Five key dimensions of communications - Part 2
When dining in restaurants, I am sometimes unsure whether the waiter took my order correctly? That’s partly because it’s too easy to pretend to be listening, instead of actively listening. Very often, despite informing the waiter that I am allergic to tomatoes, I have received the dish I ordered garnished with a slice of tomato. Hearing is a physical process and easy to act out, while listening is a mental process requiring processing and proper interpretation to understand a message.
Actively listening is not merely a reaction, it is a connection. It is described as totally concentrating on what is being said, rather than just passively “hearing” the person talking. That means a waiter for example, could use both verbal and non-verbal skills to convey his / her interest and understanding of the message.
For the most part, people can be terrible listeners. It is said that listening efficiency is between 25% and 50%, which means that 50% to 75% of the spoken information is disregarded, forgotten or misunderstood. It gets worse when the conversation is not in the listener’s native language.
Although less often included in communication scales, written communication skills are an extremely valuable asset. Irrespective of the level of hierarchy you are at in a company, when you connect internally with colleagues and your peers or externally to clients, the way you write can create a positive or negative impression of yourself.
A lot of people assume that acquiring skills in oral communication is automatically transferable to mastering written communications. That is a deadly conclusion, which unfortunately many young people fail to understand. Written communication if and when mastered, can be a powerful and influential tool. The problem is that many executives find it hard to write their point in a simple, condensed and digestible style. Instead, they add clutter and unnecessary details to business presentations including articles and that’s when the mistakes creep in.
A document or article filled with grammatical errors will never make a favorable impression. One might think a few grammatical or punctuation errors are undetectable. People however do notice and they tend to think that the person (despite their title or high flying designation), who neglects to proof read his / her own work is not competent or is simply unintelligent. Bottom-line: Higher the title…higher the ridicule and / or disrespect! Best proofread your written work before hitting “send”. An excellent example, as I recall, was the article I received from a former chef, now the CEO / General Manager of a hotel, where he had whetted his draft five times!
Long before speech was developed and became our primary form of communication, man relied on uttering guttural sounds and body language. Even nowadays body language, broadly referred to as non-verbal communication and, which is conveyed through facial expressions, posture and tone of voice, still constitutes around 65% of our communications. Hospitality, been a highly interactive, people focused and sometimes fast-paced business, requires hotel managers and staff to master the various nuances of this form of communication as it involves attitude, emotions and feelings.
Non-verbal signals of active listening can include ‘lean in’ – where your posture indicates that you’re tuned in and focused on what’s being said. ‘Tilting’ the head toward the speaker to indicates that you are listening. ‘Nodding ‘and smiling are also good indicators that you’re paying attention and can be powerful in affirming that the message is heard and understood. Beware though, Sri Lankans by and large, have a tendency to nod and smile even when they do not understand what is been said.
Digital is the new normal in today's generational society with even entry-level workers in the hospitality industry, now expected to use all manner of digital devices and equipment. Many hotels have resorted to digital technology to cope with an ever growing environment characterized by global competition and guests’ expectations. To be an effective communicator in this technological sphere one needs to possess a balanced mixture of both hard and soft digital skills. Hard skills are the basic practical skills that help to navigate social media, use software and get the most out of video conferencing platforms. Soft skills are less tangible, but equally important, in that one needs to learn to communicate clearly and confidently. It requires adapting one’s language to suit an online discussion / presentation or the ability to pick on body language or tone of voice over video calls. In this era of rapid digitalization, finding the right balance between shifting attention to digital communication and retaining the face-to-face interactions in customer touchpoints is challenging. Actually, there’s a time and place for both.
Let’s now dwell a bit on the difference between communications skills and interpersonal skills. Apart from the five key dimensions of communication skills, managers’ have to sharpen their Interpersonal skills, which require developing ‘domain expertise’. It is important to learn how to communicate in front of a group of people in a captivating or structured manner, for accomplishing whatever the goal ahead - be it expansion of business, motivation of other people, managing a crisis or professional growth.
As Paul Barton said, using an unemotional tone to command employees to deliver warm and efficient service will not work. Effective communication differs from one domain to another. A pediatrician informing a family of a diagnosis must communicate information differently than a CEO responding to a labor dispute or a head of department talking to a supervisor who needs to be given a kick upstairs. It’s here that many managers make the mistake of ignoring the fact that ‘domain expertise’ matter, in the belief that their normal method of oral communication will work in all scenarios.
Managers and executives in hospitality, who take on leadership roles, must practice solving domain-specific problems so that they can prepare to disseminate information in the professional arena they are asked to lead.
Ilzaf Keefahs is a freelance writer who enjoys focusing on hospitality related matters that he is passionate about, and likes to share his views with hoteliers and customers alike. He delves into the heart of hospitality to figure out both customer service and consumer trends that impact the industry
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