Improving workplace communication skills

Communication is power. It is quite simple, if you can communicate your message you get what you want. The purpose of this article is to help you to get what you want out of your career. ‘Since 1992, Career Consultants has helped thousands of people advance their careers. Isn’t it time we did something for you?’ asks Sarah Berry.

‘But is it that simple?’ Is career success really down to how you communicate your message? ‘Yes it is – truthful, honest and open communication is your answer to any career issue.’

Let’s look for a minute at a successful person, a person you admire and a person you take an interest in. Do you have a picture of this person in your mind? In your view, does this person:

• Spend more time doing the things you would like to do?
• Have things that you would enjoy too?
• Spend time ‘being’ the person you would like to be?

This current age is the ‘communication age.’ In the society that we all live in now, the people who have what they want are the people who are able to communicate their message the best. They are master communicators. The fastest growing companies are the companies who are able to get their message across to the world on a day-to-day basis. Take companies like Vodafone, ARM, Carphone Warehouse, Travelex, and Sophos as examples.

There are two basic forms of communication, internal communication and external communication, and both types of communication have an effect on you and others. Internal communication is what you picture, feel, and say to yourself. And external communication is what you experience and show the world in terms of what you hear and say and how you express that in your body language and facial expressions.

Now last Friday I had an opportunity to meet a very special guy called Tim. Tim had created a fairly successful career model for himself but there were flaws in Tim’s model. What were these flaws? Tim had no idea:

• Who he was modelling himself on;
• What he was achieving from his model?
• And what actions he needed to take to change his performance.

Now Tim’s case isn’t unusual because although Tim felt things inside, he wasn’t able to communicate his message to the people around him. In Tim’s case his communication had become too internalised and Tim’s interpretation of what was happening wasn’t a true, real and complete reflection of the events. The result was that I was able to give Tim the tools to enable him to take the necessary actions to change his circumstances.

Enough of Tim, let’s turn and focus on you and your needs now. Can I ask you a series of questions?

• Are you able to communicate exactly what you want?
• Do you achieve positive results?
• Do you have a career vision or a career goal?
• Are you on the salary you want to be on?
• Are you happy with how your job or career is turning out?
• Are people responding to you in a way that pleases you?
• Is finding a job a rewarding and easy experience?
• Do you know what motivates and drives you?
• Do you have all the information you need on yourself in order to take action?

Sarah Berry says, ‘First of all you need to decide if you could benefit from learning more about external and internal communication and next you need to decide if you are willing to pay the price. The price of course may involve money, time or effort on your part.The only difference there is between the people who have and the people who don’t have, between the people who do and the people who do not and between the people who can and the people who cannot is the way they communicate with themselves and the actions they take as a result.

If you don’t take the second step, you’ll never achieve what you want in the long term. People who take both steps are the ‘people who do’ and the people who only take the first step are the ‘people who talk’.

I now challenge you to give yourself what you want. I can offer you career advice, career help, e-books, books, profiles to help you understand yourself and CV packages to help you to clinch the job you really want. Please click here to read about the on-line career products and send me your specific career questions through to the ‘Ask Sarah box.’

It is only a matter of you communicating what you want and then I will be able to advise and help you. Please click here for more information.