How to Improve Communication Skills in the Workplace

Communication:- According to Brown "communication is the process of transmitting ideas or thoughts from one person to another to create understanding in the thinking of the persons receiving the communication". The oxford advances Learner's Dictionary defines the word communication as the activity or process of expressing ideas and feelings or of giving people information. In brief, communication is the act of transferring ideas or news from one person to another.

Technical communication:- Technical communication means, the transmission of facts, figures, ideas, and all sorts of scientific and technical information from one individual to another. It may be spoken as well as written. The technocrats may conduct their professional jobs sometimes through oral communication which is performed through speech while sometimes written communication which depends on the written words becomes necessary. Hence, the technologist has to be proficient in both types of technical communication oral as well as written.

• Language works as a tool of communication; it is a well-established fact that effective communication is made possible with the help of language. We do not have to be a linguist to acquire good language skills. However, a basic knowledge of the theory of language will certainly help us to understand the intricacies of writing and speaking clearly. When we try to define the language, the first thing that comes to mind is words. Language employs a combination of words to communicate ideas in a meaningful way. By changing the order of the words in a sentence, you can change its meaning and even make it meaningless. When language first came into being,  a community of people agreed to represent a certain object or idea by a specific sound or symbol. In fact, most words evoke certain meanings because people have agreed that the words or symbols represent specific meanings. Thus, language is directly dependent on people and cannot exist in isolation. It arouses out of the human beings become more interdependent and complex language came into being of course, though it is accepted that language is universal, it cannot be denied that it is also specific to the individual when we use it, we reflect our personality and our thoughts.

• Effective methods of professional communication:-

• Use of Familiar and easy words:- In professional communications, instead of abstract words, familiar words should be used. Technical writing does not require verbose style or circumlocution. Hence, the writer should not use too many words where few would do since evasive talk will divert the attention of the writer as well as of the reader from the main point.
• Use clear sentences:- The writer should place the main idea at the outset. He should follow normal word order, subject, verb, object. In this word order, the first sentence is the topic sentence in which the main idea is presented.
• Use of active voice:- In the sentences written in active voice, the performance of the action is more emphasized than the receiver, i.e. subject is more emphasized than the object. The active voice, therefore, helps the readers to comprehend ideas more easily.
• Use of sentences of moderate length:- Experts think that sentences should be of moderate length. Too much short or too many long sentences make the writings either too simple or too difficult, sentences of 13 to 28 should be written.
• Avoid inaccurate expression:- Precision and accuracy are two important features of personal communication. The inaccurate expression may lead to obscurity that will ultimately mar the purpose of professional communication.
• Logical division of paragraph:- To make professional communication clear and meaningful, thoughts should be properly arranged into different paragraphs. A paragraph is, generally, defines as a unit of thought hence a single idea must be conveyed in a paragraph. Just as the usage of the geometrical principles and the rules of punctuation are necessary for coherence in a professional document so is the arrangement of ideas in different paragraphs.
• Avoid redundant phrases:-  Example:- Completely eliminate (Redundant phrase) ------> Because (Concise word).