For that, I went online to do some research about effective communication and miscommunication and then came across this rather interesting shot that I would like to share with the class.
(click to enlarge)
Effective communication? No. Miscommunication? Definitely.
Communication has made its stand as an important process since the ancient times and so has it in this 21st century. The only difference now between now and then is the means of communication. Through communication, we transfer information to another party through various means.
In this era, we practise communication through our verbal means such as speaking, singing and even by the tone of voice as well as non verbal physical means, such as body language, eye contact, sign language and even writing.
So why is it so important that we need to know about effective communication? It isn't just any form of communication but rather, a two-way process - sending the right message that is also being correctly received and understood by the other person.
It may seem like an easy process that every one of us practice every day but it is precisely because it is seen as a easy task to do, that we often underestimate the importance and difficulty of effective communication.
Take the above image for example, a message that was full of different points was eventually toned down to a completely distorted one with no existence of the actual meaning. We can see how important it is for us to practise effective communication in order to avoid situations like these.
In my perspective, I think that the one important aspect that contributes to effective communication is the right tone that is being used when communicating. Other than the process of transmitting the right message word for word, I think that the tone that is used when speaking plays a rather huge role in effective communication.
I have this problem of not being able to control my emotions and feelings well and that really affects the way I speak to people sometimes. For example, I may just want to ask a very casual and harmless question like “What are you doing later?” but that that may turn out to be a hostile question if I were to ask it in an irritated tone just because I wasn’t feeling good at that point of time. I know that this is a huge problem because I am really sensitive to emotions expressed by the people around me. Though I know that they may be feeling down or moody, the tone of their speech will still affect me if it’s a negative tone. Knowing how it may affect people, all the more I ought to change and overcome this weakness of mine.
Having taken a module “Dynamics of Interpersonal Effectiveness” 2 semesters back, I have learnt a lot more on effective communication, but still, changes takes time and though I have toned down quite a bit with regards to the problem above, I’m still working on it to fully overcome the weakness.
No one likes miscommunications. I believe that effective communication makes one a successful person. There may be barriers to effective communication, but by overcoming them, I’m sure we'll all be one step closer to being successful persons.
Hi,
ReplyDeleteI agree that communication is often overlooked and taken for granted because it's used all the time. I feel that basic things tend to be the hardest to grasp, perhaps because it has become part of our subconcious. Bad habits are difficult to correct when you don't even realise it's there in the first place.
Thanks for sharing your encouraging story about changing your habit. I hope that I too will be able to become a better communicator after this course.
Hello Ms Pow,
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing your story. I understand what you are talking about because I have the same problem of not being able to control my emotions in the way I communicate.
You said, "Communication has made its stand as an important process since the ancient times and so has it in this 21st century. The only difference now between now and then is the means of communication." What do you think of the new modes of comunication, and can we apply what we've learnt about 2-way communication in this day and age of emails and MSN chats? Hope to hear your thoughts on this.
Thanks for sharing, Audrey!
ReplyDeleteThis a a great post from you, if not for anything else, but for your attention to your audience. You'd taken good care to ensure that you meet your readers' needs, providing instruction for your readers who'd like a closer look at the image to click on it for enlargement. That says a lot!
Thanks also for sharing your personal experience with us. Communicating effectively requires effort and awareness, and you possess both, which, in my opinion signifies that you are already on your way to becoming an effective communicator.
Just a question: you mentioned that "In this era, we practise communication through our verbal means as well as non verbal physical means' - do you mean to say that in the past, people don't have the same practice?
Cheers,
Ms. Lim
Hi Audrey,
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing your struggles with us! Your problem of mismatched tones and messages afflicts many other people, including myself, so you’re not alone on this journey towards becoming an effective communicator.
In your post, you sharply pointed out that ‘communication has made its stand as an important process since the ancient times and so has it in this 21st century. The only difference now between now and then is the means of communication’. This idea has much potential for exploration! The human elements of communication have been slowly eroded by the development of countless electronic means for communication that are available today. These new means for communication inevitably put a veil of anonymity between the parties involved, thereby disallowing all forms of non verbal transmission.
On the other hand, the ancient cultures – all of which pre-existed information technology – have flourished on the most basic forms of communication; in fact, oral tradition alone sufficed for some of them! The Jewish people, for example, transmitted their knowledge across generations by word of mouth before written Hebrew was established. I’d expect the ancient means for communication to comprise a comprehensive array of non verbal cues, given their deeper dependence on these cues.
It certainly looks like an inquiry into the ancient communication systems is in order.
Bing Fu
Hi Aaron,
ReplyDeleteThanks for your comment.
Surveys have shown that people in this generation tend to express their feelings such as when confessing or asking for a breakup through sms or emails rather than doing so face to face.
This is partly also due to the heavy reliance on communicating theough sms and thus making people lose the confidence to talk to people face to face.
With regards to your qn on whether can we apply the 2-way communication in emails and msn chats, I would think that it may not apply as much. Through words, one is not able to understand fully the intention of a message and the essence of it may therefore be lost. Paralinguistics which make aid in effective communication are also not present.
Some may argue that paralinguistics can still be found, by the choosing of words used, as well as the tone available which can vaguely be observed by the capitalising the words typed.
However, these still make up a small percentage of the non verbal communication in effective communication.
Hence, even though there may be the transimssion of an accurate piece of information literally, there may still be the possibility of the failure of 2 way communication since through emails and msn chats, one can only interpret a message solely by words alone.
I hope that answers your question.
Audrey
Hi Miss Lim,
ReplyDeleteI think I get what your question is driving at. I was probably wrong to start off the sentence with "In this era" because I believe people of the past do communicate via verbal and non verbal means too.
Would you agree that it would probably be more accurate if I change the sentence to "From ancient times till now, humans practise communication through our verbal means such as speaking, singing and even by the tone of voice as well as non verbal physical means, such as body language, eye contact, sign language and even writing." ?
Audrey, thanks for revising the sentence. I see an improvement, though the sentence is rather long. You may like to focus on 'Clarity', and writing with emphasis (refer to the Powerpoint slides which I will upload) in the revised sentence.
ReplyDelete