1.2 Why Is It Important to Communicate Well?

We all share a fundamental drive to communicate. We want to be understood and want to know others, but drive and motivation are simply not enough. We may know what we want to say, but not how to say it. We may lack the words, the expressions, or the experiences to communicate effectively. Our perception of our ability to communicate can influence how and when we communicate.

Communication can be defined as the process of understanding and sharing meaning. You share meaning in what you say and how you say it, both in oral and written forms. Sometimes we take it for granted. If you could not communicate, what would life be like? A series of never-ending frustrations? Not being able to ask for what you need or understand the needs of others?

Being unable to communicate might even mean losing a part of yourself. You communicate your self-conceptWhat we perceive ourselves to be.—your sense of self and awareness of who you are—in many ways. Do you like to write? Do you find it easy to make a phone call to a stranger or to speak to a room full of people? Perhaps someone told you that you don’t speak clearly or your grammar needs improvement. Does that make you more or less likely to want to communicate? For some, it may be a positive challenge, while for others it may be discouraging. In all cases, your ability to communicate is central to your self-concept. 

One important element of effective business communication is to recognize communication is a learned skill. You learned from those around you, but you now have a new opportunity to learn lessons from communication professionals that you can consider, adapt, and make your own. You can improve your written performance, polish your public speaking skills, and make a positive difference on how others perceive you, as well as how you perceive yourself.

Take a look at your clothes, for example. What brands are you wearing? What do you think they say about you? Do you feel that certain styles of shoes, jewelry, tattoos, music, or even automobiles express who you are? Do they fit into your business, work, or school setting? Part of your self-concept may be that you express yourself through texting, or through writing longer documents like essays and research papers, or through the way you speak. In each instance you represent yourself, or aspects of yourself, to others, and how you represent yourself will be influenced by the context and your target audience. Your clothes, like your choice of words or even tone and timing, will communicate something about you.

Your communications skills help you to understand others—not just their words, but also their tone of voice, nonverbal gestures, or format of their written documents provide you with clues about who they are and what their values and priorities may be.  Listeners and audiences have expectations of the context, themselves, and about you.  Understanding their cultural background as well as the business context can provide you important clues on what to say and how to say it. Active listening and reading are also part of being a successful business communicator.

When you were an infant, you learned to talk over a period of many months. When you got older, you didn’t learn to ride a bike, drive a car, or even text a message on your cell phone in one brief moment. You need to begin the process of improving your speaking and writing with the frame of mind that it will require effort, persistence, and self-correction.

You learn to speak in public by first having conversations, then by answering questions and expressing your opinions in class, and finally by preparing and delivering a “stand-up” speech. Your speaking reflects on your thoughts, experience, and education. Part of that combination is your level of experience listening to other speakers, reading documents and styles of writing, and studying formats similar to what you aim to produce.

At your first job you learned what to do and what not to do. You learned who to talk to, who not to talk to, how and when to ask questions, and to interpret new words and phrases that all held meaning within the context of the business or company. At some point you may have made the transition from someone who struggled to follow the conversation to someone who could lead it. Communication involves learning the context and its expectations, and influences interactions and their outcomes.

As you study business communication, you may receive suggestions for improvement and clarification from speakers and writers more experienced than yourself. Take their suggestions as challenges to improve; don’t give up when your first speech or first draft does not communicate the message you intend. Stick with it until you get it right. Your success in communicating is a skill that applies to almost every field of work, and it makes a difference in your relationships with others.

Remember, luck is simply a combination of preparation and timing. You want to be prepared to communicate well when given the opportunity. Each time you do a good job, your success will bring more success.

You want to make a good first impression on your friends and family, instructors, and employer. They all want you to convey a positive image, as it reflects on them. In your career, you will represent your business or company in spoken and written form. Your professionalism and attention to detail will reflect positively on you and set you up for success.

Let’s consider, for example, your online profile in a social network like LinkedIn.com, recognized for its business emphasis and professional profiles. The image you post of yourself on that site, along with information about your current and past positions, reflects not only on you as a professional, but on the people with whom you associate, including your employer. Pictures and photos that may be acceptable for Facebook, known for its family and friend focus, may not work for your professional profile photo. In the same way, words that you use on LinkedIn.com may include “achieved,” “managed,” “resolved,” or “created,” often with quantified results, as in a specific percent increase in sales, for example, while words you use on Facebook may be less formal, less professional, and more familiar to family and friends.

In both oral and written situations, you will benefit from having the ability to communicate clearly. These are skills you will use for the rest of your life. Positive improvements in these skills will have a positive impact on your relationships, your prospects for employment, and your ability to make a difference in the world.

Oral and written communication proficiencies are consistently ranked in the top ten desirable skills by employer surveys year after year. In fact, high-powered business executives sometimes hire consultants to coach them in sharpening their communication skills. According to the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE), the following are the top five personal qualities or skills potential employers seek:

When we look at the latest version of the annual NACE survey, we again observe that communication skills hold the top spot.  Professionalism, which includes how we present ourselves, critical thinking, and both oral and written communications are all ranked in the top three career readiness competencies considered absolutely essential by the survey respondents.  How we communicate, present ourselves, and represent our business or company, counts in today’s modern workplace.

Knowing this, you can see that one way for you to be successful and increase your promotion potential is to increase your abilities to speak and write effectively.

In September 2004, the National Commission on Writing for America’s Families, Schools, and Colleges published a study on 120 human resource directors titled Writing: A Ticket to Work…Or a Ticket Out, A Survey of Business Leaders. The study found that “writing is both a ‘marker’ of high-skill, high-wage, professional work, and a ‘gatekeeper’ with clear equity implications,” said Bob Kerrey, president of New School University in New York and chair of the commission. “People unable to express themselves clearly in writing limit their opportunities for professional, salaried employment.”

Thomas Friedman’s 2104 article “How to Get a Job at Google” (available at http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/23/opinion/sunday/friedman-how-to-get-a-job-at-google.html?ref=opinion&_r=1) discussed Adam Bryant of The New York Times interview with Laszlo Bock, Senior Vice President of People Operations for Google, on what it takes to get hired (find it at http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/20/business/in-head-hunting-big-data-may-not-be-such-a-big-deal.html). The article went viral and sparked discussions on what core skills matter, and Bock identified these skills: learning ability, emergent leadership, humility, ownership, and expertise. Bock’s comments on each one are insightful, and they each point to communication skills. We learn from each other. We listen. We reflect. We learn from our mistakes. We own those mistakes and take personal responsibility. We communicate that responsibility with our words and actions. We inspire others. Our communication skills influence and impact our career.

John Gantz, Senior Vice President of International Data Corporation (IDC), at the request of Microsoft, authored a 2013 white paper titled, “Skill Requirements for Tomorrow's Best Jobs: Helping Educators Provide Students with Skills and Tools They Need” that underscores the importance of communication (find the PDF at https://news.microsoft.com/download/presskits/education/docs/IDC_101513.pdf) Gantz discusses the fast-changing employment landscape, with social, economic, and technological factors that contribute to a fluid, dynamic, and diverse range of employment contexts that motivate employers to look for applicants that can learn, adapt, evolve, change, and perform, quite similar to Bock’s core skill list. He also identifies several trends that will drive employers needs, including:

Each trend identifies an important area of business growth and development that is closely tied to communication skills.  An increasingly diverse customer base involves intercultural communication. Relationships with customers involve interpersonal communication. Partnerships and globalization involve strategic communication, internal communication, external communication, and organizational communication. Mobile customers may involve both mass communication and interpersonal communication, and global virtual teams underscore the importance of effective group communication. Ernie Sampias, the Chief Financial Officer for McData, highlights the importance of communication in business and organizations in this brief video:

Once again, like NACE’s survey and countless others, Sampias demonstrates that oral and written communication skills are key to success, reinforcing why good communication skills are the highest ranked among the skills potential employers look for in jobseekers.

On the other end of the spectrum, it is estimated that over forty million Americans are illiterate, or unable to functionally read or write. If you are reading this book, you may not be part of an at-risk group in need of basic skill development, but you still may need additional training and practice as you raise your skill level.

An individual with excellent communication skills is an asset to every organization. No matter what career you plan to pursue, learning to express yourself professionally in speech and in writing will help you get there.