How Can Communication Be Improved?

Improvement in communication should be an ongoing goal for managers especially due to the vital role it plays in organizations.

Effective communication requires that meaning must be transmitted and understood. The responsibility for communication rests upon management as they are the people in charge of the enterprise. In a business enterprise, knowledge of the area of business e.g. of the products, skills of doing the job and time are vital for communication. A person incharge of selling a product must for instance have a thorough knowledge of the product, must have selling skills and presentation skills.

Both the sender and the receiver of the message can improve communication.

What the sender can do to improve communication:

    1. (a)    Clarify ideas before communicating
        (b)    Examine the purpose of communication

    2.    Remove hierarchical barriers

Status differences in organizations can limit the effectiveness of communication between superiors and subordinates—this creates a psychological distance which makes employees filter the information they give to management, withholding any information they feel is distasteful.

    3.    Remove interpersonal barriers

Communication is an interpersonal process, interpersonal barriers such as distrust, defensiveness, and domination hinder open communication.

    4.    Be sensitive to the receiver's perspective

The communicator should be empathetic to the receiver i.e. be able to put himself in the shoes of the receiver.

    5.    Develop and maintain credibility

Credibility is usually measured by one's expertise on the subject matter being communicated.

    6.    Support words with action.

    7.    Avoid information overload

i.e. giving employees more information than they can handle or process. A gate keeper could be used to screen the information, or filtering and prioritising of information could help reduce overload.

    8.    Avoid information underload

        Giving too little information, this often leads to employee dissatisfaction.

    9.    Be a good listener

Effective communication takes place only when the sender is satisfied with the receiver’s response.