The ability to express oneself adequately, considering the main components of a communicative situation such as the type of rapport between communicators, their cultural backgrounds, individual peculiarities, and setting, is of immense significance. Nowadays, with the expansion of social media, the net of relationships that an average person is engaged in is extending. Thus, the problems of mutual understanding and managing interactions grow accordingly. Even though communicative skills to a certain degree are formed during childhood and depend on factors that may be out of a person’s control, assessing oneself and putting conscious effort into enhancing this competence is a rewarding task.
Soft skills training is a part of the general curriculum for all types of professionals, especially those whose line of work includes the need to transmit information with enhanced efficiency. Nevertheless, the employers’ complaints about underdeveloped communication skills from recently graduated employees are seemingly common (Sri Mulyani & Supartono, 2017). As estimating a problem is the first step in solving it, choosing the right instrument to assess students’ competence is a part of the improvement process. As Vleutena et al. notice (2019), “the most authentic assessment is direct observation in real clinical practice” (p. 2112). Even though precise and comprehensive assessment of communicative skills requires monitoring, less laborious, and thus less exact methods also exist. MindTools provides a quick quiz that consists of fifteen questions with five possible answers that reflect gradation of the frequency of a specific approach used in communicative situations (Mind Tools Content Team, n. d.). The score varies from fifteen to seventy-five, where the higher score correlates with a higher level of competence. The quiz allows one to be provided with estimation swiftly and acquire basic comprehension of one’s strengths and weaknesses.
The results of the quiz showed a certain level of communicative competence with the need to focus on receiving and sending messages more effectively. MindTools revealed that in my case, the crux of the problem was planning and crafting the content delivery. Allocating time to the estimation of what, when, and how the content of a communicative act is to be conveyed is helpful to construct a more efficient dialogue. Talking more is not the best way to cover a specific topic, and this strategy only results in confusion on the part of the audience or interlocutor. Choosing the right channel is another component with which I may sometimes struggle. Considering that the medium may be as important as its message, deciding on a channel is a crucial point that may establish effective communication or hinder it (Baack, 2012). Moreover, for effective communication, it is essential not only to be able to transmit thoughts and ideas accordingly but also to be able to listen, hear, and understand what the interlocutor is talking about.
Various areas of communication require specific training strategies in order to improve them. The training in the field of written communication, seemingly, is one of the higher value for those who want to pursue a career in media and communication. According to Moore and Morton (2015), “written communication is typically identified as a highly requisite skill area in the professional workplace, but one that graduates are often thought to be lacking in” (p. 4). Building written communication skill is a process that requires extensive training, which mainly lies in the process of writing itself. Additionally, acquiring new writing strategies, discovering editing tools, and practicing may be a part of additional training. Visual communication is another area that seems to be slightly neglected and necessitate complementary efforts. Presentations and emphasizing further the visual aspect of work could be a supplementary training component.
Communication skills and employability appear to correlate directly – the compulsory mentioning of great listening and negotiating skills in a large portion of resumes may serve as confirmation. In this way, improving my current competencies in this area is a necessary step in order to be able to advance in my profession. Developing an effective communication skill set is a continuous enterprise, a search for perfection that takes time – viewing the gaps in one’s knowledge is the beginning of this undertaking. The quiz provided by MindTools allows seeing the issue more clearly, and it provides feedback on what and how can be improved. Understanding the reason for the specific communicative act, the audience’s of interlocutors’ mood, setting, reaction that followed, and constructing the message accordingly is one of the first steps. Seeking feedback, reflecting, reviewing, and taking detailed notes on what could have been done better with emphasis on positive outcomes after communication is over is another great way to develop communicative competencies.
The success of a professional largely depends on their ability to network, establish contacts, and present ideas and knowledge appropriately – all of which constitute an effective communication skill set. The inability to interact constructively with customers, employees, and colleagues may eclipse one’s hard skills and possibilities of promotion. Thus, the focus on this skill set that invites one to assume a number of varying roles may be viewed as a career investment.
References
Baack, D. (2012). Management Communication (10th ed.). Bridgepoint Education.
Mind Tools Content Team. (n.d.). How good are your communication skills?. MindTools.
Moore, T., & Morton, J. (2015). The myth of job readiness? Written communication, employability, and the “skills gap” in higher education. Studies in Higher Education, 1–21.
Sri Mulyani, S., & Supartono, H. (2017). Enhancing students’ communication skills through problem posing and presentation. International Journal of Evaluation and Research in Education, 6(1), 17–22.
Vleutena, C. V. D., Eertweghb, V. V. D, & Giroldia, E. (2019). Assessment of communication skills. Patient Education and Counseling, 102(11), 2110-2113.