Choose Your Words Carefully
Amanda Sidorowicz
Issue date: 11/10/09 Section: Opinion
No matter where you work or what you do, using communication skills is necessary to get through the day. Communications may seem as simple as transferring information from one person to another, but it's much more complex. Effectively communicating can be rather challenging, and it's something that everyone - not just students - has difficulty understanding.
As college students, we often find ourselves not communicating as effectively as we could. Text messages have taught us to write in fragments, use 'ur' instead of 'your' and skip vowels to save time.
Emails are often written in a similar manner. When writing either a text or email, the message included can be interpreted in a variety of manners. For example, a smiley-face wink at the end of a text could mean that you're being flirty, sarcastic or just being friendly.
Decoding what the sender really meant is difficult and usually not worth the battle. If the person was being flirty, then, observing their non-verbal communication will be more easily decoded than a semicolon and a parenthesis.
According to Ben Fletcher, Professor of Personal & Organizational Development at the University of Hertfordshire, it's not just students that could use a lesson in communicating." Poor communication is nearly always the number one complaint that employees have about their organization," he said.
Getting a project complete, sending an email or chatting with coworkers are done on a daily basis in the working world. These all are forms of communications, and they must be handled with the upmost professionalism.
Being a communications major, I think about why it's important to communicate effectively. I'm constantly on the look-out for ways to improve my communication skills as well as improve others.
The other day on the Benedictine homepage, I spotted a communication mistake that sparked my interest. On the events calendar, there was a poorly-worded event. It wasn't that there was anything grammatically wrong with it, but it led to much confusion at first glance. The next day, the wording was changed.
As college students, we often find ourselves not communicating as effectively as we could. Text messages have taught us to write in fragments, use 'ur' instead of 'your' and skip vowels to save time.
Emails are often written in a similar manner. When writing either a text or email, the message included can be interpreted in a variety of manners. For example, a smiley-face wink at the end of a text could mean that you're being flirty, sarcastic or just being friendly.
Decoding what the sender really meant is difficult and usually not worth the battle. If the person was being flirty, then, observing their non-verbal communication will be more easily decoded than a semicolon and a parenthesis.
According to Ben Fletcher, Professor of Personal & Organizational Development at the University of Hertfordshire, it's not just students that could use a lesson in communicating." Poor communication is nearly always the number one complaint that employees have about their organization," he said.
Getting a project complete, sending an email or chatting with coworkers are done on a daily basis in the working world. These all are forms of communications, and they must be handled with the upmost professionalism.
Being a communications major, I think about why it's important to communicate effectively. I'm constantly on the look-out for ways to improve my communication skills as well as improve others.
The other day on the Benedictine homepage, I spotted a communication mistake that sparked my interest. On the events calendar, there was a poorly-worded event. It wasn't that there was anything grammatically wrong with it, but it led to much confusion at first glance. The next day, the wording was changed.
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