Andrew Augustine
STC 136
Professor Barnett
18 April 2016
Communication in the workplace
Communication in the workplace is something we will all deal with at some point in our life. Knowing how to communicate effectively can be a tricky task, there are a lot of technicalities involved, unless you are a professional communicator, knowing what to believe and what not to believe can be a tricky task. Almost any person you ask will say that communication in the workplace is a one of the most important components to maintain a productive and efficient work environment. Understanding how people communicate can help distinguish why a person behaves a certain way in situations whether in face-to-face communication or in groups. Types of communication that are used in workplaces across the globe are visual communication, verbal communication, non-verbal communication, and written communication. Communication has significantly evolved over the years and will keep getting better effectively helping company’s increase efficiency and productivity while keeping the workers morale levels up. Striving to improve your communication skills will help successfully establish strong business connections with people you work with during your career, and will be a key component to finding success.
Communication happens all around us; with the technology today people are constantly communicating and interacting on a mobile basis. These technological advances in communication are effectively helping businesses become more productive and organized. In order for a business to be successful it must be able to communicate effectively between the entire company and it is very important for worker, managers, and bosses to recognize the effectiveness of their communication skills. The reason I chose this topic is because I believe that knowing how to effectively communicate in business internally and externally composes a major role in how successful that company is. I grew up around many successful entrepreneurs and businessmen and acknowledging how they interact with people, including me, made me realize how important of a role communication holds in this business. I have been fortunate enough to understand and see how proper communication can affect a business. I have been a manager for a rental houseboat company down at lake Cumberland and currently operate my own boat detailing and maintenance company which I have had going for a year now. With just a few years of experience it didn’t take me long to understand out how much of a role communication between all persons in a company and it s customers can attribute to its success.
Communication skills are essential in the global business world and striving to better your skills will take you a long way. A company’s employees interact verbally and non-verbally with people inside and out of the company. Lacking in quality communication skills can come with many negative results including decreased productivity, confusion between coworkers, and a feeling of low morale throughout the office or workplace. These negative consequences that result from poor communication lead to employee’s leave, low earnings, and an all around bad reputation for the company. In Rose Johnsons article she talks about employee moral and how it can change with effective communication. She said, “An improvement in employee morale can result from effective communication. Although pay is a concern for many workers, it is not their only concern. Employees appreciate good communication coming from management. It produces a healthy work environment. When employees are satisfied with their jobs, they are able to efficiently perform their duties with a positive attitude. Failing to communicate effectively in a workplace leads to frustration and confusion among employees. However, managers can alleviate such problems by keeping the lines of communication open.” (Johnson) Rose made good points and I agree that good communication from management to their employees can make a big difference in their work ethic. Experiencing this first hand managing a team of drivers, I realized how thorough I had to be when giving direction and advice.
Management positions are in charge of setting the tone for communicating in the office. Managers hold a lot of responsibilities and have to react appropriately in every situation. Workers pick up on behaviors and emotions from their managers. Anyone in a manager position must always be composed in their behavior and use a logical method of communication to reach out to the workers in the office. Managers have a lot of ability to improve workplace communication and an article I read by George Doyle made many good points on how managers can improve their communication verbally and non-verbally. He said, “Rehearse what to say in staff meetings – all communication that flows smoothly works better. Listen to questions posed by workers – they need to feel part of the process. Avoid too much emotion during communication – especially if the news is not good. Make sure not to be distracted during meetings – managers need to pay attention when not speaking, too. Have an agenda and stick to it – keep control of the communication while allowing for questions.” (Doyle) From my little experience being in a management position I can agree with many of the points he talked about. A good manager needs to be someone who is not afraid to make decisions and must back up what he or she says, also be able to maintain control of any situation and have an open ear to any questions or concerns a worker may have.
Having the ability to communicate effectively between different cultures is very important. With many big companies in today’s world they deal with people from all over the world and knowing how to handle communicating with their cultural differences is very important. Some cultures around the world find ways of communicating in America to be offensive. Sharon Penn wrote an article about global business communication and talked about how important it is to know the culture you’ll be dealing with before communicating with them, as some of their behaviors are different from ours. She Wrote, “Behavioral differences between employees of different cultures can cause misunderstandings. Every culture has guidelines about what is considered appropriate behavior. In some cultures, looking someone in the eye when they are talking to you is considered rude, while in other cultures refraining from doing so is considered disrespectful. Getting right to the point at a business meeting may be considered impolite by some, who expect to have" small talk" before the business discussion. Likewise, in some cultures, people talking to each other give each other space, while in other cultures, they stand close. These differences can be barriers to effective communication if they are not recognized.” (Penn)
Many different types of communication you will run into at a workplace will include internal communication, which happens at the work place whether it’s face to face, on the phone or email. External communication happens between a member of the company and an outside person, which could be a customer or client of theirs. At the workplace its self we deal with formal and informal conversation all day long. Formal communication revolves around concepts of the company and the workplace objectives or goals. Informal communication is when employees discuss non-work related topics. Informal communication between workers is a good thing as it brings them closer to each other and feels more like a family.
At any big company there are communication type, which they call “upward”, and “downward” communication. An example of this is when someone in upper management is giving guidance to their employees, which is downward, and vice versa, when an employee asks their manager or boss for advice pertaining to what he or she is working on, is upward. There is also “lateral” and “Diagonal” communication, which for example is when two persons on the same tier, such as two executives, share information with each other. Diagonal communication deals with information about the company, which is shared between different tiers, such as an executive sharing information to one of his or her employees. With their being so many different tier levels in a company, an executive or high-level person in the company may call for a meeting, which deals with large or small groups of people from the company to discus any information that needs to be heard by more than one person.
Communication in the workplace is something we will all deal with at some point in our life. Communication has significantly evolved over the years and will keep getting better effectively helping company’s increase efficiency and productivity while keeping the workers morale level up. Striving to improve your communication skills will help successfully establish strong business connections with people you work with during you career, and will be a key component to finding success in your career. Almost any person you ask will say that communication in the workplace is a one of the most important components to maintain a productive and efficient work environment. Understanding how people communicate in your own culture and others can help distinguish why a person behaves a certain way in situations and can better prepare you on how to handle the situation.