Facilitate communication

The first order of business involved in facilitating workplace communication is using interpersonal skills to build relationships with team members and clients alike. In doing so, you must also facilitate respectful interaction with those you communicate with.

Interpersonal Skills Defined

By definition, interpersonal skills are the traits you need to interact with others. There are many interpersonal skills that will help you better interact with others, but those most relevant in the workplace are further discussed below.

Having and developing such skills is especially important as you need to build meaningful relationships with both fellow employees and clients alike. Being able to do so would help you work on your endeavours better, and this is especially important for the organisation’s long-term growth.

It is equally important that you use interpersonal skills to facilitate respectful interactions with others. The workplace should be accepting and being equipped with interpersonal skills will enable you to make your organisation more welcoming to all.

Using Interpersonal Skills for Effective Participation

As a general rule, interpersonal skills should be used in every workplace interaction you have. One particular kind of interaction, however, is highlighted as it is a fundamental workplace activity. This activity is your workplace discussions, which are the exchanges you have regarding business matters. It is important that you display interpersonal skills when you engage in workplace discussions, as doing so will enable you to effectively participate in this activity.

Guidance in using interpersonal skills for effective participation in workplace discussions includes:

• Engage in active listening

  Active listening means giving your full attention to whoever is speaking. This is an interpersonal skill that shows how much you respect and care about what the other person is saying. The most fundamental way through which you can engage in active listening is through being attentive instead of passive. Along with this, useful techniques in demonstrating active listening include:

  • Using and maintaining eye contact with the speaker
  • Leaning towards the speaker to show interest
  • Nodding your head when you agree with points being made
  • Summarising or paraphrasing messages
  • Seeking confirmation that your understanding of the speaker’s points is correct
• Practise active questioning

  Along with active listening, active questioning is a skill that will show you are engaged in the discussion being held. Active questioning entails asking meaningful questions that would deepen the conversation you are having, eliciting and encouraging critical thinking. This skill will help improve the discussion and keep it going. Useful techniques in demonstrating active questioning include:

  • Asking probing questions
  • Using funnel questioning (asking general questions first, then moving to more specific questions as you go along)
  • Seeking answers to open-ended questions to encourage a free flow of thoughts
• Provide feedback

  The third and final skill you need to develop is the ability to provide effective feedback. For senders and receivers of messages, feedback is an important way to keep yourself in check. Sometimes, you may think that you are able to communicate effectively when you are already being misunderstood. To lessen such instances and also make sure that you and those you communicate with are on the same page, you must learn to provide effective feedback during discussions. Guidance in doing so includes:

  • Concentrate on behaviour displayed rather than personality
  • Note both good and both points
  • Provide feedback during an appropriate time in the discussion
  • Share feedback with a respectful and well-meaning tone
  • Specify areas that require attention or improvement

Using Interpersonal Skills for Relationship Building

Along with the skills listed above, there are a number of interpersonal skills that will help you build meaningful relationships with team members and clients alike. In using these, you will recognise the value of being respectful as you interact with others. This is something that will enable you to interact more effectively.

Guidance in using interpersonal skills for relationship building includes:

• Show empathy

  Empathy means the ability to understand how others feel and to put yourself in their shoes. This is an important interpersonal skill that will enable you to relate with others and establish meaningful relationships with them.

  It is important to show empathy to your teammates, as this makes them feel valued. Your attempts to understand them and check on their feelings will help them recognise how they are valued not only for the work that they do but also on a more personal level. You can show empathy by taking the time to check on them during meetings as well as spending time with them outside of work hours to get to know them better.

  For clients, showing empathy can be done by making an effort to ask them about their concerns and trying to understand where they are coming from. As with your team, you can also check on them and learn about them on a more personal level as long as you remember your boundaries. If done well, you will be able to build long-lasting relationships.

• Resolve conflict

  The ability to resolve conflict well is a skill that needs to be learned and practised. If you can handle conflict effectively, you will be able to build sturdy relationships with both teammates and clients.

  Conflict is not something that you can ever truly avoid, so it is important that you know how to properly resolve it. Maintain respect as you do so, and always remember that the people who are in conflict all have their own feelings and stands. Consider these and ensure that you remain fair. Further guidance on this is found in Section 4.3.

• Be open and adaptable

  Openness and adaptability are perhaps among the most valuable interpersonal skills that will enable you to build meaningful relationships with others. These skills work hand in hand. By keeping an open mind, you allow yourself to consider the thoughts and opinions of others. Likewise, being adaptable means having the willingness to adjust to the people you are with and the situations you find yourself in.

You can demonstrate these skills by trying to eliminate any biases you have as you interact with teammates and clients alike – something especially important to do when with others who have different cultural backgrounds. By being open and adaptable, you are also able to display respect to those you are with. In the long run, these skills will enable you to build healthy relationships.

The next order of business in facilitating workplace communication further highlights the importance of respect in communication. It is vital that your organisation is genuinely welcoming to employees and also clients of different backgrounds. The way you communicate in the workplace will show how well you welcome people from different backgrounds, so it is crucial that you promote and facilitate respectful communication at all times, giving special consideration for the needs of those who come from diverse backgrounds.

Cross-Cultural Communication

Diversity in people’s cultural backgrounds is a result of the key differences in race, gender, sex, religion, age, among others. Of particular interest are differences in terms of race or nationality. When people from different cultures interact and attempt to share or exchange information with each other, cross-cultural communication takes place. Understanding the principles and techniques associated with this concept will help you facilitate respectful communication effectively.

Principles of Cross-Cultural Communication

The principles that underlie cross-cultural communication highlight the fundamental differences among cultures. These significantly impact how a person communicates, so awareness of these will help you communicate more effectively and respectfully. Two key principles of cross-cultural communication include:

Impact of Hierarchy

High value on heirarchy

• Low autonomy
• Passive

Low value on heirarchy

• High autonomy
• Active

This principle looks into hierarchy, specifically in terms of how it is defined or understood and how it ultimately influences communication. As with context, different cultures’ perspective on hierarchy is seen along a scale.

Cultures that place a high value on hierarchy have low autonomy and high passivity. These cultures are heavily reliant on structure and likewise compliant to authority figures. Most, if not all, high-context cultures are also hierarchical. An example of such a culture is China. People from hierarchical cultures are more passive and submissive to authority; they are more likely to accept rules and status quos.

On the other hand, cultures that place a low value on hierarchy have high autonomy and are very active. Such cultures value independence and self-reliance, so they are very confident and dominant in their communication style. They would likely be vocal and assert their individual concerns more openly. Low-context cultures such as the USA often place low value on hierarchy.

This principle considers the influence of hierarchy and its definition among different sets of cultures. This assists in understanding how to properly interact with someone in the workplace. Learning the value of hierarchy on culture will assist in identifying how to best express gratitude or respect to your peers depending on their culture and the hierarchy they use when communicating.

Openness

Low level of openness

• Listens more than they speak
• More critical of others' views

High level of openness

• Speaks just as much or even more than they listen
• More willing to accept others' views

The third principle concerns one’s willingness to be open when communicating. Such manifests in the way they provide as well as receive information throughout an exchange. As with context and hierarchy, openness among different cultures is seen along a scale.

Cultures that exhibit a low level of openness tend to be more closed off. They are usually more active listeners than speakers, less willing to share and speak up. Those from high-context and hierarchical cultures often display a low level of openness when they communicate.

On the other hand, people with a high level of openness are assertive and proactive. They speak just as much or even more than they listen. Likewise, they are more willing to accept what others have to say. This does not necessarily mean that they automatically agree; it simply means they are more open to the fact that others may have views that oppose their own.

The principle of openness will help you set better expectations in your communication efforts. This will enable you to determine how to adjust to the person you are communicating with. More specifically, acknowledging this will help you decide on how you will engage with the other party (i.e. Will you encourage them to speak more?).

Techniques for Cross-Cultural Communication

With these principles in mind, there are useful techniques that would help you communicate cross-culturally. These include:

• Develop cultural awareness

  It is essential that you develop cultural awareness before you even communicate cross-culturally. This means having an open mind and remembering that the conventions you have been accustomed to are not the only ones that exist. Prejudices, stereotypes, and assumptions regarding different cultures should likewise be disregarded. Along with having the right mindset, it is also important to have sufficient knowledge regarding the culture of those you will communicate with. To aid you, you may undergo cross-cultural training and/or take time to research on different cultures.

• Practise active listening

  As mentioned in Section 4.1, active listening enhances communication. There are many differences in the communicative behaviours of parties who engage in cross-cultural communication, so the importance of active listening is further reinforced in this context. It is crucial to pay attention to both verbal and non-verbal cues while you communicate. Avoid dominating the conversation and encourage fair turn-taking. Use verbal cues to indicate that you are actively listening to the person speaking and ask questions or clarifications on what is being discussed. Likewise, use nonverbal cues like leaning in and nodding to indicate that you are interested in and paying attention to the speaker.

• Be careful with your use of language

  The way you use language can make or break your cross-cultural communication act. Remember that words may hold different kinds of meaning, the denotation (i.e. the literal or dictionary definition) and the connotation (i.e. meanings associated with the word based on personal and cultural context). To avoid misunderstanding, use simple words and avoid language that is vague or ambiguous. It is also best to avoid slang and use humour with caution as these may be interpreted differently.

• Observe non-verbal elements

  It is important to be mindful of how you say what you choose to say. Along with the nonverbal cues that demonstrate active listening, use a professional tone and voice while speaking. Moreover, speak slowly and clearly. This generally indicates sincerity and respect. You can also maintain eye contact and use gestures with caution, as certain non-verbal cues may bear different meanings across cultures.

Communication with Individuals with Special Needs

In your efforts to facilitate respectful communication with people from diverse backgrounds, you must practise sensitivity when communicating with individuals with special needs.

Remember as you look at some of these particular considerations that you should always try to keep the conversation as normal as possible, while accommodating the needs of those involved.

Communicating with individuals with vision impairments

Visual impairments will include a variety of conditions that can create a range of degrees of visual ability. For this reason, you would ideally:
•    Provide signs and images that are clear and easy to read – consider the font, size and location of any visual communications
•    Speak clearly and at an appropriate volume so you can be easily understood.

Communicating with individuals with hearing impairments

Hearing impairments can also be in degrees of impact, but it is always best to speak clearly, make sure people can see your face in case they are reliant on visual cues such as lip reading and do not speak too fast.

Additional consideration may also be needed when communicating with individuals that represent cultural minorities in Australia. 

Communicating with the Aboriginals and Torres Strait Islanders

When communicating with Aboriginals and Torres Strait Islanders, there are a number of considerations you must bear in mind. These include:

• Use formal addresses when interacting with elders. Keep in mind that Aboriginals and Torres Strait Islanders have certain customs and respect for elders.
• Use clear language. Minimise jargon and technical terms and be sure to explain them well when used. Consider the fact that some Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples may have lower literacy and numeracy skills.
• Be aware of words that may hold different meanings in different communities as well as the gender-specific elements you need to consider for cultural reasons. This is to ensure that you avoid offending them.
• Provide information actively as some Aboriginals and Torres Strait Islanders are more likely to wait for such to be presented than seek it out themselves.
• Keep in mind that they may not have English as their first language; it is advisable to have a translator to help you.
• Be aware of the fact that most indigenous languages are verbal in nature; this means they cannot be translated into a written form.

Communicating with the Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Communities

Along with Aboriginals and Torres Strait Islanders, you must also be aware of the culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD). These are the people in the country whose first language is not English, and this section provides practical guidance in communicating with and about them. Guidance in communicating with them includes:

• Greet and address the CALD people you speak with politely, pronouncing their names properly. Failure to do so may come across as offensive.
• Speak clearly and enunciate your words properly.
• Use simple words but do not oversimplify your speech as it may come across as rude.
• Avoid the use of slang and filler words as well as jargon and acronyms.
• Present information in small chunks. This will help avoid confusion as you communicate.
• Provide examples and stories that can illustrate and clarify your points.
• Stay relaxed and open as you communicate. Raising your voice does not increase understanding, and it may be misconstrued.
• Do not pretend to understand what they are saying. Acknowledge that there is a language barrier, but do not make it an issue.
• Repeat what you understand and likewise seek confirmation from them as you communicate to ensure that you are on the same page.
• Be attentive and respectful at all times.

Communication with Individuals with Disabilities

When communicating with individuals who have disabilities, you must make an effort to know the proper ways of doing so. There are a lot of misconceptions in this regard, and you must be aware that what you deem acceptable might actually be wrong.

General Considerations

When communicating with individuals who have disabilities, you must remember to:

• Treat them as you would treat others

  It is easy to forget that persons with disabilities are just like anyone else. To make them feel included and accepted instead of isolated and differentiated, you must keep this in mind. This means that you should treat them with the same level of respect that you would treat everyone else.

• Speak directly to them

  One common mistake people tend to do is talking about people with disabilities and avoiding talking to them directly. This is disrespectful and should be avoided. Assume that they are fully equipped to understand you and communicate with them directly. This is especially important to remember when you are communicating with those who have accompanying persons. The accompanying person is there to aid the person with a disability in understanding what you are trying to say, but they should not be treated as messengers.

• Use appropriate language

  It is important to use respectful language as you speak to people with disabilities. Avoid offensive and vague or ambiguous words that they may misinterpret. Specific terms you must avoid include those that are considered fundamentally patronising and offensive (e.g. retarded or disabled). Instead of using these, make use of acceptable and politically correct terms (e.g. mentally challenged, differently-abled).

• Observe and use non-verbal signals

  Just as it is with other communication activities, the non-verbal elements of an exchange make up a huge part of your message. Pay attention to how body language displayed by the person you are communicating with to ensure that you are on the same page. If something is unclear to you, do not be afraid to ask them about it. Likewise, use non-verbal signals appropriately. Be mindful of your use of gestures and way of saying things.

• Be patient

  One important tip that is fundamental in your communication with persons who have disabilities is to remain patient throughout your exchange. Patience is something that will help you better communicate with persons with special needs. This is because it may take a little bit more time to try to understand what they are saying and to have them understand what you are trying to say.

Communicating with the Visually Impaired

When communicating with individuals who have visual impairments, you must be as direct as possible. The importance of using the right tone, speed, and volume in speaking is also reinforced as oral communication is the main way through which you will be understood. Specific guidelines include:

• Identify yourself as you speak; do not assume that the visually impaired person you are speaking to will automatically recognise you through your voice.
• Keep your speech relaxed, clear, and natural, making use of regular everyday language.
• Do not avoid talking about topics that relate to sight. This will keep your conversation natural and normal and make the person you are communicating with feel like an equal.
• Use specific language when giving directions; do not just say that something is ‘over there,’ and instead say exactly where it is (e.g. ‘on your left’).
• Use body language as you speak; it will affect the tone of your voice and aid the visually impaired person in understanding you.
• When communicating in a group:
  • Directly address the visually impaired person before speaking to them
  • Introduce everyone who is in the group.
• Do not leave a conversation without saying so.

Communicating with the Hard of Hearing

When communicating individuals who have hearing loss or hearing problems, you must first ensure that the place where you communicate accommodates their needs. A quiet and well-lit room is ideal for such an exchange. It is also advisable that you have a pen and paper or a handheld device on hand so you can write down anything that is not understood through verbal communication. An additional skill, sign language, may also be necessary for you to learn so you can better communicate with them.

Specific guidelines include:

• Start by identifying the topic or matters to be discussed.
• Speak at a normal but considerate pace as speaking too slow may be considered condescending.
• Ask the person you are speaking with if they would like you to adjust your speaking speed so they can better understand you.
• Speak a little louder than usual but do not shout. This will help you enunciate words more clearly.
• Speak clearly but do not overexaggerate your lip and mouth movements; contrary to popular belief, this makes speech-reading more difficult.
• Maximise the use of non-verbal cues (i.e. body language and facial expressions) as this would help the person who is hard of hearing understand you better.
• Remember to pause from time to time so that the person you are speaking with can catch up and ask questions.

Another key step you must undergo in the process of facilitating communication in the workplace involves using problem solving and decision-making skills to resolve communication challenges you may face along the way.

The communication challenges you may come across concern about the various problems that you would encounter in the workplace. These are matters that you will be able to resolve by means of effective communication. More specifically, addressing these issues will require you to use problem solving and decision-making skills.

Logistical Communication Challenges

Communication challenges come in many forms. Logistical communication challenges relate to the challenges around accessibility to information being shared. This may include access to technology, equipment and the constraints that come with that.

Access to technology

Not everyone has access to the same systems. This could include systems or software.

You may be sending a file through email and the recipient does not have the required program to open the file. This will limit their ability to receive the message and may require you to convert to a different file type that they are able to access.

Access to equipment

Similar to technology, not everyone has access to the same equipment. This could stem from differences in operating systems (mac v windows, apple v android etc.) or physical access to add on equipment such as printers and scanners.

This could create an issue if you need someone to sign and return a document. If they do not have access to a printer and scanner, instead of emailing it to them you may need to post a copy of the document for them to sign and return via the post.

Technical difficulties

Then there are times where everyone has the required systems in place, but for a variety of reasons they just cannot use them.

This could be due to poor planning, for example, your mobile phone could be flat and you are unable to make an urgent call to a teammate. In this instance, you could source another phone and call them, or physically go to them for a face-to-face conversation.

Alternatively, it could be a systems limitation such as trying to email a file that is just too large. In this case, you may need to rely on saving the file to cloud-based storage (one drive, SharePoint, dropbox etc.) and share access or save it to a physical storage device (USB or external hard drive) and provide the device to the recipient.

Conflict Resolution

The first communication challenge you would experience in the workplace involves conflict. Conflict refers to an argument, dispute, or clash between or among parties. Such is further characterised by a higher level of seriousness or gravity than most disagreements and cannot be fully avoided in the workplace. To resolve these, you must undergo conflict resolution. This is the process through which parties who are in dispute reach a resolution. There are different types of conflict, and those of particular concern are team conflict and client conflict.

Team Conflict

As the name would suggest, team conflict refers to disagreements that occur within work teams. The most common types of team conflicts and the subsequent techniques to address them are discussed below.

Leadership conflict

This conflict arises when the team leader’s style does not match with the needs and/or personalities of team members. The fact is that different leaders lead differently, and team members would have personal preferences as to the kind of leader they want or the kind of leadership style that would work for them.

Conflict resolution technique: you must be aware of your leadership style as well as the differences in the preferred styles of your members. Likewise, you must accept these and make the necessary adjustments to your style so that you can accommodate the different needs of your members.

Relationship conflict

Perhaps the most common type of team conflict, relationship conflict is a result of differences in personality, style, and taste. It is known for a fact that you will not get along with every person you meet, but this type of conflict is especially taxing due to the context where it occurs. When relationship conflicts occur within work teams, it can ultimately ruin the flow and dynamic of the team. This would make it difficult or even impossible for the team to achieve the goals it is set out to do.

Conflict resolution technique: as much as possible, it is best if those who are directly involved in the relationship conflict would sort things out among themselves. Find common ground and try to establish shared experiences and interests that could salvage your relationship. Should the conflict persist or worsen after such attempts, it is advised that a manager step in and help sort things out.

Task conflict

Task conflicts directly concern the work that is assigned to employees. These can come up from disputes related to dividing up resources, differing opinions regarding protocols and interpretation of facts. Among the different conflict types, this may seem like it is the most straightforward and easiest to resolve. However, task conflict usually has deeper roots and more complex than you would expect. This is especially true when other issues may have already compounded, and task conflict is simply the final straw in a long-brewing tension.

Conflict resolution technique: it is advised that this type of conflict is resolved by means of seeking the help of managers or supervisors who can help mediate and keep everyone on track.

Value conflict

This type of conflict is a result of differences in each individual’s core values, such as those associated with politics, religion, ethics, etc. Value conflict can arise in the context of work decisions and policies that would require members to make use of their values. Such conflicts can potentially increase sentiments of distrust and alienation among team members if left unresolved.

Conflict resolution technique: Instead of aiming for a resolution, this type of conflict seeks mutual understanding and respect between and among employees who share different values. This is because the nature of values makes it quite impossible for parties to truly adjust with each other. Instead of forcing beliefs on one another, employees must simply accept that they have different values. Moreover, universal values shared among employees should be highlighted so as to establish common ground despite the inherent differences.

Work style conflict

As it is with leadership styles, there are also differences in work styles of team members. Each person in your team would have preferences on how they accomplish tasks. Members may have different methodologies and priorities when it comes to working, and this may lead to clashes among members that would lead to other types of conflict, such as task conflict (if, for instance, the difference in working style would greatly impact how a task is accomplished).

Conflict resolution technique: Much like resolving leadership conflict, work style conflict can be resolved by recognising the differences in each member's style. Work with and around these by finding ways in which you can collaborate and accommodate each other as you work towards shared goals.

Client Conflict

Client conflict is something you cannot completely avoid. In the context of this discussion, the conflicts of concern are communication challenges that you may encounter when dealing with clients. The most common of these include:

• Conflict due to motive

  This conflict is a result of a difference in the reasons that underlie your decisions. Most of the time, the motives that underlie your chosen actions are hidden; likewise, it is common to assume that the other party shares the same motives that you do. However, the truth is that you and your client may have different rationales for making the same choices that would concern and affect you both.
  Conflict resolution technique: You and your client must willingly open up about your motives. Although you will likely find that you do not have the same motives, this will help you know where you stand and adjust to one another accordingly.

• Conflict due to poor management of expectations
  Perhaps the most common source of client conflict is poor management of expectations. Too often, it is tempting to promise that you can deliver the requests and cater to the wants of your clients. However, the desire to please a client may blind you from considering your actual capacity to deliver what they seek. As a result, failure to manage expectations may harm your reputation and lessen the likelihood of getting additional referrals.
  Conflict resolution technique: You should set clear expectations and gain sign off before commencing to reduce this and when conflict does arise, redo this step and update as needed.
  Tempting as it may be to promise that you can satisfy a client's every request, remember that it is always better to under-promise and over deliver.

• Conflict due to priorities
  Sometimes, your priorities and that of the client are not aligned with one another. While you may be focused on trying to accomplish more urgent and pressing tasks, your client may be more concerned about the projects and the outputs they are expecting from you. This causes conflict because you and your client are progressing with different outcomes in mind.
  Conflict resolution technique: This is a classic example of client conflict that may be resolved through proper communication and realignment.
  Competing priorities need to be addressed and solutions agreed before proceeding.

Techniques in Resolving Face-to-Face Client Conflict

Along with the above-mentioned techniques, there are useful techniques you can use in resolving client conflict that occurs in face-to-face settings. These include:

• Use the right verbal cues

  Be mindful of the language you use as you try to resolve client conflict. The situation already has negative connotations and possible tensions among those involved and saying the wrong words may lead to heightened conflict and misunderstanding. Phrase your statements carefully, using words that are more neutral and less aggressive. It is also best to stick to facts and avoid focusing on opinions that may further aggravate the situation.

• Use the right non-verbal cues and body language

  Using non-verbal cues appropriately will help you resolve client conflict more easily. Avoid raising your voice or speaking aggressively; stay calm and collected at all times. To further encourage clients to be open with you, maintain an open stance and use positive body language such as leaning in, nodding your head in agreement. This would increase their willingness to sit down and talk about the problem at hand rather than being angry about it.

• Listen and allow everyone to speak

  Actively listen to your client to avoid further miscommunication. In doing so, it may be helpful to use signals that indicate your understanding of what they are saying. You may also restate and summarise points they have said and confirm if that is what they meant to say.

  Likewise, it is important to give the client their fair share of time to express themselves. Avoid talking over them and allow them to explain their concerns. As they do, continue to actively listen and be open to what they have to say.

• Come up with solutions

  Do not just passively accept your client’s concerns; respond accordingly. This means showing empathy and apologising when necessary and trying to offer solutions to address the complaints. At the end of the day, conflict resolution aims to solve the problems raised by your clients. It is imperative that you come up with concrete options that may help address their concerns. Even though you are not fully capable of resolving the issues they have raised, you must still provide them with options and guidance on how these can be addressed.

Risk and Hazard Communication

Communicating potential risks or safety hazards may not be the most pleasant of tasks. However, it is imperative that you handle these matters well and manage them effectively.

Challenges in Risk and Hazard Communication

The biggest challenge in communicating risks and hazards in the workplace is that they are so subjective. One person may identify something as a potential risk that another would not consider a problem. 
This may mean that some serious risks are overlooked, while on other occasions the cost or complexity of the required rectifications outweighs the benefits of addressing the risk or hazard.

Resolving Work Health and Safety Risks

Along with the challenges and techniques discussed above, there are communication techniques you can use to resolve the work health and safety risks you may encounter in the workplace. These techniques must be in line with the processes included in the work health and safety risk management process, which includes:

• Risk analysis

  This is the identification and analysis of potential issues that can occur in the workplace and negatively impact employees, projects as well as the workplace itself.

• Identification of control measures

  This is the determination of the different initiatives and/or protocols that can prevent and/or eliminate a risk or hazard you face in the workplace.

• Identification of persons responsible for risks

  This is the determination of the key personnel whose job is to ensure that risks are properly addressed and resolved.

In line with this process, communication techniques for resolving work health and safety risks include:

• Work Health and Safety consultation

  As outlined in the Work Health and Safety Act 2011, consultation with workers regarding work health and safety matters is required for all organisations. Moreover, it is an effective way to manage potential risks or safety hazards. In consulting with workers who may be affected by the risks, you empower workers to communicate their concerns and suggestions in resolving these risks. This is efficient because workers who are in direct contact with and/or are affected by risks will be able to provide practical advice and opinions based on their experience. Such would help in creating more effective control measures.

• Hazard report forms

  It is imperative that your organisation provides employees with a formal means of recording and reporting hazards they may encounter in the workplace. This comes in the form of hazard report forms to be filled up once a hazard has been identified.

• Coordination mechanisms

  It is important to coordinate the procedures you have agreed upon for eliminating and minimising risks. This will help ensure that everyone who is concerned and/or involved can perform their duties effectively. In coordinating with relevant personnel, you must:

  • Sufficiently explain the reasons and steps involved in managing the risks
  • Clarify the duties assigned for each personnel and make sure that everyone is aware of the tasks involved with these duties
  • Ensure that personnel are fully equipped with the necessary skills and materials that would enable them to perform their duties
  • See to it that all control measures help each other rather than fight each other.

Unethical and Inappropriate Communication

Two other communication challenges you may face in the workplace is the occurrence of unethical as well as inappropriate communication.

Unethical Communication in the Workplace

One kind of communication that is looked down upon is unethical communication. This is communication that is immoral, encouraging deception and manipulation of messages. The most common manifestations of unethical communication in the workplace include:

• Selective misquoting

  This is twisting someone’s words or ideas by taking parts of statements out of context. The resulting passage becomes problematic because its meaning, now separated from the original context, changes. Selective misquoting is often done to create false support for a claim or to make the original communicator of a statement lose their credibility.

• Plagiarism

  Plagiarism is taking someone else’s thoughts, ideas, or words and presenting them as your own. It is a form of stealing often done to make one seem intelligent, reliable, and/or praiseworthy. Aside from being illegal, plagiarism is an unethical form of communication that would actually reduce rather than build one’s credibility in the workplace.

• Lying

  In the workplace, lying comes in many forms. This may be as small as misreporting progress on certain tasks or as big as concealing important matters. Lying makes it difficult to build trust within the workplace and makes one lose their integrity.

Inappropriate Communication

Along with unethical communication, another problematic form of communication within the workplace is inappropriate communication. This is a type of communication that involves negative and/or unwanted messaging that is potentially harmful toward receivers. Common manifestations of inappropriate communication in the workplace include:

• Using aggressive language

  This is expressing your thoughts, ideas, or opinions aggressively. Forms of aggression would include being sarcastic, using harsh tones and words, and showing condescension towards those you are communicating with. Using aggressive language is likely to intimidate those you are speaking with and scare them away, keeping them from truly speaking their minds and being open about their actual thoughts for fear of how you would react.

• Using racially offensive language

  This involves using language that is meant to offend, insult, humiliate or intimidate others on the basis of race. Racially offensive language includes racial slurs, jokes, or comments that belittle or stereotype certain racial groups, especially minorities and inappropriate or offensive terms.

• Using gender-insensitive language

  This involves using language that is meant to offend, insult, humiliate, or intimidate others on the basis of gender. Gender-insensitive language would include sexist jokes, comments, or remarks that promote gender stereotypes.

Resolving Unethical and Inappropriate Communication

To counter unethical and inappropriate communication, there are key techniques you can use in framing your communication. These are:

• Frame to achieve a clear purpose

  All your communications must be aimed at achieving goals. Moreover, it is important that these goals are made clear, especially to you. You will be more confident about how others will receive and react to your messages if you yourself are sure about the purpose of your communication.

• Frame the message to the audience and situation

  Along with recognising and making the purpose of your communication the basis of your communications, it is equally important to consider the audience and the context of your communication. Knowing your audience would help you better understand the style and language you must use to effectively send your message.

  The same is true for the situation. Consider how much time you have, the urgency of your communication need, the type of media you would use to convey your message. Sufficient understanding of your audience and situation would help you frame your messaging better, leading to more effective communications.

• Frame to build content understanding

  Finally, remember that your messaging should ultimately aim towards understanding. The end-goal of your communications would always be to send messages that would be understood and accepted by its receivers. It is, therefore, essential to balance grounding your communications on a clear purpose with ensuring appropriateness with your target audience and situation and ultimately aiming to promote understanding of your content.

Challenges and solutions for presenting

When you are conducting a presentation, there may be challenges that you are prone to experience. These are circumstances that will prevent you from delivering your intended message clearly and concisely. There are many reasons for such challenges. They may be caused by the very environment where you are presenting, the materials you are using to supplement your presentation, and/or you yourself as the presenter. The most common challenges you may face while presenting include:

• Poor use of body language

  When you are not communicating properly with your body, it can affect the overall delivery of your message. No eye contact, being stiff, stuffing hands in your pockets, presenting with low energy or playing with markers does not make it look like you are engaged in the presentation and will in turn make it hard for the audience to engage. It will be harder for your audience to keep engaged when you look bored with the topic you are discussing.
  Technique to resolve this challenge: Ensure that your body language supports your verbal language. Make use of proper hand gestures to indicate key points and maintain an open stance at all times. Do not be afraid to move around as you present. You should also be mindful of how you use your facial expressions. Show enthusiasm through these and maintain eye contact with your audience as you present.

• Rambling

  In truth, rambling is nothing more than the result of a lack of preparation. When you ramble, you look like you do not know enough about the material you are presenting. It can also distract from the message you intend to share with your audience. This, in turn, prevents the audience from understanding the main ideas or the key takeaway of the topic.
  Technique to resolve this challenge: Prepare well for your presentation. Ensure that you truly understand the information and/or instructions you are to discuss. Moreover, find the time to rehearse the flow of your presentation so you have an idea how it should go. You do not have to memorise your material word per word, but you need to have a key understanding of everything you will communicate to avoid rambling.

• Difficult questions

  Of the communication challenges that you can experience while presenting, perhaps the most intimidating is having to deal with questions you cannot answer. Communication should encourage discussion, however, this leaves it open to questions that may be beyond the knowledge of the presenter or scope of the presentation.
  Technique to resolve this challenge: The truth is, you cannot fully prevent difficult questions during your presentation. However, you can sufficiently prepare for these. When you plan for your presentation, list down all the possible questions that may be asked of you and try to formulate answers for these. If this still proves to be insufficient, do not fret. It is okay to not have the answer to every question. Admit that you do not know the answer to an audience member's question, note  the question, and tell them you will get back to them once you have done further research on the matter.

Challenges and solutions for signage and visual prompts

You may also experience challenges when using signages in the workplace. This is often a result of such signages lacking clarity or visibility in the presentation of their intended message. Common challenges you may face include:

• Positioning

  Signage cannot always be clearly seen from certain positions or points of view. The position of the sign determines how clear it is to the audience. Too high, too close, on a sharp angle or somewhere that reflects light will all reduce the audiences ability to see the sign/message.
  Technique to resolve this challenge: Before you finalise the position of your signages, ensure that they can easily be read and understood by employees. Test out different positionings for your signage. In doing this, you make seek help from employees who can test these out and give their feedback.

• Contrast of sign against the environment

  In relation to the position, you must also be mindful of the environment you put your sign in. If the sign blends too much into the environment, then the audience is unlikely to notice it.
  Technique to resolve this challenge: Do an inspection of possible locations where you can place your sign. As you do, note the possible elements that may keep it from being properly seen. Remember that your signage needs to get others' attentions and not be overlooked for it to be effective.

• Clarity of text

  Perhaps the most critical challenge you can face with signages concerns the text that is being shown. Text can refer to the way the information is presented and the words used. If the font, size and styling is too small, too pale or too detailed for the space or distance that the sign covers the audience may not be able to read it. Likewise, if the content is too confusing or vague in terms of the language, they will not understand what they are seeing.
  Technique to resolve this challenge: Before you even produce a sign, check the text you want it to display. Ensure that this is clearly phrased and understood by seeking feedback from other employees. Present the text to them and confirm if their understanding of it is the same as your intended message.

Communication Outside of Workplace Policy

You may find yourself engaging in communication outside of the workplace policy. This would include instances where your communication is considered a fundamental violation, although it is not specified in your policy. Among the communication challenges discussed, these may be the most difficult to deal with because there are no clear guidelines for addressing them.

Perhaps the most common example of communication outside workplace policy involves personal communications of employees that do not concern work matters. This may include the use of one’s personal social media to engage in problematic communication (e.g. spreading false news, using profane language, fighting with co-workers) and communication challenges that would occur outside of work hours and/or office premises between and/or among employees.

Due to the nature of this communication challenge, the resolution to be done would vary across organisations. To better understand this challenge and how to resolve it, the following examples are put forth:

• Employees complaining about working through social media

  This communication challenge occurs when employees use their personal social media accounts to post complains about work. This proves to be an issue because the kind of complains they publicise can destroy the image of the organisation to outsiders, including potential and existing stakeholders.

  To resolve such a challenge, organisations can opt to implement organisational training to educate employees on social media etiquette. This is because some employees may not be aware of the proper way to behave online. Organisations may also develop policies for the use of personal social media. This would further limit the occurrence of such incidents.

• Employee conflict outside work

  When colleagues in the same company have personal issues outside of work, this communication challenge arises. This may be the most difficult problem to deal with among the various challenges that are outside of organisational policy, as the organisation cannot deal with conflict outside of work – be it job-related matters or office.

  The organisation can, however, step in if such conflict affects current working conditions. If in case the conflict does affect the work environment and culture, there are a number of resolution methods the organisation can implement. These would include mediation, grievance hearing and disciplinary hearing. Additionally, the organisation may opt to implement organisational adjustment to separate the conflicting parties.

Ultimately, it is up to the organisation to deal with such instances accordingly. The approach that will be done to address these may be a bit unconventional. You may need to think outside the box and work with existing resolution techniques meant for situations that you have prepared for.

The fourth and last step of enabling workplace communication is to receive a confirmation on the outcomes of communication problems. This is to ensure that issues have been sufficiently resolved. Although there is no one strict way for confirming that communication challenges have been sufficiently resolved, there is a general process for doing so.

Steps in this process include:

1. Summarise the challenge encountered

   Once your communication challenge has concluded, you must be able to sufficiently summarise what happened. In doing so, it is important that you take note of key points such as the persons involved, the date/s when it occurred, the events that transpired, and the subsequent outcomes of the challenge. For the most part, this step is done formally by means of preparing a report or formal document that outlines the details of your communication challenge. However, the level of detail required in this step may change depending on the severity of the challenge.

2. Finalise resolution technique

   Once you have documented the communication challenge that took place, you now finalise the technique you will use to resolve this. The previous section outlines the different techniques you can employ for the challenges you can face. In accomplishing this step, you may find it necessary to seek the help of relevant personnel. For instance, the selection of your techniques may be made with the employees directly involved in the challenge as well as a third-party consultant. You may also need to seek approval from superiors if the technique you are to employ has a larger scope or additional requirements.

3. Enact resolution technique

   After you have finalised the resolution technique you are to use, you can now enact this. This step is the heart of your process as it will be the point where your issues are resolved. Make sure that in doing this step, you are able to sufficiently address the concerns of the parties involved and follow the proper guidance in enacting your technique.

4. Evaluate the resolution

   Your work does not end once you have enacted your resolution techniques. To be sure that you have indeed resolved the issues and overcome the challenge, you must evaluate the resolution technique that was employed. This would entail seeking feedback from all those involved in the communication challenge. Reach out to them and ask them how they feel about the way the matter was handled. Further, let them know that they can open up about any concerns they still have so these can be resolved.

• By using interpersonal skills effectively, you can build relationships with team members and clients as well as facilitate respectful interaction.
• Facilitating respectful communication among others requires paying special attention to the requirements of individuals from diverse backgrounds.
•  Individuals with special needs or disabilities must be given special consideration.
• To resolve communication challenges, you must employ techniques that will require you to use problem-solving and decision-making skills effectively. 
•  Once your communication challenge has been addressed, you must effectively resolve it and confirm that the issues it involves have been addressed.

 

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