What
Are the Most Beneficial Communication Skills?
From
a Business Perspective
Communication is the key to any professional or personal
relationship. Communication allows us to
relay our thoughts and ideas to others, as well as build friendships and make
connections. The gift of exchanging
messages is a powerful tool when harnessed the correct way; and can be
detrimental to our mission or goal if the proper skills aren’t
implemented. As Bovee and Thill (2010)
put it, “communication is effective only when the intended message is
understood and when it stimulates desired actions or encourages the audience to
think in new ways,” meaning that effective
communication is what will yield the greatest benefits. In order to effectively communicate in my
professional life there are several essential skills that I must develop and
use properly. If I fail at all in utilizing
the skills I’m about to discuss, I could stipend or even cripple my career.
In my current profession as a battalion Judge Advocate
General (JAG) Corps representative, there are several skills that I must
utilize in order to remain productive and contribute positively to my team. The first essential skill is my commitment to
ethical communication. Ethical
communication involves disclosing all the information available to concerned
parties, not “doctoring” the information to make it appear differently to serve
a certain end and to be truthful. Being
ethical builds the trust and confidence of those you are communicating with, and
even more so, being unethical potentially destroys relationships on both a
personal and professional level. Some
examples of unethical communications are, plagiarizing, selective misquoting,
misrepresentation of statistics or numbers and the distorting of visuals such as
graphs or charts. With the International
Security Assistance Forces’ (ISAF) efforts in Afghanistan being enormously
placed on the foundation of building strong relationships and partnerships with
the Afghan government and its people, ethical communication is extremely vital
in ensuring those partnerships are long lasting and positive. As well as ethical communication with the
Government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan (GIROA), ethical
communication is equally important within ISAF.
If a commander of a certain battle space, say ours which is in Paktiya
province, were to distort information on the developments in the province in
order to “look good,” resources could be misallocated and the entirety of the
mission in Afghanistan could be negatively affected.
Another essential communication skill is to have
intercultural sensitivity. With
contemporary business being increasingly abroad, and especially in the military
where almost every mission we perform is in partnership with other nations,
being both aware and sensitive to cultural differences is paramount. In many cultures, especially in southern
Afghanistan, there are many specific ways that disrespect or rudeness can be
displayed that are very different from our culture. For example, refusing food or drink from an
Afghan while in their home or at a meeting they called is considered saying, “you
are not my equal, therefore I am too good to break bread with you.” In America, one could simply not be hungry or
thirsty and no one would bat an eye or take it as a sign of disrespect. So, when dealing with a person from a
different culture it is important to learn how respect is communicated in their
culture and then be sure to display it.
Another tactic is to look for similarities between your cultures and
emphasize them, which will make both parties feel more comfortable. Another big thing is to look beyond the
superficial differences in your cultures.
A village elder in Paktiya or Khost province in Afghanistan will most likely be wearing
robes, be unshaven and probably coated in dust.
This is the appearance of someone of low stature where we come from but
in Afghanistan it is common place. This
man is most likely well educated, well spoken and quite wealthy according to
their standards and it is important to show him the respect he expects to receive
when dealing with him. These differences
are true of many cultures and are ones that anyone involved in business abroad
will likely face.
This next
communication skill is the most important, in my opinion. The ability to give and receive feedback is
the only sure way to grow and develop.
No one is perfect, and inevitably I am going to encounter a situation
where I will communicate something ineffectively or perhaps even if I observe
someone else communicating ineffectively.
If the situation is dealt with constructive criticism and the party
receiving the feedback takes it without any bias they will be a better
communicator because of it. The best
ways to offer feedback are by being specific, discussing improvements rather
than flaws and to keep the feedback impersonal.
In the Army, after training events, classes and live missions we do what
is call and After Action Review or AAR.
During the AAR, we as a team (everyone involved) discusses how the event
went by offering and agreeing upon 3 positives and 3 improvements. This way, the unit as a whole as well as the
leader gets to see how the event was received positively, and in what ways they
could improve for the next time. This
constructive feedback is an essential part of the overall success of our
mission and our ability to adapt to an ever-shifting situation.
By utilizing those three essential business communication
skills, I will be able to effectively communicate my messages to whoever my audience
may be. The benefits I will obtain are tangible and extremely
valuable. By using these skills in my
professional life, I will see problems solved faster and more efficiently,
stronger decisions and much stronger relationships. Communication is the key to business and
really any mission that we undertake that involves any type of team, the key to
communication is using it effectively.
