When Communication Competence is Present
Communication Competence: When is it Present?
This Communication Intelligence special report asked this particular question for a conversation starter because there is power in its competence, especially if one is in a position of authority.
It’s clear when it’s happening and also when it’s absent.
The report begins with some initial important thoughts from experience expressed by different sources and finishes with two Q&A (question and answer) format interviews of varying length. This report may be best read for the most value by reading in more than one sitting.
Eric Landblom
“In my experience, communication competence goes beyond simply being able to convey a message,” says Eric Landblom, a retired United States Marine Corps officer and pilot and a co-founder and co-owner at JL Endeavors, an education financial wellness company. “It involves understanding the audience, being aware of nonverbal cues, actively listening and being able to adapt your communication style to meet the needs of others.
“For someone in a position of authority, communication competence is even more critical. They must be able to inspire, motivate, and effectively communicate their vision to their team. They also need to be able to handle difficult conversations with empathy and tact,” he says.
Chris Thompson
Assessing the level of communication competence is fairly simple if you use a three-point indicator checklist, says one founder and CEO.
“First, listening skills are critical for communication because only when people are active listeners can they respond and communicate thoughtfully,” says Chris Thompson at Sober Sidekick, an app and social network that helps people maintain sobriety.
“Second, communication timing is vital. Does the person allow the other person to finish speaking? Do they interrupt? The timing and cadence of conversation are essential parts of communication.
“The third is concisely communicating ideas. This is a learned skill that not many people master, but you can get better at it with practice.
“Assessing these three things is a great way to begin to evaluate communication competence,” he says.
Patricio Paucar
Attention and understanding ourselves may not immediately come to mind when it comes to communicating well, yet both are important.
“Two things that stand out as indicators of communication competence are focusing on the conversation and having self-awareness when speaking, listening, and interacting with others,” says Patricio Paucar, co-founder of Navi, an independent telecommunications startup to put consumers in control of their wireless shopping experience.
“If someone is not engaged in a conversation and instead they’re scanning the room and not making eye contact, this is a strong indicator that they lack basic communication competency,” he adds. “Having self-awareness is essential because this impacts if someone is in tune with the needs of others, can read social cues and can balance the give and take that is necessary for two-way conversations.”
He is convinced these behavior traits are among the best to determine the level of communication effectiveness.
“There are many ways to evaluate communication competence, but these two rise to the top because you can spot these behaviors right away,” Paucar says.
Cody Candee
“People are more willing to engage with someone who provides them with a positive experience,” says Cody Candee, the founder and CEO at Bounce, a company that powers luggage storage and package acceptance in local shops and hotels worldwide. “Therefore showing appreciation to others is a necessary component of being an effective communicator.”
“It is not always easy for others to communicate,” he adds, “and this is especially true when engaging with authority figures, as the concern of overstepping their bounds can be a deterrent.”
He offers recommendations to be more confident in such scenarios
“Asking for input, listening to their ideas with a calm expression, smiling when they finish and thanking them for their ideas is a way of demonstrating gratitude and will encourage them to continue to engage with you in the future.”
This approach can act as a type of superpower.
“Showing appreciation can also help resolve uncomfortable situations,” Candee says. “You can remove the impediment of your authority from an exchange and more effectively receive and provide useful information.”
Derek Flanzraich
Could effective communication be made easier by frequency between people? One founder and CEO says that is one gap that is more prevalent than you might think.
“Part of creating a comfort level with those you wish to engage with is to do it on a regular basis and this is why consistency is important in being an effective communicator,” says Derek Flanzraich, of Ness, a venture-backed startup building a better credit card company, health-first.
“There is already a divide between leaders and those that work for them. A manager or business owner who communicates with their team sparingly will make any engagement seem like an unusual and uncomfortable occurrence and this will often cause difficulty in exchanges.”
To prevent that type of problem leading to communication gaps, he offers a recommendation.
“Setting up regular forums to exchange ideas, making efforts to engage with team members on an individual basis and sending out weekly office-wide emails and notices requesting input are great ways to create consistent and frequent communication,” Flanzraich says. “By making engagement a regular and normal part of your business operations, you can create a more positive work culture and make yourself an effective communicator in the process.”
Ryan Rottman
Skills of accurate observation are important to develop.
“So much of what makes someone a competent communicator is about how they someone assesses a situation when there is no verbal exchange, and this is why being observant is one of the key components to being effective in this area,” says Ryan Rottman, co-founder and CEO of OSDB — Online Sports Database — a professional sports database covering athletes from over 35 sports both past and present.
“Most communication is given through non-verbal means and someone in authority who is able to read these visual cues will be able to know whether or not a person is open to what they are saying or whether they need to change their tactics,” he says.
As for how to be observational skillful he offers details.
“Looking at physical signs such as eye contact, posture and position of the arms can provide information as to whether that person is relaxed, tense, confrontational or disinterested,” Rottman says.
“Being observant of the visual signs your employees and customers are providing will allow you to make a better assessment of their feelings and help guide your continuing verbal communication.”
Alexandre Bocquet
One leader, in maybe somewhat of a contrary view, wants to focus on the communication competence of the receiver of dialogue.
Success is determined by what is gained and what wasn’t yet could have been, says Alexandre Bocquet, founder and CEO at Betterly, a company that matches marketing professionals with businesses.
“Communication is only effective if there is some type of reassurance that the exchange of information is being understood and confirmed,” he says, adding, “That is why proof of retention is so important to determining the effectiveness of your abilities.”
One is not impressively presenting themselves, Bocquet states, in situations where they are not communicating back what they should know.
“Someone having to repeat the same information to you is not only frustrating to them but borders on insulting, as it means that there is a possibility that you were not paying attention.”
A person is not considered competent if they fail to gain understanding and-or be able to communicate what has been communicated and taught.
“In being able to demonstrate retention, you will be conveying a level of respect to your team while making yourself a better communicator and encouraging future exchanges,” Bocquet asserts.
Diving Deeper
Below are a pair of brief yet insightful, interesting, valuable interviews that in depth about the subject. The first is about communication and people and the second is about communication competence and leadership impact.
Preston McClellan
Preston McClellan is the owner and founder of Golf Space Collective, a full-service digital marketing agency. He spent 15 years in communications and marketing working for brands like the PGA TOUR, Team USA and ESPN.
Here is a three-question exchange with McClellan:
Communication Intelligence: How can we generally and specifically determine that we're communicating with competence or experiencing someone else's communication competence?
McClellan: I have found that to assess communication competence, regardless of one's position within an organization, it is essential to consider a few key indicators.
1. Observe the clarity and conciseness of the message being conveyed, as this demonstrates effective communication skills.
2. Evaluate the active listening skills of the communicators as this reflects their genuine interest in understanding others.
3. Consider the emotional intelligence displayed by the communicator, which includes empathy, adaptability and self-awareness.
4. Assess the communicator's ability to provide constructive feedback and their openness to receiving feedback from others.
CI: When this type of communication is not present, whether by others or ourselves, what's usually missing?
McClellan: In my experience, when communication competence is not present, several elements may be missing. These can include a lack of clarity and coherence in the message, poor listening skills, limited emotional intelligence and an inability or unwillingness to provide or receive feedback.
Additionally, there may be a lack of adaptability in communication styles or an absence of empathy towards others' perspectives and emotions. In some cases, cultural and language barriers or misaligned expectations can also contribute to communication breakdowns.
CI: What does low-level communication competence or missing competence lead to and what does communication competence allow to happen?
McClellan: I have observed that low-level communication competence or missing competence can lead to misunderstandings, misinterpretations, and conflicts within an organization.
This may result in decreased productivity, employee disengagement and overall dissatisfaction. Furthermore, it can hinder collaboration and innovation, as well as damage the organization's reputation and relationships with stakeholders.
Eric Landblom
Next: Eric Landblom was provided insight at the beginning of the this special report. He is three-questions exchange with him.
Communication Intelligence: You bring up understanding the audience, no matter who it is and being aware of non-verbal cues and being able to adapt your communication style to meet the needs of others.
How does one come to develop these skills into ones that are consistent and reliable?
Landblom: In creating competent communication, especially when many barriers exist, such as distance, technology, culture or translation, great communicators have a constructed process or formula for effectively conversing with people.
I like how the aviation community breaks down communication into three elements to safely fly in the most congested airspaces. This works well with the aircrew working through the daily routine, in-flight emergencies or communicating with other entities.
The sender must transmit a message to a specific audience. Most authority figures forget they need to specify a target audience. They believe what they say is important, while the employees take it as the boss expressing their opinions.
We all have had that one boss who does an email blast, hoping someone will run with their ideas. People generally assume it was meant for someone other than themselves.
Clearly identifying the message's intended recipient sets up the second element's environment.
The specified receiver must be in a position to receive the message. We want the speakers to read their audience and know the recipients are ready to have something explained to them.
The email task to an employee who might be on vacation is just sitting in the inbox, going unread — I hope employees leave work emails unread when they are on vacation.
Is leaving a voice message effective communication? Not until the recipient calls back to show feedback.
The boss is just as responsible for ensuring the receiver will adequately be ready for the information being transmitted as much as the audience member it is intended for.
We have used the term “talking to a wall.” This is an enormous signal that the sender does not have the receiver's attention.
The receiver must acknowledge the receipt/not receipt of the transmitted information. This is more than just “uh-huh, got it, boss.”
It should demonstrate some level of understanding of the information in the feedback. Now, there are some split-second times when the action itself becomes the acknowledgment of information. If there is no response, the responsibility goes back to the sender to verify acknowledgment and understanding.
To be able to communicate competently, it is crucial for anyone involved with any dialogue to include high-stakes communication to be able to observe with their five senses how the message is received. Why do we spend so much time “ready-ing” our responses instead of observing how others receive them?
CI: You mention empathy and tact. It's my personal observation that not all communicators find that valuable in non-emergency interactions. That seems shortsighted and off the mark. Why is empathy and tact valuable for us to communicate successfully?
Landblom: Tact shows respect for one another, while empathy shows our genuine interest in each group member. Empathy and tact are more crucial during non-emergency interactions than life-or-death emergencies. In this habit-forming environment, when things are calm, these traits nurture into maturity and carry over in the heat of the moment.
It's the little things that separate the greats from the good enough. When I talk to young professionals, I show them a chart with the bottom horizontal line to the top horizontal line and call the area between their age population.
The difference from top to bottom is that many skills and character aspects separate the two. Then I slash another horizontal in the exact middle; this is their peer-professional line.
The difference between this range's top and bottom performers has fewer differences than the previous range. Finally, I placed the last horizontal line, barely below the top line. This is your actual peer group. The differences between the top and bottom are few and subjective to the evaluator. Here is why attention to detail becomes crucial. The details of communicating with others in your organization speak louder to evaluators than most people realize.
CI: Communication competence, if someone is known for it, do they always operate in this competence or can highly communication-competent professionals miss the mark, maybe badly, at any given time?
Landblom: Communication competence is not a constant state but rather a fluid concept. It involves an individual's ability to communicate effectively in different contexts with different groups of people on various topics.
While some people may be known for their communication competence, it is essential to recognize that even highly competent professionals can miss the mark from time to time.
What sets these communicators apart is their ability to adjust their communication style to fit the situation and the audience. Great leaders who communicate competently are fluid in their approach because they understand the importance of reading the audience and tailoring their message accordingly.
In contrast, elegant speakers may have a flowing style that can sometimes be arrogant or one-way. On the other hand, communication-competent professionals are dynamic in their approach, knowing when to talk technically, emotionally or analytically based on their understanding of the situation and the audience's climate.
This awareness draws others to them, creating a more effective and meaningful conversation.
CI: What signs indicate that we have communicated with competence?
When the person in authority's intended recipient can expertly execute the task or pass on the information well, without poor paraphrasing, that is a good demonstration of competent communication.
I would evaluate the communication process by telling my subordinate manager precisely what the assignment is about, bringing in the entire team, and letting the manager explain it to them as if they were ultimately in charge of it.
It was important for me to see that I communicated competently as well as observe my manager's skills in competent communication.
Reading the audience's engagement indicates to competent professionals that their message is being delivered effectively. When a flight leader in the military briefs all of the pilots involved in the mission, they know the task so well that their primary goal is to seek out who in the audience is not keeping up with the information. The non-verbal feedback indicates whether a particular aircraft's flight crew understands what is expected of them throughout this highly dynamic situation, they are about to embark on.
One last signal that keeps a competent communicator on the right path is their knowledge of the audience and how they approach a topic with them.
It is essential to understand that if the audience is a group of professionals, then the communicator speaks accordingly. Speak to engineers like an engineer, speak to accountants like an account and speak to the general public as if you are introducing them into your world.
CI: How can we determine that we have fallen short of the objective in our communication?
Landblom: The most apparent signals of incompetent communication are when everyone is in the same life-raft, rowing in their own direction. Everyone believes their interpretation of the assignment is correct, even if they all sat through the same meeting.
This creates infighting in which they all return to the boss's office for clarification on the assignment. Now the team lost days when the boss should have effectively used the construct we discussed earlier to convey the message once.
The most challenging signal is working through the illusion of competent communication. Some people are very good at regurgitating the information without truly understanding it. Some experts call it “parroting.”
The illusion of communication is far more damaging than just failed communication. The illusion provides a false sense of security that everyone understands the conversation; however, no one will admit they are unsure.
A competent communicator has intermediate supervisory milestones in their plans to ensure the progress of the conversed project. The team's actions tell if communication is competent or not.
Competent communication follows these basic leadership principles: 1) Know yourself; seek self-improvement; 2) Know your people; look out for their welfare.
If we are not perfecting how we communicate, we are hurting our organization’s ability to take advantage of opportunities when they arise.
Knowing our people helps those leaders understand how well we communicate competently with them. Even if leaders have to use the phrase “Does this make sense” many times more than they like, they request valuable feedback to ensure more time for taking action and less time talking about it.
That absence of competence that was mentioned at the top of this report? Landblom says there are clues when that problem exists.
“If there is a lack of clarity in messages or misunderstandings or conflicts arising from miscommunication, these could all be signs that communication competence is lacking.”
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