By Terrie Johnson | UAB Community Health & Human Services Intern
Effective communication greatly influences people’s day-to-day relationships. However, many individuals pay little attention to elements like tone, voice, and non-verbal expressions that allow one to communicate efficiently. Oftentimes, people forget that communication is a two-way activity involving speaking and listening. How people communicate influences the quality of relationships in marriages, friendships, and the workplace.
People must communicate effectively in all their encounters to handle conflicts better and develop self-awareness. Effective communication allows individuals to manage disagreements better in all relationships at personal and professional levels by enabling a person to understand both sides of the problem (Touitou, 2020). Many conflicts often result from miscommunications or failure to hear the other person’s viewpoint. Nevertheless, allowing everyone to explain their view makes it easy to prevent disagreements. In addition, it creates self-awareness as one learns to become more attentive and understanding. In short, practicing effective communication allows people to recognize their emotions and how they impact the communication process.
A person can practice effective communication through active listening, paying attention to body language, and focusing on clarity. Active listening allows one to show the other party their interest in the conversation and can be practiced by asking relevant questions about a topic. Paying attention to body language enables one to understand non-verbal cues. Lastly, a speaker should be clear and concise to avoid confusion. These strategies have been put in place to help individuals become effective communicators within friendships, relationships and the workplace.
References
Paper presented at PMI® Research Conference: Defining the Future of Project Management, Washington, DC. Newtown Square, PA: Project Management Institute. Touitou, T. C. (2020). Communication, conflict and crisis management. European Journal of Business and Management Research, 5(4). https://doi.org/10.24018/ejbmr.2020.5.4.251
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