Importance Of Team Communication And Interpersonal Skills In Business

Group/Team Communication

Discuss About The Linking Educational Diversity Performance?

Communication is such process which eradicates all kinds of misunderstanding and misinterpretations between two or more persons or groups. Hence its importance cannot be denied in the smooth functioning of any business organization or any organization in general. In business, communication plays an important role. Communication can be divided into two parts in business, external communication and internal communication. The external communication consists of communication with external shareholders, suppliers and distributors, logistics and most important is communicating with the consumers.  The internal communication comprises group/ team communication inside different departments, inter-departmental communication, employees-authority communication and the interpersonal communication between the employees (De Alencar, 2016). In this paper, the team communication and the interpersonal communication skills are likely to be discussed along with their different benefits.

Team communication refers to the interaction between the team members of a working group in any business organization. Team communication is a vital aspect of business growth. Team communication has many benefits which contribute to the better productivity of the employees and the organization. These are, efficiency in performance, faster problem solving, building of trust and loyalty, satisfaction at work and better work environment is created. Team communication also functions in minimizing misinterpretations, conflicts are easily overcome, and personal development takes place. Team communication is practiced mainly though open discussions, one-on-one basis, using visuals, emails and phone, encouraging feedbacks, listening carefully, Showing seriousness and confidence in postures, non-verbal communication and so on (Klewes et al., 2016).

 In a group project allotted in our syllabus, our group was created by the supervisor. Therefore to carry out the project we needed to communicate to each other. The supervisor helped in understanding the concept and outlining the framework of the project. Since all of us were students of business study, it was not such difficult to communicate with each other. We held group discussions at our respective homes. Group discussion fosters exchange of opinions and ideas. This followed by using visuals which helped us to understand the tasks better. We divided our works according to the expertise and knowledge in different fields we possess (Marlow et al., 2017). Different ways of communication were followed including one-on-one basis communication over phone calls and chats, emails were sent regarding the advancement of project, listening to the problems encountered by the team members and sorting the problems together through research and sharing individual opinions.

Describe the events and your experience

After the completion of the group project, it was quite perceivable that communication forms the basis of success in a team work. Whatever I learnt from the classes, I have gone through the same phases of communication and experienced that practical importance of team communication in a business organization.

The above event has widened my outlook towards communication. The group with which I worked comprised of members from same academic stream. But in businesses, teams comprises member from different cultural, economic and educational background, which tends the necessity of group communication. Communication only can bridge the gap between team members leading to better performance and faster problem solving. Communication builds bond of trust and loyalty to each other and to the team leader. Different communication ways are involved in the team work to encourage active participation of the team members. As we have enlisted above the different ways of group communication that can be practiced in the businesses. Many improvements and innovations in the communication field have now opened up better ways of communication (Valls et al., 2016).

With the social media sites like WhatsApp, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIN, Skype and Google hangouts, group-members can communicate with each other without moving an inch from one’s place. Group chatting and video conferencing also enables improved way of communicating, where one can see the others even if they are miles away from each other. Besides, every business firm has their own intranet through which communication has become easier than before (Cardon & Marshall, 2015).

It is clear that communication plays different roles in the team work at different situation. Regular and effective communication can bring radical change in the thought process and performance style of team members. As we learnt, sometimes a good gesture like patting on the back on good performance and smile can change our mood and motivate us. Whereas, the other body languages can help in building our personality like our seriousness and straight posture can make difference in others opinion towards us (Rodriquez & Castilla, 2013).

My outlook towards communication has greatly faced practical challenges during the execution of the group project. It resulted in a deeper learning about the different communication phases we have gone through in team work. From this experience my urge to know intensively about team communication has increased. Now I can perform group works much better and it will help me immensely in the future at the professional level (Grunig, 2013). More challenging team works are can be accepted now. Further, I can execute this team communication concept and experience in not just professional or academic field, but also in other team projects of varied fields.

Interpret and evaluate the events from your perspective

For communicating effectively in the team one needs to have/grow interpersonal skills. These skills are not only beneficial for the team communication in an organization, but also for, personal and professional development. Interpersonal skills denote significantly to listening, interrogating, giving one’s feedback and non-verbal communication. Listening to the team leader or to the team members helps in clarifying of jobs allotted. Listening is also a way of giving respect to others. Interrogation helps in achieving information; it stimulates the responsiveness and clarification of doubts. Feedbacks or the opinions of the team members and the team leader is very important in checking the status of the work, helps in improving the work pattern and accelerates the performance level and productivity of the team (Grunig, 2013). Non-verbal communication refers to the facial expression, body language and tone of voice.  

As a debutant in a business firm, I got a chance to work in a new project. Our team leader proposes us to introduce ourselves to our colleagues and decide on the responsibilities we seek to fulfill in executing the project. For this we need to communicate with each other personally. At this juncture I am reminded of the interpersonal skills which are necessary to communicate with other employees on personal basis. These interpersonal skills also lead to the path of leadership. The team leader’s proposal seemed to be quite purposeful in developing our interpersonal skills. The office has a friendly environment as a whole (Erozkan, 2013). Therefore my initial step was to get acquainted with everyone and get the contact numbers.  

Our team leader’s decision to let us get into conversation with each other was effective which reflected her leadership skill. She herself did not impose her decisions on us rather gave the freedom to choose our responsibilities according to our knowledge and expertise (Rock, 2014). This will give us chances to know each other and in turn develop our interpersonal skills.  

From the above scenario, it is quite clear that I am now facing the practical situation which inspires me to practice my interpersonal skills about which I have learnt so far. In the official environment of the business firm my colleagues are from different backgrounds and there is an environment of fierce but systematic competition to get ahead of others.

The different elements of interpersonal skills as mentioned above are, listening, questioning, giving feedback and non-verbal communication. With listening one can get clear picture of the tasks assigned, also one can show respect to the others. With questioning, I can clear doubts and it also stimulates responsiveness. It also shows inquisitiveness of any person. Feedback is a form of presenting one’s opinion about any person, thing or concept, whereas non-verbal communication through the use of good gestures, correct body language, tone of voice, can create good impression on others. Adapting these skills in my behavior can enhance my personality (Petrovici & Dobrescu, 2014).

Reflect on how this information will be useful to you

The learning from the series of events has rendered thoughtfulness into me about how these interpersonal skills can be developed. I need to find out the suitable ways that can cherish these interpersonal skills, whether any expert advice or training process needs to be followed to acquire these skills. I have realized that these interpersonal skills are multifunctional in their characteristics. Not only in the business firms, but in the personal and social life also they provide fruitful results (Lane, 2016).

The experience of getting into contact with new sort of people and creating a bond with them is both tough and important. The environment of the business firm and the other senior employees’ attitude towards the debutants is an inspiration to the new employees, which is carried forward for generations of employees through development of interpersonal skills. These skills are developed over a long period of practice.

Conclusion

The above topics and their critical evaluation lead to the conclusion that the communication process is such a part of the business which paves the healthy growth of the business encapsulating employees’ personal and professional development, work satisfaction, healthy working environment, faster problem solving, increased productivity and improved performance of the employees. These interpersonal skills which are enlisted above, functions as the fuel for the employees in businesses and also for individual development in society at large

References

Cardon, P.W. & Marshall, B.., 2015. The hype and reality of social media use for work collaboration and team communication.. International Journal of Business Communication, 52(3), pp.273-93.

De Alencar, M.S.e.., 2016. Communication, Management and Information Technology: International Conference on Communciation, Management and Information Technology (ICCMIT 2016, Cosenza, Italy, 26-29 April 2016). London: CRC Press.

Erozkan, A.., 2013. The Effect of Communication Skills and Interpersonal Problem Solving Skills on Social Self-Efficacy. Educational Sciences: Theory and Practice, 13(2), pp.739-45.

Grunig, J.E.e.., 2013. Excellence in public relations and communication management. Abington: Routledge.

Klewes, J., Popp, D. & Rost-Hein, M.e.., 2016. Out-thinking Organizational Communications: The Impact of Digital Transformation.. London: Springer.

Lane, S.D.., 2016. Interpersonal communication: Competence and contexts. Abington: Routledge.

Marlow, S.L. et al., 2017. Does team communication represent a one-size-fits-all approach?: A meta-analysis of team communication and performance. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 14(2), pp.112-34.

Petrovici, A. & Dobrescu, T.., 2014. The role of emotional intelligence in building interpersonal communication skills. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 116(2), pp.1405-10.

Rock, D.., 2014. Quiet leadership. London: HarperCollins e-books.

Rodriquez, R.M. & Castilla, G.., 2013. Can We Use Creativity to Improve Generic Skills in Our HigherEducation Students? A Proposal Based on Non-Verbal Communication and Creative Movement.. Journal for Learning through the Arts, 9(1), pp.1-5.

Valls, V., González?Romá, V. & Tomás, I.., 2016. Linking educational diversity and team performance: Team communication quality and innovation team climate matter.. Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology, 89(4), pp.751-71.

Interpret and evaluate the events from your perspective