The word ‘Communication’ is derived from a Latin Word ‘Communis’ which means a common platform of understanding. Communication is a process of transmission of ideas, emotions, feelings, expressions and information between two or more people. For the process of communication to take place, we at least need two persons – A Sender and A Receiver. But that is not enough. Imagine there are two persons in a room but, both of them are not willing to communicate. In this case, communication will never take place. Thus we can understand that for communication to take place, there should be a willingness to communicate from either of the sides, i.e. the sender and the receiver. The sender should have some information which he or she wants to communicate to the receiver. At the same time, the receiver should be in the frame of mind to receive what sender is sending. The person who is sender now becomes the receiver alternatively. We need to ensure that, there is always an action taking place at the receiver’s end. This comes back in the form of a feedback. Feedback is very important, because it helps in overcoming ambiguity if any. Feedbacks are given not to humiliate or insult someone but to make him or her understand the lacuna so that he or she can make improvements on the same. Always remember that critics are more keen observers than your fan club.
People often misinterpret Communication to fluency in English. We need to understand that English is only a language. Fluency in English does not make you an effective communicator. Yes, fluency in English language is always appreciated. But we can’t equate fluency in English language to the knowledge of an individual. A person fluent in English may not be an effective communicator if the target audience is from a Non-English background. For becoming an effective communicator, it is very important that you are able to reach the target audience and able to make the audience understand what you actually wanted to communicate. That is irrespective of the language you use. It can be verbal or non-verbal, written or oral, pictorial or animated, gentle or bold, polite or rude, request or order, etc. But the most important characteristics of an effective communicator is that he or she must have the ability to reach the target audience and make the audience understand what is there in his or her mind. The mode of communication also creates a huge impact.
Communication to be effective depends on several factors and not only fluency in English. We should be ready to answer all the WH questions like –
- What do you want to communicate?
- Whom do you want to communicate?
- Where do you want to communicate?
- Why do you want to communicate?
- By Whom do you want to communicate?
Here I would like to discuss few factors which a communicator needs to keep in mind while making his communication effective. The communication should create make an impact on the target audience. Hence we need to remember the following points in mind while communicating.
1. Target Audience
Whom are we communicating with? Who is our target audience? This is very important as we need to fine tune our message as per the audience. That’s why it is very important to understand the audience first. Are we communicating with children, teen agers, adults, Senior Citizens etc. needs to be understood. The same message needs to be tweaked as per the audience. Moreover the message should also reach the decision maker of the family. For example – Decisions regarding baby food is mostly taken care by the mother in the family. The grocery is taken care by the lady in the family. Even in some men’s products like shaving gel or bathing soap it is the women in the family who decides for her husband and family. If mother-in-law requires knee oil, the lady in the family remembers that as she purchases the entire grocery for the family. Males in the family have a minimal role of may be footing the bill at the counter.
2. Level of Education
We also need to understand the level of education of the respondent. It may happen that the respondent does not know English and we are trying to show our smartness by speaking fluently in English. It may happen that by doing so, we may lose a potential customer or a client. Hence we need to take utmost care of the receiver. First thing is we must make the receiver comfortable so that he or she responds. Voice plays a vital role in telephonic communication because the receiver is only able to listen to your voice. Hence, language, voice modulation, pitch of the voice plays a vital role. Not only this, the way you pick up a call is also very important. The way you say ‘Hello’ or basic etiquettes like, Good Morning to you Sir or Madam, How can I help you? also plays a vital role. Basic manners and etiquettes are always important when we communicate. I doesn’t matter how qualified you are, but nobody likes people who show arrogance and attitude. Your behaviour and communication skill comes first. Later is your body, physique and your qualification etc. Hence always be humble and answer the calls with basic manners and etiquettes. It matters a lot and really makes a difference.
3. Level of Understanding
The level of understanding differs from person to person. All fingers are not equal. There are active learners and there are slow learners as well. This does not mean that slow learners don’t understand. They may take more time to understand. Some people become more mature at a very tender age may be because of circumstances. Others don’t become mature and may behave in a childish manner even at an older age. Hence it is important to understand the level of understanding of the people before we communicate with him or her. For Example: Children become happy when a Dad or Mom brings A Birthday Cake on his or her Birthday. The child understands that my parents love me and hence he or she is celebrating my birthday.
4. Background of the Receiver
The cultural background of the receiver also plays a vital role. If you speak in his or her language the receiver feels more comfortable and opens up. On the other hand if your try to convince in your own English language, he or she may be reluctant and may walk away from your store. For Example: I wanted to buy a black pair of shoes and went to Bata Shop. Initially, after going through the offers and the behaviour of a sales man I thought I should go to a different shop. Suddenly another sales man who was a Bengali guy, came to me and started communicating with me in Bangla and helped me in getting the pair of shoes I was looking forward to buy. Thus he understood my background and made me feel comfortable and was able to sell the pair of shoes to me.
5. Mental Level and Level of Maturity
The mental level of the sender as well as the receiver also plays a vital role in communication. If the sender is very happy, he or she will interact with the receiver happily. On the other hand, if the receiver is unhappy, he or she may not respond with the same vigor. Mature people respond differently and immature people respond differently. Hence, one needs to be vigilant while communicating with people of different maturity level. The message which we need to communicate will have to be fine tuned as per the maturity of the people. For Example: Mature people are more magnanimous and will not misinterpret the message or may not react if the sender has made the mistakes. He or she will ensure that the message gets corrected and reach the target audience properly. They will ensure that gravity of the information is not diluted. On the other hand, immature people may behave abruptly and may react immediately without comprehending the message.
6. Types of Messages and Its Urgency
If we want to communicate something urgently, we can communicate the same using whatsapp message. This is because it is readily available and majority of the people use whatsapp now. Hence the message can be communicated immediately and has an immediate reach. If the message is short and crisp, it reaches in the nick of the time. Sensitive messages need to be communicated with ultimate caution. For Example: If a teacher wants to communicate the information about a meeting it can be communicated through Whatsapp message. This becomes easy, because students may not have a laptop but will definitely have a smart phone.
7. Media of Communication – Print Media, Electronic Media, Digital Media
The right choice of media of communication is also very important. Which media to use where is very crucial. Based on the type of audience you have and the message you want to communicate, you can use Print Media, Electronic Media or Digital Media. When the information is printed it can be stored for a longer time. Today even things are stored electronically through cloud technology and we can retrieve the data as and when we want. We communicate through videos, and small films and these have a deeper impact. This is the reason lot of YouTube videos are used to communicate the information.
8. Geographical Area – Rural Area or Urban Area
When we want to communicate a message in rural area, the approach has to be different. We can go and talk to the Sarpanch of the village, can use wall posters or may be paint on the walls to communicate the message. The message has to be in the colloquial language. This is because people will be able to understand and relate easily. For Example: If we want to communicate about family planning or about AIDs disease, the message has to be very properly drafted. In the same manner if we want to educate about blood donation and its importance. We will have to educate the people through proper seminars and workshops and communicate accordingly. It is easy to communicate in the urban cities as the platforms of communication are many. But we need to remember the customer reach and which platform will create immediate impact is more important to be kept in mind.
9. Ambience
The service scape also communicates a lot. We all love going to shopping malls and multiplexes to watch movies. This is because we love the ambience. We love the service scape where the service is delivered. The Auditorium where the movie is being shown is very plush and vibrant. The atmosphere is very positive. The shopping malls are fully air-conditioned and the ambience is also very positive. If we talk about organized retail shops, the products are properly stacked and kept on various shelves. Here also the customers go and enjoy shopping. The customers are communicated with various offers, discounts and takeaways. Thus the service scape gives us a wonderful experience and we learnt a lot through experience. Thus communication takes place here also.
10. Dress Code
In professional world, dress code is given importance. Dress Code is important because it shows uniformity and equality. There is no discrimination. All are treated as one. The dress code may differ based on the profile in the organization but it depicts the rank of the people and provide clarity of thought. Dress Code depicts that we are in the Corporate World. One must dress elegantly in the organization as it gives a lot of confidence. You look smart and full with confidence. Hence Dress Code also communicates a lot about you and your identity.
Thus to conclude, in a nut shell it can be said only fluency in English is not enough for effective communication. We are being observed and that it why at every touch point we communicate in various ways and through various ways. So what I want to convey is let’s become an effective communicator and not mere an English Language speaker. Communication is far beyond English Language and we need to understand the same.
Written By:
Dr. Abhishek Mukherjee
Asst. Professor & Program Head – MBA-IB
MITWPU School of Management (PG)
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