant military campaigns and colonial administration. The other is stone and 'Time Binding', through the construction of temples and the pyramids can sustain their authority generation to generation, through this media they can change and shape communication in their society (Wark, McKenzie 1997).

Basic Communication Skills

Basic Communication Skills

Communication is essentially the transfer of ideas, messages or information from one person to another. It is effective when it gets the desired action or response. Basic communication skills are essential for continued success, whether personal or professional. At the very base one needs to understand the communication process.

Thus, one may ask what are communication skills? To answer that simply - Basically, communicating is like a two-way street, which entails the relation between the sender and the receiver. In this process, a cycle of communicating messages is formed between the sender and the receiver. The sender is required to conceive the message he/she wishes to send, encode this message and then transmit. The receiver then is required to receive the message, decode is and clarify his/her understanding of the message.

In order to maintain healthy communication, the two must go through this process, without bringing in other elements of intellectual thoughts and judgments, as they tend to harm the harmonious process of message passing and receiving.

From the sender's perspective one needs to have the following essential skills:

Skills to compose the message
Skills to send the message

From the receiver's perspective one needs to have the following essential skills:

The skill of receiving a message
Without assumptions
Placing biases aside
Actively listening

Thus, the elements of effective communication are:
Listening
Verbal skills
Non-verbal skills

Interpersonal Communication Skills

Interpersonal Communication Skills

Interpersonal Communication skills are how we send informational messages for others to receive them. The message is usually sent orally. But non-verbal communication is also a part of interpersonal communications. Writing can even be used as a form of interpersonal communication skills.

Good interpersonal communication skills are based on the idea of being clear. Since interpersonal communication implies the interaction between 2 or more people; the better they understanding is between them the better their relationship would be. Even if two people aren’t friends clearly establishing where each other stands with good interpersonal communication skills can allow for both to be in the same physical space without conflict.

Good interpersonal communication skills allows for the sender to give messages to receivers with minimal misunderstanding. The sender has to have a clear idea of what he or she is going to say and how to say it in order not to confuse the receiver. If confused, the receiver could misinterpret the message and thus miscommunication ensues.

In terms of interpersonal communication approaches, there could be a one-way or two-way method of sending information. With one way interpersonal communication the sender is giving out information or a direction with out the allowance or expectation of feedback. An example of one-way communication would be if the receiver tells the sender “ Pick up the pencil or you are fired”. The person picks up the pencil, end of story.

In two-way interpersonal communication, two or more people share information back and forth. The sender allows for information to be returned back. An example of a two-way interpersonal communication would be the sender once again saying, “Pick up the pencil or you are fired”. But this time in response the receiver says, “Do you think that is Fair?” Now there is a two-way interaction based on the original message.

In addition to the one way and two way interpersonal communication approaches, it can also be further broken down into styles. Five main styles of interpersonal communication are: controlling, egalitarian, structuring, relinquishing and withdrawing. A person that has good interpersonal communication skills will know when to use one style over the other. One style may work better than another depending on the situation at hand.

When one uses the controlling style of interpersonal communication a directive is given out for the receiver to execute. It is a one-way communication in which the sender expects compliance from the receiver. If the person is respected it can be used effectively upon occasion, but one has to be careful because it can become overbearing, bossy and domineering. You can alienate people as well with a controlling interpersonal communication style. On the other hand is the egalitarian style of interpersonal communication. This is a two-way information approach where messages are received back and forth to promote execution. This is good if you are dealing with experienced people situations but not so good for those that are not familiar or inexperienced with what is required of them.

The structuring style of interpersonal communication is used when organization is required to accomplish a task. This is good when deadlines are involved. The dynamic approach use motivational pleas to get the receiver to execute an action. It is good once again with experienced people who know what to do.

In the relinquishing interpersonal communication style the sender shifts the responsibility of communication execution to the receiver. This style is highly receptive to input from the receiver. This is good for those receiving information that want to assume responsibility. And finally the withdrawal style of interpersonal communication is the absence of communication altogether. This is used when one does not want to discuss an issue.

In conclusion on could say that there are many interpersonal communication skills that are utilized to be an effective communicator. The main thing is to be clear with the information you are sending out so the listener can effectively act or not act on the information you send them. This is the best interpersonal communication skill to have. Say what you mean and mean what you say.

Effective Business Communication

Effective Business Communication

Communication skills are very important in business. You have to be able to effectively communicate ideas to insure a successful enterprise. When one runs a business one has to interact with other people on some level, even if you are a sole proprietor without a staff. That is why effective business communication is essential.

The first thing for effective business communication whether orally or written is to consider the objectives you are trying to communicate. The objectives have to be clear in your mind so you can execute them clearly. You want the people you are communicating with to receive the objective correctly so they will be in agreement with what you are trying to accomplish. Remember for effective business communication you must have good language skills both orally and written. You must be able to articulate your points to achieve what you want.

Another good point in analyzing how effective business communication is executed is what kind of audience are you speaking to or writing for. When utilizing effective business communication skills it is very important that you have a positive attitude so you will be received positively. If one is negative and unmotivated then that is what he's going to get back. With effective business communication what we give out is what we receive for the most part.

Another thing to consider when utilizing effective business communication is ones credibility. How believable are you and do you believe what you are saying. That makes a big difference in winning people over to your point of view. If you are honest in relaying information for both better and worse you are in a better position to have people on your side.

Try to use creative oral and written approaches. The easiest way to loose the ones you are trying to communicate with is to be boring, use jargon and be repetitious. No one not even you want to hear or read the same things over and over. You have to be innovative with your communication skills to be effective with a repetitive idea. Keep in mind boring is mind numbing not mind stimulating.

One of the best effective business communication skills to have is motivation. First you must be motivated by what you do and then you will be able to motivate others. If you have a service to offer make sure that those you are communicating to understand how much that service could benefit them as it is benefiting you. This is one of the best tools to use win over those you are communicating with.

Remember you are a human being just like the people you are communicating with. You must treat them with the same courtesy and respect that you would want to be treated with. To be effective in the business realm even as a one-person enterprise you must give to get. That is what communication is about. You are sending out information that you want others to receive to benefit both parties.

Workplace Communication Skills

Workplace Communication Skills

Now in the job market one of the requirements are workplace communication skills. Employers want employees with workplace communication skills as part of their training. Today’s workplace communication skills include oral, written and technology abilities.

In the workplace poor communication is responsible for the majority of errors, confusion or problems at the workplace. This means your workplace communication skills must include speaking clearly, making the intent known and with assertiveness. When one uses the assertive style of communication one is able to communicate directly the can state what they want and how they want it honestly and clearly. The needs of the person communicating are done with a specific intent in mind that they convey to the listener with no confusion. It is done respectfully but forthrightly.

Many times assertive workplace communication skills are confused with aggressiveness. When one uses aggression the tactics utilized tend to be abusive, demeaning, pushy, manipulative and at times disrespectful. An example of assertive vs. aggressive behavior is if some one jumps in front of you while standing in line. The aggressive person would say if you don’t get back I am going to punch your lights out. The assertive person would say excuse me I was here first.

Another issue with workplace communication skills is being clear. A lot of times people don’t clearly communicate what it is that they need or want done. The communicator has to be very specific about what they are transmitting. This way the receiver understands fully what is expected of them and how to respond based on that knowledge.

Another issue in relation to workplace communication skills is women versus men in communicating. Women and men do not communicate the same way. In terms of a broad overview; here are how men and women differ in relation to how and what they communicate. When men communicate it is to report or to give information. When women communicate it is to gain information or to establish a relationship. Men will communicate about things, while women will communicate about people. A case in point men will say “ the report was lousy, a woman would say “ She cannot write”. Men tend to focus on facts, reasons or logic. Women focus on feelings, senses and meanings.

Men by nature are competitive and women are more harmonious. Men are conditioned to be the ones to think and women are conditioned to be intuitive. So based on those differences here are some workplace communication skills for women. When you are upset do not communicate with the person who is upsetting you. Tell them you need a minute and go calm down. Take a breath before answering the person. If you have to team up with this person get to the point with the information. It is a fact that many men don’t like to many details. Focus on facts not how you feel, and stay away from personal talk (gossip). Listen with your logic factor not your emotional factor. Do not engage in a power struggle.

If it is a male that is your subordinate at the workplace be forward when communicating information. Say what you mean and mean what you say. Be extra clear if it is an instruction that you are giving, don’t give room for interpretation of what you mean to him. Focus on the actions required, not on the feelings behind them. Be cooperative even though you are the supervisor not competitive with the person.

Sometimes you will be met with resistance as a female supervisor. Understand where the resistance is coming from so your feathers don’t get ruffled. We are in a male oriented society where men traditionally dominate in the business world. Now there is a woman in charge. You are going to be a threat to both sexes because of that reason. As long as your workplace communication skills are very good and utilized properly there should not be a problem in this day and age with your position.

Oral Communication Skills

Oral Communication Skills

We all use oral communication skills, but there are those of us that have to really have good speaking skills because of our careers. Some of us use our oral communication skills to speak to large groups of people and to make presentations. Here are some tips for good oral communication skills.

Oral Communication skills that involve presentations require that you sufficiently know the topic you are going to speak about. Your material should be conveyed tightly; you should make your information to the point and very interesting. Even if the subject is boring you should try and be enthusiastic. Remember the listeners are also taking in visuals. If you look bored they will be bored also.

How you say something is just as important as what you say in oral communication skills. Your voice, appearance and body language must all convey your topic in order to have effective oral communication skills. You cannot give out conflicting messages non-verbally. This will confuse the listener and they will interpret the information they receive from you incorrectly.

Using good oral communication skills include speaking clearly and in a language that is appropriate for the audience you are addressing. Speak loud enough for everyone in the room to hear you based on the size and acoustics of the room. Try not to shout or whisper. Let the flow of your conversation be natural, don’t rush or talk extremely slowly. Pauses at important points can be helpful; but don’t make them too long, because it could become awkward. Unless you are a good joke teller avoid telling jokes because they can have a bad effect if the listeners do not receive them correctly.

Try and have good posture because it conveys confidence in your oral communication skills. Slouching makes you look like you aren’t on the ball and you loose credibility with the listeners. You can use gestures to emphasize certain points but try not to flail your hands. It becomes distracting and detracts from what you are trying to say. Avoid moving too much because it can unnerve the people listening to you. Try and stay in one central location through out your speech.

With good oral communication skills one learns how to use visual aids to illustrate ones topic. Visual aids can make the presentation much more interesting to the audience. Make sure the visuals are relevant to what you are speaking about. The visual aids have to be large enough for all in the room to see clearly. If they are not large enough for everyone to see do not use them. Make your visuals simple and easy enough for everyone in the room to understand. If you are using equipment, make sure that it is set up to run before you start.

Signs that a person is having tension with their oral communication skills are obvious also. You may feel your heart pounding as you start to speak, you may have shaky hands, a trembling voice, nervous knees or a dry crackly voice. Believe me the listener picks these things up. Some ways to alleviate these types of anxiety is to practice in front of family and friends before you actually give your presentation. They can critique you ahead of time so you can work on the weak spots. Being prepared also helps. Don’t think of your speech as a performance, think of it as a conversation. Visualize yourself doing well.

If you start out fine and then after the first few words feel the nerves coming on you can say to your self no one knows you are nervous but you. Never admit you are nervous or apologize for being so. You need to recognize that you are not the only one who is nervous to speak in front of people. I bet if you took a survey everyone you are speaking to would get nervous as well if they were in your shoes. The main thing is that what you have to say is important and people are present to hear what you have to say.

Excellent Communication Skills

Excellent Communication Skills

What are the components of excellent communication skills? What makes one’s communication skills average and another stand out with excellent communication skills? When a person states that their communication skills are excellent; are they saying that they are good speakers, command the spoken or written language, do they listen extremely well or are they good presenters. Excellent communication skills require that one do all of the above with mastery of those skills and more.

How are your verbal abilities? Just because someone may speak all the time does not constitute that he has excellent verbal communication skills. First of all one has to have a good command of one’s language including grammar and pronunciation. In addition to those factors one has to be able to control ones tone and pitch based on the situation. You are not going to speak at a screech in a close quarter room with two people that would not be appropriate.

You also have to make sure your non-verbal skills are honed as well. Your body language, facial expressions and posture must fit what you are speaking about. If you talk about physical fitness and are slouched over with a bag of chips in your hand who will take you seriously. You words must fit your non-verbal signals.

Often times people receive information more from non-verbal communication that the actual words. What the listener misses in language is filled in with non-verbal signals. This is where miscommunication and misinterpretation can come into effect. The listener makes his interpretation based on what he sees in addition to what is being said.

The thing is, in order to have excellent communication skills you have to be a really good listener. To have excellent communication skills when you listen means you have to be able to read between the lines, from the information being transmitted to you. Also there are different categories of listen. You first need to determine what listening role you play in various situations and listen appropriately. You can listen as a counselor or a social worker, responding with guidance and support. You can have the position of a manager and listen as a strategist, problem solver or liaison. In any case when on has good listening skills they are able after receiving information to respond quickly, with diplomacy and clearness so what needs to be done can be executed based on what was heard.

A person who has excellent communication skills is able to look at a person and know what type of approach to use to communicate effectively with that person. They must also be able to read the other persons non-verbal signals even before they speak to them. They know how to make an effective communication with them by sizing them up. Upon assessing the situation they must speak in language that is appropriate to the listener to engage them. Most important they have to communicate in a clear fashion so the person they are interacting with comes away with exactly what the communicator wanted them to come away with. That is a sign of a great communicator with excellent communication skills. Both parties understand each other and there is no misunderstanding upon completion of the interaction.

Therapeutic Communication In Nursing

Therapeutic Communication In Nursing

A large part of a nursing career involves both verbal and non-verbal transmission of information to the patient and to the medical team and visa versa. When considering this idea of nursing and communicating there is also what is called therapeutic communication in nursing. This involves the human element of appropriate emotions in the nursing arena.

Therapeutic Communication in Nursing reinforces the nurse-patient relationship. It makes the nurse appear more humane to a patient. Therapeutic Communication in Nursing can help cut through barriers of culture and gender, establish a connection if there was a breakdown in communication and help deal in a situation where empathy is needed with the patient.

With therapeutic communication in nursing, the patient’s emotional state is considered as well as their feelings. Being sensitive to the needs of a patient and their turmoil is very important. A lot of nurses do not understand this and do not know how to deal effectively with a patient as a result.

For example a patient is angry because they just found out they have cancer? The nurse has to understand the person’s world may have just been shattered. If the person is angry and the nurse says “don’t take it out on me” and flies out of the room, why can’t she say I understand, I would be upset too? What is unprofessional in that statement? In reality nothing and it may get the patient focused to think about how he is going to get help. I remember when my mother was terminally ill and my father was dying of cancer. I am a trained RMA, but the hospice nurse laced into me because I fell behind in a prescription. I cursed at her. She said please do not use that language with me. I responded and told her to get off her high horse, I am doing the best I can as a caregiver of 2 terminal parents with 2 children I am raising at the same time. She also used to throw the prescriptions at me. One day she asked for a pen and I threw it at her the same way. After that she was kinder in her approach. I had to flip the script so she could feel how she behaved, for her to change for the better. After that we became friends.

Therapeutic communication in nursing allows for the patient and family to feel like someone actually cares for him or her in their time of need. This can be fundamental in the recovery or death process of a patient.

In empathetic therapeutic communication in nursing four things have to be considered. One, the nurse needs to look at what the patient is seeing, hearing, feeling and even smelling in the facility he is in. How is all that a stimulus affecting that patient is the second consideration. The third is the patient’s needs being met or not? The last is what does the patient require to have his needs met? And finally is there anything you can do to help this patient get his needs met.

Kindness does not overstep the boundaries of professionalism. To treat someone with sensitivity that may have just lost a love one does not detract from ones professional decorum. The trick is to do it in such a way that leaves both parties intact to do what needs to be done. When a nurse masters the technique of therapeutic communication in nursing she is able to be caring, sensitive and still a professional. Many people unfortunately don’t understand that feelings do not mean that you are not a professional. First and foremost you are human and if you don’t have those characteristics you have a problem I would think in a field where human interaction is a constant given. The patient should feel like they are in good caring hands no matter what.

Communication In Nursing

Communication In Nursing

Communication in Nursing as with all of the medical field is crucial. Nurses have to be intermediaries between doctors and patients. They have to execute what the medical hierarchy expects of them and they must take proper care of the patients. Communication in Nursing involves both non-verbal and verbal communications.

The purpose of communication in Nursing includes establishing a nurse-patient relationship. Some nurses are quite effective at this others are terrible. The welfare of the patient has to be first and foremost in the consideration of nursing. When nurses are tired and overworked their communication skills become very inefficient to say the least. Not to mention an irritable patient can turn off a nurse’s communication also. It is a delicate relationship balance that the nurse who if she is a professional has to consider when communicating with a less then ideal patient. Communication in nursing requires nurse sensitivity when dealing with the sick and dying. Her threshold of tolerance must be high to effectively communicate to get the needs of the patient met, and the treatment the doctor requires executed.

The main consideration in communication in nursing is that a good nurse who can communicate effectively allows for the exchange of information, needs and preferences of the patient between herself and the patient. They can then relay it in a timely fashion to the medical team who is treating the patient. As with all communication skills the goal of communication in nursing should be mutual understanding of a message either being given or received, so proper results ensue as a result of the communicative interaction.

Communication in Nursing follows strict level guidelines:

1. Social/ A nurse’s social interactions are to be what are considered safe, they should not overstep their boundaries into personal interactions with a patient or a doctor. They should be courteous and friendly but try not to become to personally sociable with the patient or the doctor.

2. Their approach is what is considered structured; that is their communication skills involve either interviewing or teaching. When interviewing they are to take the required information needed to do their job done effectively. When teaching; they are to inform the patient and those involved with the patient, what needs to be done in their regimen to help regulate their health needs.

3. Therapeutic/ The nurse is expected to be patient focused for a specific period of time constraints. They have to be purposeful in relation to the patient. This involves setting a context up between the patient and themselves in which care can be provided to the patient. They must have the patients trust to make their communications effective. This way they can convey the information needed to identify, resolve or help the patient adapt to their health situation.

The types of communication in nursing utilized are both verbal and non-verbal skills. They are both oral and written. When a nurse uses either of these skills they need to be clear, simple, to the point and time appropriate so there is no miscommunications. Non-verbal communication in nursing includes body language, gestures facial expression and touch. Touch is very important in nursing. How a nurse touches a patient will either make or break the relationship. Rough or hard touches when a person is suffering or frightened will send a message of disinterest or dislike on the part of the nurse in relation to the patient. It will make the patient feel the nurse has does not care or doesn’t like them. This alone can make the patients condition decline.

The worst thing in communication in nursing is when the nurse does not listen. That is considered negative and harmful behavior. Not listening to a doctor or patient can mean the difference between life and death in a patient’s treatment. They must listen to the patient and what they are saying. It may be crucial no mater how insignificant the nurse thinks it may be. The nurse must convey those thing the patient relays to her to the rest of the health team. I cannot stress enough that those type of communications can make the difference between life and death, whether the nurse considers it to be so or not.

Communication In Business

Communication In Business

Communication in Business involves communicating business information both inside and outside the organization. Internal communication in business includes the corporate vision and strategy, goals, plans, corporate culture of the organization, motivation and things that make a business organization successful in house. External communication in business involves marketing, advertising, customer relations, business negotiations and things dealing out of the business immediate environment.

There are studies done in relation to communication in business showing that nothing is better than the good old face-to-face communication between the workforce and the management. It was found out during a European study that those businesses with managers that used intranet , emails and video- conferences ended up with issues unresolved or not handled properly between the workforce and management because it was not done in person.

The use of intranet, email, faxes and voice mail is good to transport messages containing general data. Any kind of factual data that is not associated with emotions is fine to be relayed this way. But communication in business involving emotions is better done in the flesh. Things like expressing different opinions are far better done in person than with the use of electronic correspondence. Body language, vocal tone and expression cannot be accurately transferred for an important emotional transmission of information with an electronic device. The person must actually feel the emotional impact of the communication for better or worse. Electronic intermediaries cannot replace emotional communication in business. This goes for enthusiasm for goals as well as firing someone.

There have been studies done analyzing the dynamics of what makes a sales person successful in his endeavors. A good salesman is one who can talk to customers in terms they can understand. A successful communication in business should be done in terms of speaking in a language that is understandable to those you are communicating with. To make a dynamic presentation don’t tell everything you know. Talk about only what the people you are speaking to need to know about. This means do your homework also. Sort out all the data you have and only present that information which is pertinent to your business communication. This helps those you speak to take more productive action based on what you say to them. Make the information relevant to the audience. This gives them a connection to what you are talking about.

It’s also good to be able to listen as well. You need to listen to in house and out house communications in business. Make time to listen to what in house staffers have to say. This helps unify the business organization as a two way street where everyone is on the same team. The same is true for the consumers. Listen to what they have to say as well. It can help with business execution of products that the business or organization produces for consumer consumption. Poor communication in business results in misunderstanding and mistrust on both sides of the business fence. This can extend to both within and on the outside a business.

Organizational Communication

Organizational Communication

Organizational communication is the ability of an individual or group within a collective establishment to transmit and receive information within that collective establishment. Usually organizational communication is premised on common set goals that the collective establishment attempts to execute.

Basically organizational communication flows in three directions; upward, downward and lateral. Upward implies from those who are the bulk of the organization’s workforce up to the management and upper hierarchy. Downward implies from the upper ranks down to the workforce and lateral means communication back and forth almost as a simultaneous process.

As with all forms of communication, organizational communication has problems at times too. Some of the problems are as follows. The main problem management often illustrates is the assumption because they and a few staffers may have some information at their disposal that the rest of the organization has it as well. Usually the workforce of an organization is not aware of information unless the management or leaders make it available to them in the first place. Some organizations try so hard not to be bureaucratic that they bombard the work force with written instead of verbal communications. A lot of the workforce may not even bother to read what is written or don’t have the time to do so, so they may miss important information as a result.

Sometimes an organizational leader may forget whom he has told something of importance to and it gets lost for that reason. One must be aware of what is being said and to whom it is said to. This is crucial to avoid major miscommunications. With that in mind often a leader or manager may say something that was not understood correctly and misinterpreted because of it. In organizational communication it is very important that when communicating things that they are made extremely clear. The information should also be reinforced by asking if the parties understand or not.

Another problem is data versus information and opinion. If you are executing information that is communicated it should be based on factual data rather than assumptive opinions. This can quickly alienate the population of the organization because of your lack of credibility.

When communicating downwards the hierarchy, everyone down the chain of command should receive a copy of the organizations mission, values, and strategies and how these goals will be met. This way everyone in the organization has the same goals in mind set for the organizations progress. Make sure that everyone down the line has all the up to date rules and regulations of the organization. There should be a routine of basic tasks procedures to follow. Individual job descriptions and procedures for individuals working in the organization should also be specified. You should hold management and staff meetings on a regular basis even if there is nothing to communicate to keep the channels of communication opened.

In upward communication the staff should feel comfortable with meeting those up the organizational ladder. Staff workers should be able to meet with organizational leaders to discuss their concerns and be heard. Leaders should solicit feed back from the staff and make notes to improve any situations of contention.

When upward and downward communication runs smoothly in an organization lateral or horizontal communication back and forth develops between the staff and management making for a more efficient goal directive organization.

Improve Communication

How To Improve Communication Skills

Every one can learn to improve communication skills. It’s a matter of using the feedback they get from their communication with constructive improvement. The better our communication skills are the more effective we are in our lives.

Many times our verbal skills make our break us. The first thing to improve communication with others is to develop one’s own voice. Tone and Pitch have a lot to do with how people relate to you. A high whiney pitch is annoying to anyone. That kind of tone makes people push you away. Also if you speak to soft and whispery you sound like you have serious confidence issues. People that talk very soft have a tendency to be bullied by people with aggressive tones. It is important to have a balance. One good exercise to change the tonal quality of your voice is to practice singing songs you like at home one octave lower than you are used to singing. This deepens and enriches your natural tone.

Another way to improve communication with people is not to speak too fast. If you have a tendency to do this you need to slow down. When you speak very quickly people think of you as being nervous and unsure of yourself.

Practice at home taking a breath and focusing on you thoughts before executing them. Beware though don’t slow down to the point where people are always finishing your sentences. They will think you don’t think to fast on your feet.

Voice animation is very important if you are trying to improve communication abilities. No one likes listening to a droning monotone voice. It makes the listener tired and it is to boring to follow what is being said with that type of voice. A good communicator uses pitch dynamics when speaking to keep the listener involved. When you speak it should be like telling a story. You should know when to raise and lower your voice pitch to keep the listeners interest. You can work on this skill by reading stories out loud focusing on your vocal animation. Remember to use appropriate volumes based on your environment. If you are in close range to a person don’t yell, and if you are in a large group speak louder so you can be heard.

Enunciation is also very important. If you mumble or do not say your words clearly people won’t understand you. Also do not use words if you are not sure what they mean. If you wish to increase your vocabulary pick one new word a day, learn its meaning and use it during that day to get used to it in speech. Makes sure your word pronunciation is correct as well. There is nothing worse than trying to use words and you cannot even say them right. If you have trouble with a particular word’s pronunciation then practice saying it at home, not in public. When you feel comfortable with the word then you can take it out with you so to speak.

Make eye contact with those you are communicating with. It lets them know you are speaking to and with them. Staring off into space or looking around while you are talking detracts from your credibility. Make sure you use your body and face when you speak. Body language or gestures and facial expressions are very important. It lets the people or person you are communicating with that you are absorbed mind and body in the topic of conversation. It also conveys the emotion you feel behind what you are saying. Use smaller gestures when one on one or a small group and larger ones for bigger groups.

Finally the most important feature to improve communication is not to mix your signals. Make sure that the tone, pitch, gestures, facial expression and words all match. This way there is no confusing in what you are trying to get across. Miscommunication occurs when these things are not in sink. For example if you are angry and say it with a big smile and are laughing who is going to take you seriously?

Effective Employee Communication

Effective Employee Communication

It is very important where there is a hierarchy of employees, managers etc. that information is allowed to flow in both directions for successful communication. Employee Communication is based on guidelines established from those in managerial positions. Most companies have no problems with managerial communication on down to employees, but employee communication upward can be challenging to say the least.

Some of the main problems with employee communication with managers and bosses are the intimidation factors. Many employees feel if they speak with their employers candidly that they will loose their positions or jobs. Thus a communication gap ensues where the employees are on one side and the bosses are on the other. The first thing to narrow the gap is for the managers to work with the employees. In addition to managers communicating what their needs and requirements are; it is up to employees to reciprocate with what their expectations are. Employers need to listen to their employees. There should also be specific times set up when employees can come and communicate with the managing team or the boss. This reinforces each other’s expectation of duties so there are no miscommunications.

Another idea that is being incorporated into the workplace is the managers coming to the employees and asking them to be proactive in their employee communication. If there is a problem or they are struggling with something to come to the management team with it so it can be handled to avoid a problem between the employee and management. With employee communication the employer and management can reinforce the goals set by the workplace as well as the company’s vision. Employee participation also lays the foundation for input to make the company’s vision a reality.

When considering employee communication the boss needs to try and set aside some regular schedule time maybe once every month to talk to employees including management about what is going on at the workplace for better or worse. In this situation the employer can ask specifically what duties does the employee have and how does he execute them. Maybe together both, employer, managers and employees can come up with better solutions of efficiency and strategies of improvement to make things better for the employee as well. If there are any major workplace changes that affect the employees now is the time to talk about them.

Let the employees that are most affected by workplace changes know so they are not shocked or surprised by the changes. Also don’t wait for an annual employee evaluation to lace into an employee’s performance; it should be a continuing communication process. Reinforce the standards of visions in the workplace so it is instilled in the employee. This way they will understand what is required of them and try to meet those standards.

Finally if there are any issues that are sensitive they should be discussed face to face with the employee. It is an essential thing if you have a serious problem to communicate with the employee directly. Hiding behind an e-mail or correspondence is not the way to handle that type of employee communication. It is not right to fire or lay someone off by email. It is better to tell the employee in their face why so maybe they will have another chance to find work again without repeating their mistakes.

Communication Styles

Communication Styles: Are You Agressive?

There are many types of communication styles. We all have our own way of getting our ideas across to others. This is called our communication style. The main thing is we want to make sure that our style of communication is effective. We may think our communication style is one way but it may actually come across differently. Here is a look at some communication styles.

Assertive communication styles are particularly good when we want to win people over.

It is a wise communication style choice for people who want to boost their careers.

It is important when considering communication styles that using an assertive communication style does not have elements of aggression, passivity, or passive –aggressive tones.

Assertive communication does not include those elements for success.

The latter elements alienate people and do not make for successful communication at all.

The first thing with ones communication style is to analyze it. Lets look at aggressive factors in communication styles. You may want to put any of these aggressive communication styles in check to avoid misunderstandings, miscommunications or alienating those who you need to work with. With your communication style do you make choices and decisions for others? This is not good. You can suggest but have no right to dictate to others what they should choose to do, especially if it does not directly impact on your outcome. If you are brutally honest and use direct, forceful tones you could scare away those you are trying to win over. They may find you overbearing. The same goes for demanding to have your own way, or only participate if you are the winner. No one wants to deal with someone they feel is self serving. It is better to suggest things than demand, with substantial facts to back up the suggestion. People tend to view an aggressive approach as being self-serving, controlling and arrogant. Being assertive is different. You are pointing out in a positive way where things could be better for everyone including yourself with a different idea.

On the other hand passive communication styles aren’t effective either. Passive communication styles make people feel uneasy. This style of communication comes across as someone who is wishy-washy and does not stand by his convictions. No one wants to listen to someone who has no belief in themselves or what they are saying. It confuses people, it makes people thing you are hiding something and are dishonest. When a passive person communicates, the people he or she is communicating with thinks they are sneaky and there is something going on beneath the surface. It is better to speak in a definite clear tonal approach if you are shy so you don’t come across as being weak.

Passive-aggressive communication styles tend to make people think you have emotional issues because your communication styles are constantly changing to suit the moment. You come across as loud sometimes and still not to the point. You also come across as manipulative swinging the communication style to suit your needs. People tend to view those that use passive aggressive communication styles as people who will do what ever it takes to come out ahead. They are viewed as someone you cannot trust.

When one uses assertive communication styles you come across as someone who is direct and honest. You seem to be a person who thinks and makes decisions for themselves. Others tend to respect you because you are clear on where you stand. You don’t give confusing signals.

People tend to want to deal with someone who is assertive in communicating with others. This is because with assertive communication styles your message is communicated honestly and clearly. People understand you and there is no confusion on issues. It shows you have goal initiative but are not over bearing. Usually assertive communication styles involve times of give and take to win as well. There will be an interchange of ideas on both sides to come to a solution. People always want to feel like they participated in a decision and an assertive person makes them feel that way because they are secure with themselves.

Good Communication Skills

Good Communication Skills

The way one communicates does not only have an impact on their own profession and personal relations, but also an effect on others. Those who do not have appropriate communication skills are usually ignored or simply kept at bay. Where are those with good communication skills are looked upon and well respected. After all a good listener and a good orator are popular in their groups - professional and personal.

Teaching communication skills can be a rather daunting task, considering that almost every individual feels that they are very good communicators. In fact, most trainers prefer to be regarded as facilitators, who are able to bring to light the nuances that occur while communicating ineffectively, rather than pointing a direct finger and saying - You all cannot communicate well'. and when this occurs the participants are ready to delve deeper within and bring out the negative aspects of their communications and replace it with the corrective measures.

Based on the communication skills training programs conducted by known experts in the field, here are some tips to good communication skills :

Maintain eye contact with the audience :

This is vital as it keeps all those present involved in the conversation. It keeps them interested and on the alert, during the course of the conversation.

Body awareness :

One needs to be aware of all that their body is conveying to them, as well as others. For instance, if there is anxiety rising during the course of a conversation then one feels thirsty and there maybe a slight body tremor. At that point one needs to pause and let someone else speak. A few deep breaths and some water works as the magic portion at this point.

Gestures and expressions :

One needs to be aware of how to effectively use hand gestures and the way they need to posture their body to convey their messages effectively. Sometimes it may happen that they verbally convey something, but their gestures and facial expressions have another story to tell.

Convey one's thoughts :It is important for one to courageously convey what they think. This is because when things are left unsaid, then what is being spoken is not as convincing as it should be. Then a lack of confidence develops.

Practice effective communication skills :

One should practice speaking and listening skills as often as possible. In order to practice effective speaking skills one cane read passages from a book aloud, in front of a mirror, or simply perform a free speech in front of the mirror. And where listening is concerned, one can try transcribing from the radio or television, etc. this helps in honing sharper listening skills.

Communication Barriers

Communication Barriers

No matter how good and effective a communicator one maybe, yet the fact is that one does face certain barriers, from time to time, which forces them to work on becoming even more effective in their skills to communicate. Given here are the communication barriers that occur while listening, speaking and in the case of non-verbal communications...

Listening barriers:

Interrupting the speaker

Not maintaining eye contact with the speaker

Rushing the speaker to complete what he/she has to say

Making the speaker feel as though he/she is wasting the listener's time

Being distracted by something that is not part of the on going communication

Getting ahead of the speaker and completing his/her thoughts

Ignoring the speaker's requests

Topping the speaker's story with one's own set of examples

Forgetting what is being discussed

Asking too many questions, for they sake of probing

Barriers while speaking:

Unclear messages

Lack of consistency in the communication process

Incomplete sentences

Not understanding the receiver

Not seeking clarifications while communicating

The other barriers include:

An individual's subjective viewpoint towards issues/people, which leads to assumptions.

An emotional block, which can lead to an attitude of indifference,

suspicion or hostility towards the subject.

An emotional block or bias that is based on a third party's view point, or on what you have read/heard.

Words can have different meanings to different people, thus

blocking communication.

Use of negative words

Improving Communication Skills

Improving Communication Skills

When one is required to communicate complicated ideas, one needs to first and foremost work on improving their skills in communicating. Firstly, one needs to overcome all language related barriers by first seeking how to learn English speaking. This is essential, because most people find it difficult to convey their thoughts, because of a strong influence of their national language, regional language and mother tongue.

Well, to overcome the language barrier, one can attend English speaking classes. But then thereafter one also needs to be aware of other nuances involved in improving communication skills. In fact, one needs to ensure that as when they communicate they should not be misunderstood, so as to ensure a free flow of thoughts and ideas, doing away with stumbling roadblocks.

One way of ensuring that one will not be misunderstood is to look into the use of ‘scope'. ‘Scope', essentially refers to the words that combine with each other in order to create a ‘sense unit', in a sentence. For instance, which nouns are covered by a particular verb or preposition. Often poor punctuation or poor sentence construction brings about ineffective communications.

There are varied grammatical devices that help to indicate ‘scope'. These devises can be perfected by constantly practicing grammar. In fact, no matter how eloquent a speaker or communicator one maybe, one should spend sometime, ever so often in practicing grammar exercises.

One can refer to the various English speaking books that will help them improve. In fact, parents can improve their own grammar skills by working on exercises with their children, making it a family activity, rather than a boring homework lesson