Effective Communication

Paper Summary:

This paper notes that effective communication, in oral and written form, is essential to the success of both personal and business relationships. However, despite the importance of communication, managers and leaders often overlook it or make false assumptions in this regard. In this paper, the writer examines the relevance of effective communication and looks at its importance in the workplace. The writer maintains that it is essential that managers and leaders know how to communicate effectively. They must understand the difference between hearing and listening, how to prepare employees for effective listening, be able to identify barriers to communication, and understand how diversity in the workforce affects communication. The writer concludes that today's managers and leaders have the benefit of the many courses and conferences dedicated to discussing and teaching effective communication and it is well-worth their time and money to improve those skills.

Outline:
Importance of Effective Communication
Listening
Barriers to Communication
Diversity and Communication
Wrapping it Up

From the Paper:

"What might be intended as a joke could be misunderstood and taken as an insult. The misunderstanding could not only create tension in the workplace, but could also be the cause of a lawsuit--the organization loses money and damages its reputation.
"Another consideration regarding diversity and communication is motivation. Not everyone is motivated by the same factors. A manager or leader cannot effectively communicate with an employee if he doesn't understand what motivates that individual. Some people are motivated by pay and others value more intrinsic rewards. A manager would not be effective if he offered that individual a pay increase for a job that the he didn't feel to be valuable in the sense of personal accomplishment. Communicating to the employee on the employee's level is a far more effective form of motivation."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Carole Grau, & Jennifer Grau. (Summer 2003). New Communication Demands of the 21st Century Workplace. Listening Professional, 2(1), 3-19. Retrieved December 11, 2005, from http://search.epnet.com/login.aspx?direct+true$authtype+ip,cookie,url,uid&db+ufh&an+11588510
• Hay Insight (Series Ed.). (Nov-Dec 2005). Why Communication is so Important? Healthcare Executive, 20(6), 59. Retrieved December 8, 2005, from http://library3.webster.edu/login?url=http://search.epnet.com/login.aspx?direct=true&authtype=ip,cookie,url,ubid&db&an=18709136
• John A. Kline. (April 1996). Listening Effectively. [Kline describes the importance of good listening in a variety of settings, from life-and-death situations to everyday situations. He points out that good listening requires considerable effort but is well worth it.]. Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama: Air University Pres.
• Matti Hayry. (2005, October). A Defense of Shallow Listening. Bioethics, 19(October 2005), 565-567. Retrieved December 11, 2005, from http://ssrn.com/abstract=830153
• Nancy R. Lockwood. (June 2005). Workplace Diversity: Leveraging the Power of Difference for Competitive Advantage. SHRM Online, (June 2005). Retrieved December 1, 2005, from http://www.shrm.org/research.quarterly/2005/0605rquart_essay.asp

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