Importance of Effective Communication Skills

Communication, from what I understand, is what most of us are capable of when conveying our intentions to another party. But seriously, to what extent have our intentions been always accurately perceived by the listener? I believed majority of us at some point or another, do encounter situations where our intentions were not brought across to the listener effectively and consequently, tempers would flare and relationships were strained. Effective communication, I believed, served to minimize this miscommunication gap by optimizing verbal and non-verbal gestures, as well as the emotional state of the listener and the conduciveness of the environment which is often overlooked.

Being a naval personnel, I have served many attachments onboard various ships and I could appreciate the importance of cultivating effective communication skills. I shall share my experience onboard to illustrate my point. For example, navigating a ship out at sea requires a team of crew which is usually called the “Bridge team”. The team consists of various positions such as helmsman, lookout and the most important position is none other than the leader of that team, namely “Officer of the watch (OOW)”. It is very important for the OOW to convey his intentions clearly to the team, because any misinterpretation of the OOW’s intentions by the rest of the team could land the ship in dangerous marine situations and even disastrous collisions in which innocent lives will be lost. For instance, the OOW adopts a jokingly tone while giving instructions to the team and one can imagine how well the team can perform competently and professionally.

From these, you can see how effective communication plays an important role in ensuring the safety of everyone onboard the ship. Cultivating effective communication skills are definitely important and relevant to me because I will have to lead a “bridge team” in the future. Of course, effective communication does not just apply to my work only. There is also much importance in my social life in which effective communication plays, especially in my future marriage. I strongly believe that without effective two-way communication, marriage does not last long and will eventually end up in the rising figures of divorces happening in our today’s society.

As such, I hope to become a more effective communicator through Professional Communication and I strongly believe that what I will achieve from this course will be beyond my expectations.

Cheers!