Friday, August 10, 2012

TEN COMMANDMENTS OF GOOD COMMUNICATION


1. Seek to clarify your ideas before communicating:

The more systematically we analyze the problem or idea to be communicated, the clearer it becomes. This is the first step toward effective communication. Many communications fail because of inadequate planning. Good planning must consider the goal and attitudes of those who will receive the communication and those who will be affected by it.

2. Examining the true purpose of each communication:

Before you communicate, ask yourself what you really want to accomplish with your message--obtain information, initiate action, change another person's attitude. Identify your most important goal and then adapt your language, tone and total approach to serve that specific objective. Don't try to accomplish too much with each communication. The sharper the focus of your message the greater its chances of success.

3. Consider the total physical and human setting whenever you communicate:

Meaning and intent are conveyed by more than words alone. Many other factors influence the overall impact of a communication and the manager must be sensitive to the total setting in which he communicates. Consider for example, your sense of time, i.e.; the circumstances under which you make an announcement or render a decision, the physical setting--whether you communicate in private, for example, or otherwise, the social climate that pervades work relationship within the company or a department and sets the tone of its communications; custom and part practice--degree to which your communications conform to, or depatr from the expectations of your audience. Be constantly aware of the total setting in which you communicate. Like all living things, communication must be capable of adapting to its environment.

4. Consult with other, where appropriate, in planning communications:

Frequently it is desirable or necessary to seek the participation of others in planning a communication or developing the facts on which to base it. Such consultation often helps to lead additional insight and objectivity to your message. Moreover, those who have helped you plan your communication will give it active support.

5. Be aware of the overtones as well as the basic content of the message:

The listener will be affected by not only what is said but also how it is said. Voice tone, facial expression, and choice of language all influence the listener's reaction to the communique.

6. When possible, convey useful information:

People remember thing that are beneficial to them. If the manager wants subordinates to retain the message, he or she should phrase it so that it takes into consideration their interests and offer as well as the company's.

7. Follow up your communication:

The manager must solicit feedback in ascertaining whether the subordinate undertands the communique, is willing to comply with it, and them takes the appropriate action.

8. Communicate with the future, as well as the present in mind:

Most communications are designed to meet the demands of the current situation. However, they should be in accord with the long-range goals as well. For example, communique designed to improve performance or morale are valuable in handling present problems. Yet they also serve a useful future purpose by promoting long-run organization efficiency.

9. Be sure your action support your communication:

In the final analysis, the most persuasive kind of communication is not what you say but what you do. When a man's action or attitudes contradict his words, we tend to discount what he has said. For every manager this means that good supervisory practice--such as clear assignments of responsibility and authority, fair rewards for effort and sound policy enforcement--serve to communicate more than all the gifts of oratory.

10. Last, but by no means least: seek not only to understood but to understand--be a good listener:

When we start talking, we often cease to listen--in that larger sense of being attuned to the other persons unspoken reaction and attitudes. Even more serious is the fact that we are all guilty, at times, of inattentiveness when others are attempting to communicate to us. Listening is one of the most important, most difficult and most neglected skill--in communication. It demands that we concentrate not only on the explicit meaning another person is expressing, but on the implicit meanings, unspoken words and undertones that may be far more significant. Thus, we must learn to listen with the inner ear if we are to know the inner man.

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