Effective Communication

This is essential if the message being conveyed to another person or persons is to be clearly understood by them.

Miscommunication can readily lead to misunderstanding, the taking of (unintended) offence, the increase in an exposure to risk with a consequent increase in the likelihood of an accident or injury, having to redo a task, wasted resources, or failure to achieve a desired outcome.

Communication should be in the most appropriate way for the situation. This might be verbal, which could be an instruction, a general comment or request for information, or as part of a discussion, and can be especially useful if you need confirmation that the person to whom you are speaking has clearly understood what you mean.

Written communication can be seen as either more formal, such as in letters or documents, as well as emails, or as a means to quickly let others know your thoughts, particularly via email, especially when you are unable to immediately speak with them, and also if you wish to communicate the same message to many people.

Having a written message as a form of communication also helps to provide an audit trail which confirms the different stages of the conversation, which can be particularly useful if becomes a prolonged and multi-faceted conversation.

Timeliness of response is another important part of effective communication. Verbal communications will often require an instant response, or usually at least within a short time frame if a complex, considered response is expected.

Letters and responses to documents can take from maybe 3-days from receipt of a letter, to several months for complex documents, such as contract tendering and specifications. Email responses can often be judged from the content of the email, ranging from within the day, to the following day or longer. If a message is urgent then the sender should give an indication of when response is ideally required for.

Other methods of communication can be through verbal messages left on answerphones, or as pre-recorded messages, however, it isn’t usually possible to determine if the message has been communicated effectively upon immediate receipt by the recipient. A graphical method can also be used, and this could be in the form of an image, possibly to help with the identification of an organism found within a turf surface, or as a video or similar which could be used to demonstrate a method of working, or similar.

Knowing how and when to communicate a message, such as a request for information, help or guidance can either reinforce good working relationships or act as a disrupter to them. Constantly interrupting others, especially when they are trying to concentrate on important aspects of their work, or when they are very time pressured to complete a task, can be considered inconsiderate and can rapidly lead to deteriorating working relationships. Learning how to judge when is the best time to communicate a particular message to others can be a challenge but will be gradually learnt within the context of the culture of each organisation and can help to maintain an efficient working system.

The development of good working relationships is underpinned by effective communication skills.