Importance of Communication Skills

Effective communication skills are fundamental in the workplace and life.

Communication skills include what a speaker’s facial expression, attitude, voice tone,
and word choice are like. Whether a person responds quickly or not determines his/her
communication skills.

1. Helps us better understand people and situations.

People with good communication skills can understand other people’s feelings well
because they consider how people are going to feel and react to what they say.

2. Strengthens relationships
Smooth conversation strengthens relationships. Think of it when hearing compliments.
Compliments make people feel pleasant and can develop relationships.

3. Quickens problem solving

The best way to solve a problem is to have enough conversations. When I face a
problem with my assignment, I search for it on the Internet. There are a lot of solutions
and instructions to the problem. However, sometimes, I cannot understand any of them
because of the lack of explanation. Especially, when it relates to computer work. I have
barely any knowledge about computers, but the tutorials explain them in expert words
which most people like me would have a hard time understanding it. I spend a long time
solving the problem. If they were written in easy words that considered the readers, I
could’ve solved the problems faster.

4. More productivity
I had a group project in my social class and my partner did not check my message
quickly. I cannot process the next step because he did not respond to me. As result, we
ended up spending three days on the project when we could finish it up to one day. If
communication is going faster, we can do more work, and therefore, save much time.

5. Helps minimize errors

When someone tells his/her message straightforwardly, it helps minimize errors. It is
easy to understand so there would be fewer misunderstandings. Last time, I went to the
movies with my friend. My mom asked me at what time she needed to pick me up. I
messaged my mom that the movie was going to end at 6 and my mom understood it as
the pick-up time. I literally meant that the movie ended at 6 and I did not know the next
plan because I maybe was going to have dinner with my friend. However, my mom
came at 6 to pick me up so I couldn’t have dinner with my friend. This is an example of
miscommunication leading to an error.

6. Gives you confidence and a strong voice

At first, when I came to Canada, I cannot speak English. It means that my
communication skills here were almost zero. My confidence level got lower and lower
and I tried to avoid talking. My communication skills did not improve, therefore, my voice
was weak. I was trapped in a vicious circle. When you have great communication skills,
that can give you confidence, and it makes your voice stronger.