How effective communication skills improve your working life

Many things in life are as much about how you convey them as what you’re trying to convey in the first place. Something as simple as the difference in tone when saying, “Nice job,” can be seen as extremely validating, a brutal put-down or anything in between.

For that reason, communication skills are highly valuable not only in your everyday life, but especially in a professional setting. Employers will routinely list communication at or near the top of their “most wanted” lists for any job candidate, especially when discussing soft skills. However, if you already have a job, doing more to build up your toolbox of communication skills will still serve you well. Here’s why:

Bonding with co-workers

There are plenty of TV shows and movies that have explored this theme endlessly, but you often spend nearly as much time with the people at your office as with your loved ones at home. For that reason, it’s vital to have a great relationship with them, and effective communication skills are part and parcel with doing so.

That means not only being able to get along with your co-workers, but also listening to their needs and empathising with them on any number of work-related stresses that are no doubt going to arise over your years on the job.

Conveying your needs

While it can be easy to see your work responsibilities as dealing with an endless stream of requests or demands on your time and attention, there’s more give-and-take than you may realise. If you are able to effectively communicate your needs or concerns to co-workers who are collaborating with you on a project, or to your supervisors, you may find that many of the stresses of the job are a bit more manageable.

Impressing your bosses or clients

People who are effective communicators tend to be better-liked than those who are not. When you want to make an impression with a new co-worker, your boss, or some of your company’s clients, being able to convey your ideas confidently while also listening to what they have to say is an excellent way to do so.

Feeling more confident in everything you do

Public speaking is often listed among the top fears most people have, and it’s easy to understand why. But when you have communication skills you can rely on – from speaking in a clear tone of voice, making solid eye contact with one person or a room full of them, and so on – the nerves around giving a presentation or otherwise keeping the attention of someone on the other side of a conversation will boost your confidence immeasurably.

Better management skills

If you are already a manager, more effective communication skills are a must to better gain the confidence and respect of your team. As an added bonus, however, these tools might also help make your team more productive because everyone will know exactly what is expected of them and feel more confident coming to you if they need any additional clarification. By extension, that will also make you look like a better manager to your own overseers.

Handling adversity

In just about any professional setting, unforeseen problems are going to arise. Communication skills will help you handle any of these problems with ease, by more effectively sharing information with pertinent parties in a timely fashion and giving you more confidence to tackle the issues.

To learn more about the ways you can boost any of these professional communication skills, get in touch with the Institute for Communication Management and Leadership today.