Chapter 6: Communication

Whether it's your first day or your tenth anniversary on the job, communicating effectively with the people you work with is always crucial. Success in the workplace stems from effective communication. Canadian workplaces often observe that new hires lack of communication skills that make them successful in their jobs and in their workplaces.

Not all the workplaces have the same communication style in place. Moreover, employees within the same organization may have different approaches in term of communication styles. It will be up to you to find out what is the communication code in the organization you are about to make your first steps. By learning more about communication skills and its sub-skills you can identify your own level of skills, and learn how to improve them.

This chapter intents to  help you understand  the nature of communication in a work setting. We will explore  many facets of the communication skills that employers expect you to know. We will use some clips from the videos you have already watched in the previous chapters.

Knowing how and when to communicate effectively on the job requires you to use a number of skills including:

 

Knowing your audience;

 Being aware of tone and body language;

 Using  specialized workplace language;

Interrupting people at work;

Initiating communication;

Being aware of different ways  to communicate.

 

Knowing your audience and adapting your communication style to suit both the audience and the situation promotes effective communication. Failing to doing that may make the difference between being understood or being misunderstood.

The following  film clip presents a scenario where Tyrone, the young and inexperienced counter attendant at a busy restaurant and take-out counter, must use communication skills to deal with a difficult workplace situation and with an angry customer.

Watch the clip and pay attention to the way Tyrone communicates with Julia, the customer,  with the hope to appeal her sense of understanding.

It is possible to understand a person’s message without using words to communicate, simply by being a keen observer of body language.
 

Body language is a form of communication that expresses a lot of what we are feeling and thinking. Body language is always present, whether we are talking or not.

 
Paying attention to the influence of body language on how you communicate with others is one way to improve both oral and non-verbal communication skills.
 
Watch the following short clips from Tyrone and Quiet in the Set video, and think how you interpret what people are feeling or thinking by observing body language.
 

Specialized workplace language, or professional jargon, is the use of words, acronyms,or concepts  that are specific to a particular workplace.

Specialized language can be specific to the occupation or to the workplace itself and  make communication more efficient.

There is an expectation that people will use this specialized way of communication at work. However, specialized workplace language can also get in the way of communication.

 If you do not fully understand  some of the workplace language, then it is important to ask for clarification.

No one expects you to know all the jargon  or remeber all specified workpalce language when you are absorbing so much information.

Don't be concerned about looking less than professional if you don't know the jargon. The most direct way to learn is by asking.

Some workplaces require the use of more formal or specified language in all or in some circumstances.
 
Watch the following  short clip from Elma the Science, that is being held in a Lab scenario, where Elma used specified language when talking about the details of the work.
 

Initiating communication with co-workers and supervisors in order to better understand the job results in improved job productivity and effectiveness.
 

When you appoach a co-worker, be sure the person has a few minutes to spare, and offer to return at a more convenient time so that the person can focus on your question.

In the Elma the Science Temp video, notice how Elma initiates communication with Jim in order to find out more about his use of technical terminology. Watch the clip and see.

As a newcomer in the organization, you will have lots of questions about your new job. Moreover, you will need to interrupt people while they are working on other things.
 
How do you think is the best way to interrupt people  at work? Check this scenario and think about it.
 

Denise is new at work and she needs to ask several questions to her manager, Rob, who has his office beside hers. When she walks into his office, she starts asking him questions related to a project she is working on. Rob, a little puzzled said,” What are you saying, again? I am so focused on other things that it is hard for me to switch to other issues”.

 

Many times in the workplace you will need to interrupt co-workers while they are working on different things. In looking at interruption, it is important to determine whether something is important, urgent or both. Sometimes what it is important may not need immediately interruption while something that is urgent would be more likely to worth an interruption.

If you need to talk with co-workers who are busy working and need to stay focused on their jobs, the best thing to do is to ask them when it would be a good time to come back. You may also email them to know when they will be available.

It is also necessary to note that some interruptions are truly important. Time spent helping a co-worker who needs an answer to a business related questions, it is beneficial to the organization.

No matter which organization you are about to work, it is OK to ask questions and seek clarification and advice.

 

What is the right way to communicate at work? Check out this  scenario and think about it.
 

Kelly, a young worker, overslept this morning. She is running late for a meeting with her supervisor, Carol, is only a few years older than Kelly, but she is strict about the importance of being on time.

 

Kelly  doesn't know what to do when she realized that she would be late to the meeting. Listen to the following audio and see what Kelly decided to do as her first option.

 

Listen to the following audio to know another possibility Kelly could have done when she realized that she would be late.

Nowadays, there is not just one way to communicate with others as it is used to be long time ago when there weren't so many options. Today, if you want your message to be received, the best thing you can do is to present it in a way that the listener wants to hear it. 

What it is not a good answer is "not to contact Carol until you get to work". In option 1, Kelly avoided communicating with Carol to tell her that she will be late, because she was afraid of what carol could say.

The worse option is not to communicate to your supervisor that you are late or have made a mistake.

 As Kelly has done in the second option,  you need to think how people want to receive the message. It is not about your preferences when you need to communicate with others,  it is about others.  You may be used to texting your friends all the time, but it is not always the way others communicate and like receiving messages at work.  

You will need to figure it out how people at work like to communicate. You can observe, ask proactive questions and talk to others about preferred  ways of communicating.

This is the end of the Orientation- Learning at Work course. Hope this material has helped you to understand better workplace settings and employers expectations. All the best in your  journey!