Effective Communication

Definition: Effective communication is a process of exchanging ideas, thoughts,

knowledge and information such that the purpose or intention is fulfilled in the best
possible manner. In simple words, it is nothing but the presentation of views by the
sender in a way best understood by the receiver.
We can say that it generally involves;
Sender: The person who initiates the process of communication by sending a message;
Receiver: The one to whom the message is to be delivered.
 
Effective Communication
1. Characteristics
2. skills 
3. significance
4. barriers
 
Characteristics of Effective Communication
Just delivering a message is not enough; it must meet the purpose of the sender.
Keeping this in mind, let us discuss the elements which make communication effective:

 Clear Message: The message which the sender wants to convey must be simple,
easy to understand and systematically framed to retain its meaningfulness.
 Correct Message: The information communicated must not be vague or false in any
sense; it must be free from errors and grammatical mistakes.
 Complete Message: Communication is the base for decision making. If the
information is incomplete, it may lead to wrong decisions.
 Precise Message: The message sent must be short and concise to facilitate
straightforward interpretation and take the desired steps.
 Reliability: The sender must be sure from his end that whatever he is conveying is
right by his knowledge. Even the receiver must have trust on the sender and can
rely on the message sent.
 Consideration of the Recipient: The medium of communication and other physical
settings must be planned, keeping in mind the attitude, language, knowledge,
education level and position of the receiver.
 Sender’s Courtesy: The message so drafted must reflect the sender’s courtesy,
humbleness and respect towards the receiver.
Effective Communication Skills
Conveying a message effectively is an art as well as a skill developed after continuous
practice and experience. The predetermined set of skills required for an influential
communication process are as follows:

 Observance: A person must possess sharp observing skills to gain more and more
knowledge and information.
 Clarity and Brevity: The message must be drafted in simple words, and it should
be clear and precise to create the desired impact over the receiver.
 Listening and Understanding: The most crucial skill in a person is he must be a
good, alert and patient listener. He must be able to understand and interpret the
message well.
 Emotional Intelligence: A person must be emotionally aware and the ability to
influence others from within.
 Self-Efficacy: Also, he/she must have faith in himself and his capabilities to achieve
the objectives of communication.
 Self-Confidence: Being one of the essential communication skills, confidence
enhances the worthiness of the message being delivered.
 Respectfulness: Delivering a message with courtesy and respecting the values,
believes, opinions and ideas of the receiver is the essence of effective
communication.
 Non-Verbal Communication: To connect with the receiver in a better way, the
sender must involve the non-verbal means communication too. These include
gestures, facial expressions, eye contact, postures, etc.
 Selection of the Right Medium: Choice of the correct medium for communication is
also a skill. It is necessary to select an appropriate medium according to the
situation, priority of the message, the receiver’s point of view, etc.
 Providing Feedback: Effective communication is always a two-way process. A
person must take as well as give feedback to bring forward the other person’s
perspective too.
Significance of Effective Communication in Business
You must be wondering, what is the role of effective communication in business (Links
to an external site.)? To answer this question, let us understand the following
importance of effective business communication (Links to an external site.):
Employee Management: Effective communication ensures self-discipline and efficient
management since the employees are heard by the top management, and there is open
communication in the organisation.
Team Building (Links to an external site.): People in the organisation work as a team to
accomplish common goals, thus effective communication boosts the morale of the
whole team.
Growth of the Organization: It ensures better decision making, intensifies public
relations (Links to an external site.) and enhances problem-solving ability. All this leads
to corporate growth and development.
Build Strong Relationships: Interactions often simplify things; they positively motivate
the employees to perform better and maintain long-term relations with others in the
organisation.
Ascertain Transparency and Develops Trust: Effective communication is considered
to be a base for building trust and assures sharing of complete information.
Facilitates Creativity and Innovation: It creates an environment where employees are
free to share their ideas by exploring their creative and innovative side.
Reduces Misunderstanding: Effective communication eliminates the possibility of
confusion and misunderstanding by conveying the message clearly and appropriately.
Organisational Growth: By maintaining cordial relations between the employees and
the management, it enhances the functioning and leads to the achievement of corporate
goals and objectives.
Barriers to Effective Communication
There are certain obstacles which sometimes hinder the process of communication,
making it less useful for the sender as well as the receiver. These barriers are
categorised under three groups. Let us understand these in detail below:
Barriers Involving Words
Words play an essential role in the process of communication. Any disturbance or
distraction in the way a message is presented may lead to miscommunication.
Following are the different types of communication barriers related to words:

 Language: It is a medium of communication. If the sender is making excessive use

of technical terms, it will become difficult for the receiver to understand the message
clearly.
 Ambiguity and Overuse of Abstractions: Even if the message is presented in a
non-realistic or vague context involving a lot of notions, the receiver won’t be able to
connect with the idea properly.
 Disorganised Message: When the words are not organised systematically to form a
powerful message, it loses its efficiency and meaning.
 Information Overload: The effectiveness of communication reduces when a person
keeps on speaking for an extended period. Thus, leading to the receiver’s
exhaustion, who won’t be able to keep track of everything that is conveyed.
Barriers Involving People’s Background
People belong to different backgrounds, i.e., culture, education level, gender, etc. These
attributes majorly affect the efficiency of the communication process. It involves the
following related obstacles:

 Attitudinal Differences: At times, people are resistant to understand or change

their mind when they have set their views about a particular topic. Their attitude
obstructs meeting the purpose of the communication.
 Demographic Differences: The difference in age, generation, gender, status,
tradition, etc., creates a lack of understanding among people and thus, hinders the
process of communication.
 Lack of Common Experience or Perspective: The experiences of a person
develops their perspective of seeing things in a particular way. This perspective
varies from person to person. Therefore, it becomes difficult for a receiver to relate
with the sender’s experience or views as he might have never gone through it
himself.
 Jumping to Conclusions: Some people lack the patience of listening to others and
often jump to conclusions between the communication, thus neglecting the motive of
the message.
Physical Barriers
These barriers can be experienced directly but challenging to overcome. These include:

 Physical Distance: When people communicate over long distances, they miss out
the non-verbal aspect of communication, since the gestures and expressions of the
receiver cannot be interpreted.
 Noise: The environment or the communication system sometimes involve unwanted
noise which interrupts the process of communication making it inefficient.
 Physiological Barriers: One of the most common barriers to effective
communication is the physical disability of the people involved. Some of these are
hearing impairment, poor eyesight, stammering, etc.
Thus, we can say that the significant purpose of communication is to pass on the
information to the receiver in such a manner that it does not lose its significance. At the
same time, the message must be received in its purest form.