Living in a constant environment of people, it is very difficult to imagine life without communication. It is so deeply rooted in all spheres of social activity that without it a person simply could not live fully. But what is communication? What is meant by this concept? How are communication and human activity generally interconnected? What is its role in a professional environment? All these questions are very important for understanding the psychology of people and how they interact with each other in society.
Communication concept
Communication is incredibly important to people. It is a special form of interaction between two or more people, the essence of which is the exchange of information, experience and emotions. The parties to communication in this case act as equal partners who, moving together in the same direction, achieve their goals. It is thanks to him that the process of socialization of a person in society occurs, his self-development, the formation of new ideas, views, thoughts, individual and social experience.
How to develop eloquence
Anyone, if desired, can learn to express their thoughts competently and beautifully, present information in an engaging manner, and speak in front of a large audience without fear. In order to develop eloquence, you need to use the methods of rhetoric:
- A speech in front of a large audience is thought out in advance. You need to make a short outline of the story, practice several times in front of the mirror;
- Any opinion put forward by the speaker (storyteller) must be confirmed with the help of logical arguments (they also need to be thought out in advance) or examples from life;
- You need to present your thoughts sequentially, leaving listeners a little time to think about the content of what was said;
- To attract the attention of the audience, you need to use different intonations, highlight important thoughts in a special voice;
- A voice that is too loud quickly tires and distracts attention, while a quiet voice does not allow listeners to concentrate;
- It is better to avoid monotonous speech and too abstruse, long phrases; they “lull” the audience’s attention.
()
The connection between communication and activity
Communication, as one of the main needs of a person, is closely related to his activities. Some psychologists, especially foreign ones, believe that communication and activity are opposite concepts. When considering this issue, it is necessary to take into account different approaches to defining this relationship.
Representatives of Russian psychology put forward a theory of the unity of communication and human activity. Such conclusions were made due to the belief that human communication represents living and real relationships between individual individuals. They, in turn, always arise on the subject of something, for some reason or because of some activity of this or that person. This means that their communication is mediated by the presence of some common activity, which means that communication itself is part of the entire active process.
There is a third point of view, whose adherents say that human activity and human communication are not elements of one whole, but rather varieties of each other. According to this theory, communication is a special type of human activity.
Despite such differences, all three opinions have common points. They confirm the close and inextricable connection between communication and activity as such and believe that they should only be analyzed in the context of each other.
↑ Labor as a type of activity
Work
is a human activity aimed at obtaining a practically useful result, which makes it possible to satisfy one’s needs.
In the process of labor activity, a person produces the material and spiritual values he needs. Unlike study and play, work requires a person to have certain training or qualifications,
for example: a miner cannot perform a surgical operation.
Qualification -
the level of knowledge, abilities, skills and competence that characterizes readiness to perform a certain type of professional activity.
Characteristic features of work:
- Feasibility
- Focus on achieving programmed expected results
- Availability of skills, abilities, knowledge.
- Practical usefulness
- Availability of result
- Personal development
- Transformation of the external human environment
Communication and communication
The importance of communication is difficult to describe in words. It is needed everywhere: in everyday life, in social activities, at work. The success of the entire undertaking sometimes depends on the degree of its effectiveness. If communication is well built, the likelihood of conflict and uncomfortable situations between people is minimized.
However, communication and communication are not the same thing. Often these concepts are used as synonyms, although if you delve into their very essence, it becomes clear that there are differences between them. Communication is any interaction between two components, the main function of which is the exchange of information. If we consider communication as a flow of information, then we can say that communication is a way of communication. However, in the broad sense of the word, this is a complex multifunctional process, as a result of which not only information data is exchanged, but also the influence of one person on another.
The art of communicating with people
Dialogue is a natural human environment. However, every person should be able to communicate with others correctly. We are taught to communicate first by our parents, then by teachers, comrades and other people around us. It is very important to master the art of communication from an early age.
When communicating with a person, always look him in the eyes. Then contact between the interlocutors will occur much faster.
Try to feel the person so as not to offend him. If you know your counterpart’s weaknesses, never talk about them.
Have confidence in your interlocutor. If you don't trust him, then is there a need to build a dialogue with him? Of course, we are not talking about relatives and people close to you. After all, you already know how to communicate with them. But as for an unfamiliar and stranger, you only need to show positivity. Avoid bad emotions and be as friendly as possible.
Forms of communication
The task of communication and communication in its narrow sense is to establish interaction and further joint activities. People realize their communication needs in both written and oral forms. Traditional forms of oral communication include conversation, public speaking, presentation, negotiations, meeting, business conversation.
Written forms of communication include correspondence, essays, letters, including electronic ones, reports, documentation, essays and many other varieties. Each of the above forms of communication has its own characteristics and features, which allow us to determine in which cases it is better to use one or another communication form.
Communication means
Everything a person does while in the process of communication has some communication meaning. Words, intonation, speed of speech, posture, gait, posture, gestures, facial expressions and much more merge together and are perceived by people as something indivisible. However, psychology distinguishes between verbal and nonverbal means of communication, because their influence on people’s perception of information varies.
Verbal means of communication include human speech itself, the words used, types of grammatical structures, speech style, and literary techniques. As a rule, verbal means are more straightforward.
The group of nonverbal communication means is much more diverse and interesting. It consists of the following components:
- Facial expressions.
- Gestures.
- Pantomime.
- Poses.
- Posture.
- Body position in space.
- Visual contact.
- Extralinguistic factors (voice timbre, speech rate, intonation, pauses).
↑ Game as a type of activity
A game
- this is a type of activity that is aimed at satisfying spiritual needs and the goal of which is not the production of a material product, but the process itself - relaxation, entertainment.
Characteristic features of the game:
- Occurs in a conditional situation, which, as a rule, changes quickly.
- Certain items are used during the game
- Aimed at satisfying the interests of its participants
- Promotes personality development, enriches it, equips it with the necessary skills.
Balance between verbal and non-verbal
Communication as a method of communication is not a perfect balance between verbal and non-verbal components. Words usually convey only a small part of what people really want to convey. Non-verbal signs are of great value. The results of numerous studies have shown that more than 50% of information is transmitted directly by postures, gestures, gaze, movements, 38% by tone of voice and only 7% directly by words.
All communication is a single semantic concept in which words are the content of the message, and all non-verbal signals are its context.
Communication and professional environment
The role of communication in professional activity is especially great. Thanks to it, people can exchange ideas, opinions, and influence each other. It allows you to improve in your chosen field of activity. Communication between business people, its rules and norms, is nothing more than a result that has been developed by practice and experience.
Successful business communication helps to increase the efficiency of a particular organization, as well as the emergence of new ideas and the improvement of old ones. In addition, it is thanks to communication that the transfer of experience from the older generation of workers to the younger occurs.
The basis of business communication is: discussion of important issues, resolution of controversial situations and conflicts, discussion of plans, decision-making. In this type, the moral side of the issue occupies a special place. Both managers and subordinates must be aware of all the norms and rules of business communication. After all, it is significantly different from the usual one. Ethically correctly constructed communication in any professional environment contributes to an increase in the pace of development, team unity, achievement of set goals and high results.
Following simple rules
As a rule, conversations with family, friends and relatives do not cause us any difficulties. We experience the strongest desire to talk with such people, especially since we know very well about their reaction to certain statements, remarks, news. The desire to communicate with strangers is not so high, but often it is forced and necessary. You need to talk to strangers only in a positive way, showing only positive qualities and character traits, being friendly. It is better to do this with a smile on your face, following the existing rules of communication. It is even more important that the phrases you say are appropriate.
Finally, we bring to your attention several effective recommendations for competently building interpersonal relationships and interacting with others:
- be sensitive and attentive to the inner world of your interlocutor;
- remember, everyone deserves respect;
- show interest in the interlocutor, find positive qualities in him;
- do not pay attention to minor shortcomings, everyone has them; there are no ideal people;
- develop your own sense of humor and self-irony.
Principles of communication in a business environment
Professional communication is represented by both horizontal and vertical types. The “superior-subordinate” model refers to vertical communication, while the “colleague-colleague” model refers to horizontal communication. Every day, in hundreds and thousands of organizations, many people communicate with each other in the workplace.
Culture, respect, business approach - these are the basics of communication in a professional environment. In addition, we can highlight a number of principles that should be adhered to when communicating in business circles:
- Interpersonality – personality as such significantly influences communication and its results.
- Multidimensionality – taking into account all components of communication, both verbal and non-verbal, in the aggregate.
- Purposefulness – taking into account the possible presence of not one, but several goals among participants in business communication.
- Continuity – communication continues, even if nothing is communicated verbally, on a non-verbal level. At this point, it is important to note that even silence can be part of communication, especially in the business world.
Now let's take a closer look at the communication process
Concept and types of communication
Communication is characteristic of all higher living beings, but at the human level it takes on the most perfect forms, becoming conscious and mediated by speech. The following aspects are distinguished in communication: content, goal and means.
The content of communication is information that is transmitted from one living being to another in inter-individual contacts. The content of communication can be information about the internal motivational or emotional state of a living being. One person can convey information about existing needs to another, counting on potential participation in their satisfaction. Through communication, data about their emotional states (satisfaction, joy, anger, sadness, compassion, etc.) can be transmitted from one living being to another, aimed at setting up another living being for contacts in a certain way. The same information is transmitted from person to person and serves as a means of interpersonal adjustment. We behave differently towards an angry or suffering person, for example, than towards someone who is well disposed and experiencing joy.
The content of communication can be information about the state of the external environment, transmitted from one living being to another, for example, signals about danger or the presence of positive, biologically significant factors, say, food somewhere nearby.
In humans, the content of communication is much broader than in animals. People exchange information with each other that represents knowledge about the world, rich, lifetime experience, knowledge, abilities, skills and abilities. Human communication is multi-subject, it is the most diverse in its internal content.
The purpose of communication is what a person does for this type of activity. In animals, the purpose of communication may be to encourage another animal to take certain actions, or to warn that it is necessary to refrain from any action. The mother, for example, warns the baby of danger with her voice or movement; Some animals in the herd can warn others that they have perceived vital signals.
A person’s number of communication goals increases. In addition to those listed above, they include the transfer and receipt of objective knowledge about the world, training and education, coordination of reasonable actions of people in their joint activities, establishment and clarification of personal and business relationships, and much more. If in animals the goals of communication usually do not go beyond satisfying their biological needs, then in humans they are a means of satisfying many different needs: social, cultural, cognitive, creative, aesthetic, the needs of intellectual growth, moral development and a number of others.
By purpose, communication is divided into biological and social in accordance with the needs it serves. Biological is communication necessary for the maintenance, preservation and development of the organism. It is associated with the satisfaction of basic organic needs. Social communication pursues the goals of expanding and strengthening interpersonal contacts, establishing and developing interpersonal relationships, and personal growth of the individual. There are as many private goals of communication as there are subtypes of biological and social needs.
No less significant are the differences in means of communication . The latter can be defined as methods of encoding, transmitting, processing and decoding information transmitted in the process of communication from one living being to another.
Encoding information is a way of transmitting it from one living being to another. For example, information can be transmitted through direct bodily contacts: touching the body, hands, etc. Information can be transmitted and perceived by people at a distance, through the senses (observation of one person by the movements of another or perception of sound signals produced by him).
Man, in addition to all these natural methods of transmitting information, has many that are invented and improved by him. This is language and other sign systems, writing in its various types and forms (texts, diagrams, drawings, drawings), technical means of recording, transmitting and storing information (radio and video equipment; mechanical, magnetic, laser and other forms of recording). In terms of his ingenuity in choosing the means and methods of intraspecific communication, man is far ahead of all living creatures known to us that live on planet Earth.
By means of communication, communication can be direct and indirect, direct and indirect. Direct communication is carried out with the help of natural organs given to a living being by nature: arms, head, torso, vocal cords, etc. Indirect communication is associated with the use of special means and tools for organizing communication and exchanging information. These are either natural objects (a stick, a thrown stone, a footprint on the ground, etc.), or cultural ones (sign systems, recordings of symbols on various media, print, radio, television, etc.).
Psychology of professional communication
In the business sphere, there are a number of unwritten rules and norms that dictate how to behave correctly in a given situation and how to communicate correctly with colleagues and superiors. Business communication will be successful if its representatives are honest, decent, fair and responsible.
It is worth keeping in mind that business communication is often far from neutral. Very often you can find interactions that are more reminiscent of struggle or competition. This happens because the psychological aspect and personal relationships are always integrated into professional communication.
Communication is important, it is necessary and it is inevitable. Successful communication requires certain skills, abilities and knowledge, especially in a professional environment. But if you master the basic rules and use them, you can achieve great heights both in the business world and in everyday life.
Etiquette
The concept of etiquette is of French origin, since this word first appeared at the court of the French king Louis XIV. Louis sought to weaken the influence of the courtiers around him, the most noble and influential people in France. He came up with a whole set of rules for the behavior of the nobility in the presence of the king in order to show them his greatness, to rise above his subjects.
Sitting at the same table with the king, the courtiers discovered labels lying on each seat. They described how subjects should behave in the presence of the king. Over time, the set of rules was supplemented by countless and often meaningless regulations.
Today, etiquette is the rules of behavior accepted in society, while each specific society has its own rules.
This is interesting! Speech etiquette differs greatly from country to country. In Germany, it is customary to address only friends and family by name; others are called solely by their last name. In South Korea, it is not customary to shake hands when meeting; interlocutors avoid any touching of each other. In Italy, even unfamiliar people are affectionately called “Darling”, “Sweetheart”.
Speech etiquette refers to the rules governing interpersonal communication. It depends on the age of the interlocutor, the business or friendly environment, and the place of communication.
()
Speech etiquette and communication culture include a number of basic rules:
- It is necessary to greet your interlocutors when meeting, to say goodbye when parting;
- You cannot interrupt your interlocutor during a conversation;
- During a conversation, you should not wave your arms wildly, raise the timbre of your voice, or gesticulate excessively;
- During business communication, speech should be literate, free from filler words, calm and restrained;
- Seniors in age, rank, position and strangers should be addressed as “you”;
- The use of swear words is unacceptable, both in personal and business communication;
- You cannot talk with your mouth full, turning your back on the interlocutor and in every possible way showing him your disinterest in the conversation.
Compliance with the rules of speech etiquette is necessary in communication to create a friendly and welcoming environment and atmosphere during a conversation.
