Developing a Personal Communication Strategy

How we communicate with others sometimes has a dramatic effect on how we are perceived as a person, generally determining what others think about us within those first impressions. This can have an effect on most things that you do within your workplace, speaking to customers, and colleagues. The way they perceive you can have complete control of how they view you as an individual and what they are willing to do for you in effect. 

 

Having a personal communication strategy can help you shape the way you wish others to see you, making managing and leading teams easier, through the discovery of what types of communication work the best for different groups of people. 

 

The process of communication can be represented by this six-step model:

 

Step 1            -           Identify your objectives

Step 2            -           Identify the recipients

Step 3            -           Choose the method of communication

Step 4            -           Match the message to the recipient

Step 5            -           Get feedback

Step 6            -           Respond to feedback

 

  

Let’s have a look at what each step means:

 

Step 1 – Identify your Objectives

 

Ask yourself the following types of questions:

 

• What do I want to achieve?
• What do I want the receiver to be able to do or think as a result of my communication?
• In what ways am I trying to influence them?

 

Step 2 – Identify the Recipients

 

Who needs to know what you are communicating?  In organisations is it important to be alert to the:

 

• Who absolutely must be informed?
• Who also needs to know?
• Who it would be courteous to keep informed?

 

Step 3 – Choose the Method / Channel of Communication

 

The method or channel must be suitable for the purpose. For example, you may be old enough to recall that the Government's early attempts to influence the sexual behaviour of young people through TV adverts about HIV/AIDS in the 1980s were severely criticised.

 

Critics pointed out that the policy/strategy was poorly thought out stating that TV advertising was not the most effective channel of communication as the age group being targeted (16-25’s) actually watches TV far less frequently than any others in the population. Those who watch TV the most (over 55’s) were also likely to be the ones least likely to be exposed to the HIV/AIDs virus.

 

Sometimes the problem may not be that the channel is wrong, but that there is no obvious channel.  If TV advertising was not the right way to reach people to influence them about their sexual behaviour, then what was?

 

• What channels might you have suggested back then?
• Is there a problem concerning the lack of an obvious channel in your work for instance in communicating with customers, suppliers, other units of the organisation, bosses, and colleagues?

 

Step 4 – Match the Message to the Recipient

 

Many attempts at communication fail at this stage.  Essentially, you can only communicate well when:

 

• You have an accurate profile of the recipient of the message
• You convey your understanding of the recipient in the way you communicate

 

An accurate profile means that you have all the information you need on:

 

• Communication style
• Likely opinions on the topic under review
• Any ideas or assumptions likely to cause resistance

 

The basic rule is to:  KEEP IT SHORT AND SIMPLE

 

 

Step 5 – Get Feedback

 

True communication involves a complete loop between sender and recipient.

 

The sender sends out the message; the recipient receives and (usually) gives a response or feedback. Your communication may be skilfully adapted to the needs of the recipient but if you haven’t made provisions for feedback it could still fail.

 

Equally, if you are the receiver and have no chance to give feedback, the person communicating with you is unlikely to be successful.

 

 

Step 6 – Respond to Feedback

 

The final part of the communication chain is about taking account of the feedback you receive. 

 

For example, when you give someone in your team a performance appraisal, it is wise to ask for their feedback on how you manage them and your style and perhaps you may consider a change to some of your behaviour as a result.

 

 

 

How can we help?

At Maguire Training, not only do we offer classroom-based courses and programmes, but we are also proud to offer a versatile and intuitive suite of over 190 eLearning modules on our website, which covers a range of sales and customer service topics. Including our Advanced Communication Skills, where delegates experienced and new will learn the professionalism of sales. 

 

Contact us

If you have any questions, don't hesitate to get in contact with us:

Phone:  0333 5777 144

Email:  info@maguiretraining.co.uk

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