Why are effective communication skills important for me?

Effective communication is one of the most essential aspects of owning, running or working for a successful business. Throughout the different echelons of a business, communication skills will need to be changed for different situations as they arise. For instance if you are the owner of a business, your communication skills will be mostly delegation. You will need to be able to communicate with all your employees, and help them understand what their job title entails. As the owner you must also deal with vendors, licensing personnel, and most importantly customers. Without good communication skills you will not be able to have my business, good or bad, for very long. As you climb down the business ladder, you will most likely find managers. Managers must have good communication skills because as their main job title states, they must run and maintain the business regardless of whether the owner is present or not. They must be able to not only communicate with the employees working for the company and make them understand their specific duties but also communicate with people higher up the ladder. Understanding and accepting criticism from the owner or CEO is unfortunately part of the job. Without effective communication skills a manager would find it very hard to comprehend and learn from the criticism given to him. The backbone of any good business is the employees. They are the people who keep the business running from day to day. Without good communication through the eyes and ears of every employee, day to day operation of the business will come to a halt.

So what are some aspects of effective communication? Ernest Hemingway stated, "When people talk, listen completely. Most people never listen." One of the most important parts of good communication is listening. Whether you are the owner, operator, or employee of a successful business, sending a message to other employees will never be too difficult. The important part of the message involves the receiving of said message. Without good listening skills, all communication sent to people will become static. Another aspect of good communication in a business is the messages being sent. Plato said, "Wise men talk because they have something to say; fools, because the have to say something." The quality of the message being communicated can be just as important as receiving the message. If you are able to communicate with quality in your messages to an individual or a group, people are more likely to listen and retain the message. With a cluttered message, the integrity of the message will become lost in translation. If you truly do have something to say, people will listen. If you are, sadly, talking with no real purpose, why would people even need to listen?

The president and CEO of National Semiconductor Corp., Gilbert Amelio stated, "Developing excellent communication skills is absolutely essential to effective leadership. The leader must be able to share knowledge and ideas to transmit a sense of urgency and enthusiasm to others. If a leader can't get a message across clearly and motivate others to act on it, then having a message doesn't even matter."

In conclusion, effective communication is one of the most important things we as humans possess. Without good communication skills, we are nothing more than animals.