have posted several articles on effective communication and worked with many different organisations that recognise the need to improve their internal communication. In each instance there is a perceived need to find some magical solution that will lift the effectiveness of communication. Unfortunately there is not a magical solution, but if you remember the basics and use that knowledge you will improve the way you communicate.
There are several components to communication and they fall
into two fundamental categories – sending and receiving, or to put it another
way talking and listening. In this
article I’m going to focus on talking or sending, you can check out this
article for more information on receiving or listening.
I’m not going to patronise you so let’s jump in with a model or
set of figures I’m sure you have come across, probably many times.
So what does that nice graphic actually tell us? Well at the most basic level it tells
us that in communication words represent 7%, tone 38%, and non-verbal is 55%.
Let’s take it a little deeper. What the data shows us is that when someone is in receiving
or listening mode they derive some meaning from three different elements – the
words that are spoken, the tone of the voice, and the non-verbal elements such
as facial expression and body language.
Again I’m sure you knew and recognised that, now let’s jump
ahead. In a business setting how
do you communicate? Perhaps a
better way of asking that question is what do you use to communicate?
Most employees in most roles have at least a telephone and
email. Most business communication
takes place using telephones and email.
When using a telephone we can pick up on the words and the tone, but the
non-verbal communication is missing.
In email we can only pick up on the words even when others use UPPERCASE
TO MAKE THEIR POINT.
This means that although we gather most meaning from others
communication with us through their non-verbal communication we immediately
ignore this when we use telephones and email. Now this doesn’t mean we don’t understand what is being
communicated, after all there are still the words. But it does mean there is a far greater chance of
misinterpretation. Think of the
three elements like muscles. We use
the muscles in different ways and some are bigger and more effective than
others. Take one or even two of
those bigger muscles away and we can still function just not as well.
A study conducted by Hard Business School that shows that at
least 65% of all emails are misinterpreted by those receiving even though those
sending believed 95% of the emails sent would be understood correctly.
So what does this mean for our communication and how can we be
more effective? Here are 5 simple
rules I always start with when helping organisations with their communication:
Whenever possible, communicate in person.
When the message being sent is important to you or those
receiving always deliver it in person.
If you cannot deliver the message in person, step back from
your message and ask yourself “how do I
send this message not so it will be understood, but rather so that it cannot be
misunderstood?”
If delivering a message on email keep it short – just deliver
the message and deliver it early not at the end of the email. This goes for actions, required
responses, key dates, etc.
If using a telephone make sure you have the best connection
possible. Don’t use a mobile if a
landline is available. Don’t do it
in a noisy environment if a quiet environment is available. Keep the number of phones to a minimum
– don’t have 100 people dial into a conference on 100 different phones.
These are the basics of effective communication. Communication is a vast subject and it
can be complicated, but unless you get the basics right you will never communicate
as effectively as you want or need to.
