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Imagine if you were to receive an email with no subject line or had to attend a meeting with no agenda.
If you were to receive vague and inconclusive office communication in the middle of a busy day, it’ll likely mess up your schedule and leave you with unanswered questions. Not only does this waste time but will also affect your productivity.
Professional communication is one of the most critical skills that you must develop to drive your career forward. It includes spoken, written, digital and visual communication. Communication can be in the form of presentations, emails, video calls, in-person conferences or minutes of a meeting. It determines how you engage with your coworkers and clients on a daily basis.
Effective professional communication is important to convey your ideas as clearly as possible. Harappa Education offers two high-impact courses—Speaking Effectively and Writing Proficiently—that’ll teach you how to refine your professional communication skills.
Let’s discover more about professional communication in the workplace.
What Is Professional Communication?
Professional communication is not the same as interacting with your friends or family. In the workplace, you’re responsible for upholding your organization’s as well as your own reputation.
So, you have to choose your words wisely because it can seriously impact your position. On the flip side, it can help you tackle sensitive situations like company-wide audits, meetings with top leadership and workplace conflicts.
For instance, if you have to deal with a difficult customer, good professional communication skills can help you pacify the situation without offending anyone.
Effective professional communication in the workplace will help you stand out among your coworkers, leverage your skills to make progress in your career and deal effectively with external stakeholders—clients, customers, etc.
How To Enhance Professional Communication Skills?
As the world advances, organizations are turning to digital communication strategies to streamline their business affairs. It’s no longer just about email marketing and paper advertisements but robust social media strategies and large-scale ad campaigns.
The latter involves extensive professional communication like engaging with an online audience, blogging, and online marketing like Google AdWords. So, you have to keep improving your professional communication skills to keep up with the times.
Here are some ways you can do this so you don’t miss out on new opportunities:
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Identify Your Purpose
There are many types of professional communication. You have to first identify what you’re trying to achieve before you craft your message. The purpose of any communication can be to inform, influence, convince or define expectations. You should convey your purpose and intent clearly in your message to avoid confusion and save time.
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Practice Brevity
Shorter sentences and crisp responses can pack a punch. Instead of writing paragraph after paragraph, your communication must be tailored to its purpose. Write the key message of your email right in the beginning. Your introduction should be crisp so the reader can easily understand your intent.
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Listen Actively
Communication is often a two-way street or a dialogue. If you want to engage in effective professional communication, you should practice active listening. Listen not just with your ears but your entire body. Respond appropriately and interject only when needed. If someone else initiated the conversation, you should be the one asking questions instead of providing answers.
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Read More to Enhance Your Writing
If you have to write more at work, reading a little every day will be really helpful. It’s important to refresh your ideas and gather new information about everything that’s happening around you. You can read about art and culture, the world economy, politics and even financial markets.
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Familiarize Yourself with Different Channels of Communication
Keep up with new channels of communication so you don’t get left behind. If your role involves social media, you should try and learn more about new emerging platforms in addition to what already exists. Someone who works with an international organization should be familiar with video conferencing services like Zoom and Google Meet. (https://romantichoneymoonisland.com/)
Conclusion
There’s no expiration date when it comes to learning. The world is changing at record speed and we have to do our best to keep up with it. Professional communication is important in the workplace so you can build constructive relationships and sustain your network.
Harappa Education’s Speaking Effectively and Writing Proficiently courses—part of our Communicate Habit—will teach you how to craft your message, structure your arguments, and present your ideas clearly. Learn to take ownership of your words and become a persuasive communicator to deliver a clear message!
Explore topics such as Business Communication, Types of Business Communication & How to Write a Professional Email from our Harappa Diaries section and learn to present your ideas clearly.
