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Five elements of communication

Once you have gone to the effort to make contact or to invite contact, you can do other things to improve your approachability. Your reception of other people – the behaviors you use when actually speaking to them – can have an important impact on how approachable they consider you to be.

What is the importance of communication in the workplace? People in organizations spend over 70% of their time interacting with others, either directly – in private or in meetings – or by phone and e-mail. Effective communication is therefore vital to "getting things done." When communicating across cultures, it can be even more important to communicate clearly because the intended message can sometimes be distorted by each party's "cultural filters."

Communication mistakes abound in the corporate arena. One reason for this is that there's a lot of room for error. But a bigger and more insidious cause is a lack of forethought on the part of the communicator. In many companies today, there is an absence of rules governing communication etiquette, which makes it even more important to understand how to convey messages appropriately. Generally, there are three causes of communication etiquette mistakes:

Modern communication tools such as pagers, cell phones, and speakerphones have inundated the workplace. And why not? The cellular phone, for example, is convenient, handy in emergencies, and a productivity booster. Yet, if abused, these tools, and the people using them, can quickly incur the rage of their work mates.

Being assertive at work is advantageous in many ways. It's never necessary to become aggressive to express your opinion or to get what you want. When communicating assertively, you speak honestly and in a straightforward manner, show respect for the person you're interacting with, and use assertive body language.

The CEO asked the DVPs to estimate the ROI on the M and A proposal. Now, can you decipher that code? The chief executive officer (the CEO) asked the division vice presidents (the DVPs) to estimate the return-on-investment (or ROI) on the merger and acquisition (M and A) proposal.Many business people like to pepper their speaking with too many TLAs – three-letter abbreviations – and other insider jargon. That's one of the ways people violate the rules of etiquette for good communication.

To communicate with tact and diplomacy, you need to be sensitive and respectful. However, this can be more challenging than it first seems. People are sensitive to different things. And what one person sees as a lack of respect may not be an issue for another. For example, some people think it's respectful to make eye contact, while others do not.

A conversation requires concentrated listening. Many people assume they know how to listen. However, these people may be mistaking just hearing for effective listening. Listening does require hearing, but it also requires interpretation and understanding – in other words, two-way communication.

Everyone reacts to change slightly differently and is likely to have their own opinion about the change – that's just human nature. However, it's how you handle reactions to and opinions about change that will impact the success of a change initiative.