Interpersonal communication
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Interpersonal communication is vital in the workplace as it facilitates the exchange of ideas, feelings, and information, affecting problem-solving, employee alignment with business goals, and trust among team members. Effective communication is essential for managing company culture, change management, and fostering personal relationships, all of which contribute to employee recognition and success. Employers must adapt communication methods for remote work and ensure clear, personalized channels to enhance engagement and information sharing.
Interpersonal communication
- 3. Introduction Interpersonal communication is the process of exchange of information, ideas and feelings between two or more people through verbal or non-verbal methods. It often includes face-to-face exchange of information, in a form of voice, facial expressions, body language and gestures. The level of one’s interpersonal communication skills is measured through the effectiveness of transferring messages to others. Commonly used interpersonal communication within an organization include daily internal employee communication, client meetings, employee performance reviews and project discussions. In communication in the workplaceaddition, online conversations today make a large portion of employees’ interpersonal communication in the workplace
- 4. The Importance of Interpersonal Communication in the Workplace Interpersonal skills are crucial for business success. Let’s now take a look into why interpersonal communication is crucial for your career development and productivity in the workplace. 1. Problem solving Interpersonal communication skills are necessary because they allow people to discuss problems and weigh the pros and cons of alternatives before coming up with the final solution. For example, brainstorming exercises are situations in which interpersonal communication comes into play as it is very important that everyone feels respected and free to share their voice, ideas and views.
- 5. 2. Alignment with business goals Poor communication between employers and employees can harm the business in many ways. When managers and leaders are unable to clearly communicate tasks, workers can quickly become frustrated and disconnected with business goals. Moreover, many employees say that their managers don’t give them clear directions and goals for their work. Therefore, managers should be able to, with proper online and offline communication as well as the right internal communication tools, continuously align employees with the business strategy.
- 6. 3. Trust According to the American Psychological Association, a quarter of employees in the US do not trust their employers, and only about 50% of them believe that their bosses are open with them. Lack of trust and transparency are some of the most common causes of poor workplace communication. Interpersonal communication skills are crucial for improving trust and workplace communication, and all employees, especially business leaders, should therefore improve communication with their employees.
- 7. 4. Change management Good interpersonal communication is very important during change management efforts within organizations. Effective employee communication helps employees better understand the change, align with it and collaboratively work towards implementing the change successfully. 5. Company culture Interpersonal relationships, especially when executed well, are important for an organizational culture to thrive. When employees possess good interpersonal communication skills, organizational culture becomes more synergic and positive. With bad interpersonal relationships, on the other hand, negativity, confusion, and conflicts become inevitable. This ultimately ruins the work environment, reduces employee productivity, and adversely affects the company's bottom line.
- 8. 6. Employee recognition Good interpersonal communication drives more employee recognition. When employees have good interpersonal relationships with each other and their managers, they are more likely to recognize each others’ good work and give constructive feedback. 7. Workplace miscommunication Managers who maintain professionalism, open workplace communication and a positive attitude are more likely to be seen as approachable by their employees. When employees feel like they can speak openly with decision-makers, workplace miscommunication, gossip and rumors are much less likely to happen.
- 9. 8. Personal relationships Interpersonal skills are extremely important for creating and maintaining meaningful personal relationships in the workplace. People with good interpersonal communication skills can, therefore, build healthy relationships with their colleagues and work much better as a team. 9. Effective management and leadership The ability to foster interpersonal relationships, establish trust and communicate clearly are all crucial skills for an effective leader. When a manager has poor interpersonal communication skills, they can expect to irritate and confuse employees. In fact, there is a greater need for managers to work on their interpersonal skills than there is for the average employee.
- 10. 10. Employee success Good interpersonal communication skills are also necessary for managers to help their employees do their jobs successfully. Leaders need to be able to pass on the right skills to the employees that will enable them to perform their tasks and achieve business goals. Moreover, they should be the ones to teach their employees interpersonal communication skills.
- 11. Interpersonal Communication and Remote Work The fact that remote work is becoming the new normal for many organization, also rises many questions around how to adapt workplace communications to this new situation. Even though interpersonal communication is often considered as an in-person communication, we all know that remote work is completely reshaping the way our employees communicate. In order to adapt to this new trend, employers are now looking for new ways to keep their workforce connected, engaged and well informed. Also, as many employees are now experiencing extensive information overload, employers need to understand that, when it comes to internal communications, one size does not fit all.
- 12. They need to have a very good understanding about how internal communications channels are used, and they need to have the knowledge around how to make communication more personalized based on employees' locations, languages spoken, titles and responsibilities and well as employees interests. Many are, therefore, implementing new, modern employee communication solutions that serve as a central place for keeping remote, blue collar as well as in- office employees together, as well as for driving meaningful, two-way company conversations on a daily basis.
- 13. 6 Elements of Interpersonal Communication The communicators Term communicator refers to both the sender of the information as well as the receiver. In interpersonal communication, there are at least two communicators involved in the conversation. The message One of the most important parts of interpersonal communication is the message. Message can be conveyed in many ways: speech, body language, tone of voice, gestures and other indicators.. Noise Noise refers to the gap between the message that is received and what it sent. Examples of noise include jargon, language barriers, inattention and more. Noise is the problem that many companies face in the workplace, and the reason why internal communicators are struggling to get the necessary employees’ attention.
- 14. Feedback Feedback is the response of the receiver. In other words, it’s the message sent back to the sender. Feedback is important because it allows the sender to know whether the message has been received and interpreted correctly. Context Whether a message is received and interpreted correctly depends mostly on context. Therefore, interpersonal communication is contextual. Context is about the environmental factors that influence the outcomes of communication. These include time and place, as well as factors like family relationships, gender, culture, personal interest and the environment Channel Finally, this interpersonal communication element refers to how the communication occurs. A message is sent and received through a specific channel, or medium. Besides face-to-face communication, some of the most common communication channels in the workplace include, emails and intranets. Identifying and understanding the performance of those communication channels is extremely important for employers. 30-percent-of-employees-don’t-read-emails-from-their-employersAs the communication ecosystem in the workplace is becoming extremely complex, and communication channels such as email are becoming more and more inefficient, companies are now looking for ways to consolidate all those channels into a single communication platform.
- 15. 10 Must-Have Interpersonal Communication Skills Communication – oral, speaking capability, written, presenting, listening Courtesy – manners, etiquette, business etiquette, gracious, says please and thank you, respectful Flexibility – adaptability, willing to change, lifelong learner, accepts new things, adjusts, teachable Integrity – honest, ethical, high morals, has personal values Interpersonal skills – nice, personable, sense of humour, friendly, empathetic, positive
- 16. Attitude – optimistic, enthusiastic, encouraging, happy, confident Professionalism – businesslike, poised Responsibility – accountable, reliable, gets the job done, resourceful, self- disciplined, common sense Teamwork – gets along with others, agreeable, supportive, helpful, collaborative Work Ethic – hard working, loyal, initiative, self-motivated, on time
- 17. Thank you