Corporate Communication

Q1. Why should students and professionals alike strive to improve their communication skill, and why is it difficult or impossible to do so without help?

Communication may be defined as the transmission of meaning and information from one person to another (Donatelle and Davis, 1998). While the transmission itself may appear to be a simple task, the interpretation of the message being relayed through communication poses a challenge, particularly on the establishment of human relations. In general, communication becomes effective when both parties involved are honest and open to share information and have the ability to decipher the meaning of their messages. Effective communication must always be practiced as it is significant to individual beings as well as for the creation of positive relationships.

There is a need for students as well as professionals to strive in the development of the communication skill because communication as a process serves as the most important mechanism in dealing with people and the society. Without effective communication, there will be no constant understanding and comprehension among speaking individuals. Since communication is among the non-material means of survival, developing the skills of every rational and speaking individual is necessary as it equates and characterizes the superiority of human against other creations. Communication is the only method that allows the exchange of ideas from people regardless of culture, tradition, races, or other human factors.

Students in particular must be trained to communicate effectively because it is highly needed in their future interaction to the various and diverse aspects of the real world – such as in the workplace or corporate environment. With the given proliferation of English as the international lingua franca and together with the culture of globalization, every student should be armed with the sufficient ability to express their selves – verbal or non-verbal. Within the academe, the students are encouraged to learn the foundations of the communication process. Starting with such knowledge, the more complex yet essential factors will be next at hand. The role of the educational institution and teachers in developing the communication skills of student is immeasurable. The only means in which the students can develop such skill is the constant practice and continuous usage of the preferred language.

Similarly, professionals must be capable of expressing themselves to other people especially in the corporate environment because it is the most basic and perhaps essential way to achieve development – both in personal relationship and career management. Professionals utilize their communication skills in performance of their given jobs and in building relationship with other individuals. As stated, communication plays a great role in the establishment of human relations. With effective communication skills, a professional will not only progress in terms of his/her personal or career growth but also so his/her social, intellectual, and emotional conditions. Among the most effective methods to improve such skill is the continuous practice and constant enrichment of the English language through reading and exposure to various media that uses such language.

Since ideal communication is two-way, it is difficult or even impossible to communicate without the help of anyone. As a mutual exchange of messages, there is a call for someone to be involved in a communication process – the sender and the receiver. A person cannot communicate without the receiver or vice versa. It is difficult to communicate alone or one-way per se because there is no transfer of message that occurs at all. Furthermore, it is impossible to develop the communication skill if there is no outlet wherein a communicator will use or apply his/her knowledge in communication. With the help of the various members of the communication process together with the consistent following of the foundational principles of language, effective communication will eventually exist and develop within an individual.

All in all and regardless of barriers in the communication process, communication still plays a great role in good group performance (Bryant and Heath, 2000) especially to the operational functions present in the various organizations that operates worldwide. Thus, there is a mandatory need to improve it.

Q2. Since English is becoming the preferred language in business globally, why should Malaysians bother to learn other culture?

The most important factor for every Malaysian to learn in dealing with the rest of the world is learning other’s culture. Since culture defines every one race from the other, there is a given importance to know, understand, and deal with the foreign cultures. Knowing the other nation’s culture is the most elementary way in starting communication with them. Understanding and dealing to such cultures is the most important ways since it offers the acceptance and justified views or responses. The process of globalization and internationalization of the world’s marketplace introduces the Malaysian community to the rest of the human race. Malaysians should bother to learn other culture for the reason that it is highly significant and fundamental. In the global business, culture plays a great factor. May it be in the management or to the whole nature of the business; culture defines the boundary of communication. There are several aspects in the business that matters to culture. For instance, in the employee diversity in multinational corporations (MNCs), the knowledge of each other’s culture will lead to communal understanding and harmonious relationship bounded on respect and acceptance of individual and cultural differences. Thus, it will lead to unified workforce that is directly oriented towards the growth and success of the business.

In general, the importance of knowing other’s culture is the fact that the world today is becoming a melting pot for all humanity. All sorts of nationalities, cultural attributes, and personal differences contribute to the diversity as well as to the uniqueness of everyone and it consists the totality of the world. The given priority for every Malaysian citizen to learn other’s culture in considerable amount of awareness is dictated by time, competition and survival. In this contemporary era where everything is universal, culture is the only thing that remains to be the identity of people. In learning them, one can distinguish one from the other and thus, communication will be a lot easier. However, it is still vital for every Malaysian citizen to protect and preserve its genuine culture at the same time learning the rest of the world’s culture.

Q3. Discuss the importance of listening skill to employees, supervisors and executives.

Listening skills is among the most important ingredient of effective communication. In the workplace, employees, supervisors, and executives must learn to listen because it is one of the highly influential mechanisms in a progress or failure of business operations.

As people exchange ideas, a lot of barriers may affect their communication process such as ineffective listening skills, inconsistent verbal or nonverbal messages, resistance to change, individual bias, time limitations, distractions, personal assumptions as well as differences in race, culture, age, and religion. In relation to listening, such given barriers may be overcome. Good listening is changing of people both in the aspects of personal and professional level.

Among employees, listening is a duty. Working in a hierarchy of individuals, listening defines the responsibilities and limitations in relation to the working environment. It is important to listen because through listening, mistakes are minimized, misunderstandings are avoided, and communication is highly effective. With supervisors and executives, listening is also important since it addresses the issues and concerns existing in the organization. When the upper management learns how to listen, there is a communal working relationship within the limits of the business. Similar with the above provided importance, supervisors and executives are benefited through listening because feedbacks are acknowledge, conflicts are shunned, relationship are nourished, and communication becomes effective.

Listening sincerely can motivate people and make them feel that you are with him/her. Listening is an important element in human communication because it helps to break up the barriers between people and helps us to understand each other more. It prevents miscommunication of messages and priorities with people. It also saves us valuable time that we might lose when having to re-evaluate a misunderstood message. Nichols (1995) stated that effective listening is more significant and sometimes harder than we have realized. But through practice, reflective listening can be learned.

Generally, people like the employees, supervisors and executives have different ways of listening for the reason that we all have individual personalities that we have to except and compensate for when listening to each other. To be a good listener the receiver should be active, positive, pay attention to the speaker and be able to analyze the message in the intended way. This isn’t easy but it is the best communication tool that we have.

Listening is not the same as hearing. It is the positive business to paying heed or giving your thoughtful attention to someone while they are speaking (Adair, 1997). One of the most important skills when listening is to putting yourself in the shoes of others. It could also be empathizing with the speaker by trying to understand how their own thought process. When we listen effectively we understand what the person is thinking and feeling from their own perspective. Our point of view may be different but as we listen we understand them.

Listening helps to solve problems, build good relationships and gives a good understanding of any situation. When we listen effectively to someone, our communication difficulties will stop and by doing this it shows us how vital and important listening is within all human communication. Listening is not just a part of human interaction. It means something else and it starts with the notion that through effective listening, you have been helping the other person to feel comfortable and feel that you are always there for him/her. Thus, the importance of listening is rooted in the desire of every human being to understand and at peace and unity with each other regardless of its status in life.

Reference

Adair, J. (1997). Effective Communication. Pan Books; Basingstoke and
Oxford.

Bryant, J. and Heath, R.A. (2000). Human Communication Theory and Research:

Concepts, Contexts, and Challenges. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

Donatelle, R.J., and Davis, L.G. (1998). Access to Health. New York: Allyn and

Bacon.

Nichols, M.P. (1995). The Lost Art of Listening. Guilford Press: New York.