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On How Important Effective Communication Is
“Good communication is the bridge between confusion and clarity.”
~ Nat Turner ~
We all agree that communication is very important, especially in this era when most of our decisions are data-driven. And I think only a few (or no one) would disagree that communication skills are difficult to develop. But no matter how arduous that task is, we must work hard to acquire them.
The ability to communicate effectively is a “must-possess” skill. If somebody says that it is a “superpower,” I wouldn’t disagree, for if you can communicate effectively, you have one of the most important tools needed to succeed in whatever endeavors and undertakings you undertake.
You and I should learn how to effectively convey our ideas and feelings and divulge our intentions properly. Lest we forget, though, that communication is a two-way process. It is not just a matter of us sending or encoding a message but being able to process the response or feedback being sent back to us. Or we could be at the receiving end of the process. This means we could be the receiver instead of being the sender.
In whatever role – processing feedback or receiving a message – we need to decipher or decode efficiently.
Communication is one of the few constructs that can be found in the vocabulary of different fields of study. The said concept is a fundamental aspect of major areas related to language and literature. It is an integral part of any field that requires information to be disseminated, such as in media, business, politics, health care, and education. Even in science and math. The said subjects may be technical in nature, but they require effective communication. Without it, scientists and mathematicians cannot disseminate the necessary information and knowledge to the general public.
I cannot recall any concept that serves most (if not all) fields of endeavors other than communication. Thus, the ability to communicate is included in the list of skills a person must develop. It is a vital component of any “self-improvement” model. It is hard to imagine a personal growth and development program that does not include improving communication skills.
Communication is simply the process of exchanging information or expressing one’s ideas, thoughts, or feelings to someone else using spoken or written words or any other medium. The process involves the interplay of the main elements of communication – sender, receiver, message, channel or medium, and feedback. The interaction of the above-mentioned components is affected also by other factors – context and interference or noise.
The communication process starts with the intention to send a message (the information to be conveyed). Others refer to the messages as the subject matter of communication. The sender initiates the process. They are the source of information or the one sending the message to a receiver using a particular channel or medium.
Channel is described as the path through which an encoded message is transmitted from a sender to a receiver. The message can be relayed through written or verbal (electronic or personal) means. Messages sent electronically may come either in audio or video formats. The receiver is tasked to understand or decipher the message they receive, after which they are expected to send feedback to complete the communication process.
Feedback is the receiver’s response to the message. Giving feedback reverses the communication process, where the receiver becomes the sender and vice-versa. When you communicate, you, as the sender, naturally expect a favorable response. For that to happen, you must ensure your message is clear and easy to understand. And your message will be easier to understand if you make it concise. You must deliver your message in the shortest (but complete) way possible. Clarity and conciseness are the hallmarks of an effective message. They help avoid ambiguity and confusion.
To ensure the success of the communication process, you also need to consider the factors that affect it. When the sender conveys the message and the receiver gives feedback, the environment or situation should be set to help the communication achieve its intended purpose. Dham (2023) explained how context and noise could disrupt the process of communication. He explained that the “context provides the backdrop against the communication. This includes the physical, social, psychological, and cultural environment in which the interaction occurs. Context influences how the message is interpreted and helps establish shared meanings between the sender and receiver. Noise, on the other hand, refers to any interference or distortion that affects the clarity of the message during the communication process. It can be external, such as background noise or technical glitches, or internal, such as language barriers, cultural differences, or emotional distractions. Minimizing noise is crucial to ensuring the message is accurately transmitted and received.”
Understanding how the process works is a prerequisite to effective communication. If you succeed in creating a synergy among the main elements of communication and are able to control the effects of the other factors, you will reap great dividends. It will enable you to deliver a message or convey information accurately and efficiently, ensuring mutual comprehension and avoiding misunderstanding.
Communicating effectively is as important as the other self-improvement skills you need to pursue success, happiness, and wealth. It is required when interacting with others in both professional and personal environments. Communicating effectively is an essential skill whose development you cannot take for granted. Through a good communication approach, effective and meaningful interactions can be effected.
Communication plays a fundamental role in both our professional endeavors and personal undertakings. Whatever those endeavors or undertakings may be, they all involve interpersonal relationships that can only be nurtured when we establish connections with other people.
On a personal level, we need to establish communication with our loved ones and friends. It helps build a stronger connection with them and resolve conflicts or disagreements. Effective communication is the foundation of successful friendships, including romantic relationships. It promotes intimacy, trust, and mutual understanding.
Any professional pursuits also require the development of the ability to communicate. You cannot find a job or succeed in business if you are incapable of self-expression. We have been told countless times that in order to succeed, we should be able to communicate.
In the workplace, effective communication plays a significant role. If you are a leader or manager of any enterprise, you must be ready to articulate the goals and objectives of the organization and make the members cooperate in their pursuit. The members should be provided with clear direction and motivation so they can all work together for the organization’s success. Teamwork and collaboration can be achieved through effective communication.
Even if you don’t like to work for any organization in the workplace and you’re planning to establish a business of your own or be a freelancer, you still need to develop the ability to communicate. Working alone, sometimes, means having to work harder. The business of selling products and services by yourself would require stronger efforts in persuading potential customers.
Effective communication is a prerequisite to any successful business endeavor, whether doing it with an organization or by yourself. Remember that it is also essential in the pursuit of happiness, for it helps build meaningful relationships.
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Dham, M. (2023). Elements of Communication Process. PrepBytes Blog. https://www.prepbytes. com/ blog /basics-of-communication/elements-of-communication-process/
How Teachers’ Commitment and Leadership Behavior Influence Students’ Academic Performance
The intersection where teachers’ commitment, school administrators’ leadership behavior, and student academic performance converge is frequently explored and investigated in academic studies. Doing so is necessary in order to improve the quality of education. We must find ways to make teaching and learning more effective and efficient.
In my paper published recently, I revisited that intersection. I examined the relationships between the said variables. In the said study, I hypothesized that a correlation exists between teachers’ commitment and leadership behavior, teachers’ commitment and academic performance of students, and leadership behavior and academic performance of students.
Studies conducted on students’ performance in the classroom examined or evaluated how certain factors or variables related to school, teachers, school administrators, or students and their environment affect academic achievement. Some studies focus only on one variable, and some combine two or more. While numerous variables could potentially affect students’ academic performance as presented in various studies, mine focused only on constructs that are perceived to affect students’ academic performance directly, namely, teachers’ commitment (to their work and organization) and the leadership behavior of school administrators.
In the investigation I conducted, the aforementioned constructs were defined or referred to as follows: academic performance as the results of standardized tests students took in the following subject areas: math, science, and English; teachers’ commitment as their dedication and attachment to their profession and their loyalty to their school as an organization; leadership as a process in which an individual influences a group to achieve and commit to a common goal. Teachers’ commitment is categorized into commitment to job and commitment to organization and leadership behavior into consideration (people-oriented) and initiating structure (task-oriented).
We say that teachers play the most crucial role in student achievement, and it is unfortunate that teachers usually take the blame when students fail to meet academic expectations. It is almost impossible for teachers to escape from the notion that “when students did not learn, the teacher did not teach.” But if teachers are held responsible when students are not performing well, should somebody take responsibility when teachers are not teaching the way they should, thus resulting in poor academic performance on the part of the students? This is where leadership behavior comes into focus. School leaders’ primary duty is to inspire and motivate teachers to work towards improving students’ academic performance.
Academic performance is the result of learning produced by the student and prompted by the activities of teachers. How well the students perform academically depends on how committed the teachers are to their chosen profession. On the other hand, whatever activities teachers do in a school are supposedly imposed and overseen by the school administrator. Thus, the level of commitment to job and organization the teachers manifest hinges on their supervisors’ leadership behavior. Student learning is affected by teaching and teaching by management and supervision performed by school leaders.
My study yielded some surprising results.
The overall computed mean for teachers’ commitment indicates that the teachers who participated in my study are committed to both their jobs and organization, although their commitment to their jobs is higher than their commitment to their organizations. As regards leadership behavior, most of the school administrators, as perceived by the teacher-respondents, exhibit behaviors attributed to structured leadership. This implies that the leaders supervising them are high in initiating structure but low in consideration. The results divulge that the correlation between both aspects of teachers’ commitment and the initiating structure dimension of leadership behavior is positive. With the consideration dimension, the correlation is negative. This inverse relationship implies that the less committed teachers to their job and organization become when the heads of their schools manifest a more people-oriented behavior than task-oriented.
We expect that teachers will be more committed to their job and organization if they are supervised by people-oriented leaders and less inspired when they are led by task-oriented school administrators. One probable reason for teachers becoming more committed to their job and organization when the school leader is task-oriented is clarity. Leaders who are strong in initiating structure are arguably more precise and specific with their expectations and goals than their people-oriented counterparts. In this study, the teacher-respondents may happen to prefer leaders who are task-oriented more than those who are people-oriented. The teachers respond more positively to a structured style of leadership.
However, as previously articulated, being task-oriented does not necessarily mean that the leaders are not concerned about the well-being of those they lead. As the findings of this study have shown, the teachers perceive the school managers as “dynamic,” which means that they scored above average in both dimensions of leadership behavior only that they manifest more strongly in the leadership behavior initiating structure. Scoring above average in both dimensions indicates flexibility for the school leaders. They were able to adapt their strategies and approaches based on the needs and circumstances, which is crucial in helping maintain or enhance teacher commitment. Thus, in this study, teachers were found to be committed to both their job and organization.
The correlation analysis for the students’ academic performance was also unexpected. It is only with the student’s performance in math, not in science and in English, that teachers’ commitment is correlated. And the correlation is negative. Most similar studies’ findings show a positive correlation between students’ academic performance and teachers’ commitment. Rarely was in studies that a negative correlation between teachers’ commitment and student performance was shown. That negative relationship was established in this study. However, the size of the (negative) correlation coefficient between the abovementioned variables is considered negligible.
Despite the rarity of seeing a negative correlation between teacher commitment and students’ academic performance, its occurrence is still disconcerting. It is counterintuitive to find that when teachers show commitment to their job, students’ academic performance suffers. What could be the reason?
Certain circumstances or strategies committed teachers apply could negatively impact students’ academic performance. Teachers could overly commit to academic undertakings and high standards that inadvertently create excessive pressure and stress for students, possibly leading to burnout and anxiety. Such could result in reduced performance on the part of the students. Additionally, when teachers become overly committed, they may fail to strike a balance between work and life. Such may lead to them experiencing burnout, consequently diminishing their ability to deliver quality instruction and engage students more productively.
The next set of findings may also be considered surprising.
Students’ performance in all subject areas is negatively correlated with leadership behavior-initiating structure and has no significant relationship with leadership behavior consideration. A negative correlation exists between students’ academic performance in math, science, and English and school administrators’ initiating structure leadership behavior. Although the size of the (negative) correlation coefficient is considered negligible also, it is interesting to note that while the initiating structure dimension of leadership behavior is positively correlated to teacher commitment, it is the other way around with the academic performance of students and not only in one subject area but all. One possible reason for such an inverse relationship is that the task-oriented approach of school leaders can indirectly put too much burden on students, thus negatively impacting their performance. They can overly emphasize strict academic goals that could create high-stress environments in the schools they supervise. It may have positively impacted teacher commitment but negatively affected the students’ performance. The academic pressure created when students are forced to adhere to the strict standards that task-oriented heads of schools set could negatively impact their well-being. They may experience burnout, which could affect their academic performance.
Additionally, when school heads are task-oriented, they tend to focus more on curricular activities and less on non-academic ones. Extracurricular activities are known to benefit students. They can positively impact the students’ academic performance, mental health, and well-being. The “all work and no (or less) play” that task-oriented heads of schools tend to implement may not be helping students perform better academically.
M.A.D. LIGAYA
M.A.D. L I G A Y A 