Is it difficult for people to get the message you try to put across? Have you heard the statement “You should try communicating better” one too many times? Are they right? Self-reflection is significant when dealing with problems that affect your relationship with others.  Frequent communication difficulties are an indicator of poor communication skills. To solve this, it’s best to first identify where the problem is coming from.

Communication is one of the most important life skills. It is a significant aspect of our daily lives as humans. Every day through our speech, writing, and body language we all convey messages to one another. Yet, these messages are not always understood as you may have experienced. This is because a lot of factors can have a huge impact on the way we express and interpret information. These include our emotions, cultural background, and medium of transmission. Hence leading to Poor communication.

This article will cover the meaning of poor communication skills and their signs. But first, let's consider the concept and importance of communication.

Concept of Communication and Importance

Communication in its simplest form is the successful spread of information. It is the fundamental aspect of business, management, and order. Effective communication enables a clear understanding of information by the listener. It is an active process. This is because more than one person(Sender(s) and Recipient(s)) is involved. It also requires diligent effort from both sides to achieve mutual understanding.

There are basic steps that need to be carried out for this to happen. This includes message composition, message encoding, message transmission, message decoding, and interpretation. Each party involved in the communication process has to observe one of these tasks.

The sender handles message composition, encoding, and transmission. The recipient then decodes and interprets the message received and gives feedback. It's a two-way process.

Having great communication skills is necessary. Though some parts of this skill come naturally,  for some much work has to occur to hone this skill. But why is it so important? It is a necessity if you want to pass on ideas and share information with others. Doing so without misunderstandings and arguments. It also enables you to build and keep successful business and personal relationships. Convincing and clear speech can change a person's perspective on a subject matter. Still, Good communication serves as a foundation for planning and making decisions. And it enables coordination and organization, which are important in business.

You won't be able to achieve all these with poor communication. It's about time we talk about the dreaded cause of all our problems.

Poor Communication Skills

Poor communication skills are the inability to relay thoughts in a way that the recipient of the information can understand. It is also a failure to interpret information in the way the speaker intended it to be. It results when parts of the communication process are omitted. When that happens things are either miscommunicated, not communicated, or turned completely south. Not everyone is a natural at communicating. And we have different ideas and perspectives.  So, often we go off course when getting our point across and understanding messages.

Some habits which promote poor communication include:

1. Not being Specific: This involves constant rambling instead of addressing the issue head-on. It can be a real source of frustration and cause a lot of misunderstandings for the recipient.

2. Conveying messages through the wrong medium: Today there are many ways of sending messages. For example phone calls, emails, SMS, or text messaging. Choosing the wrong medium could interfere with communication in many ways. Let's say you want your sibling to pick an item up for you on their way home. Using an e-mail would not be the best option due to time factors. There is also the likely possibility that they wouldn’t check their mail. Thus it would be better to make a phone call or text message to get the message across.

3. Failing to listen: Communication is an active process. There is no way that you can decode and respond to information if you fail to listen.

4. Giving too little Information: People can’t read minds. So if you don’t give them enough information, there's a high chance you won’t get what you want.

5. No feedback or Questions: The opportunity to gain more clarity from your sender, is possible through feedback. It enables you to confirm that the information you’ve decided is what the person talking meant to pass on.

Others include:

• Making Assumptions or Pretending to know

• Using passive voice

• Interrupting Others

These habits apply to all forms of communication whether verbal or written. Try avoiding them and see if your communication improves.

Looking for more ways to improve communication with your clients or employees?

Written communication is the most efficient way to transfer messages today. With SmartSMSSolutions, you can convey messages and request feedback from your clients or employees. Visit our web page to open an SMS account for free. And use our Bulk SMS plans to improve and maintain good relationships with your clients today!