Communications

Communications

Communication within a collaborative team can be a one to one, one to many, or many to many. Either way, communication is a vital component in maintaining a non-hostile environment of a collaborative team. The objective of communication is to share thoughts, ideas, and feelings in the most common and effective way as possible. Communication is defined as an exchange of information and the transmission of meaning.

During the Industrial Revolution age, messenger verbally delivered messages personally. After the development of written languages, messengers began to deliver telegrams, thereby communicating in written form. Through research on improving the telegraph, the telephone was invented, allowing verbal communication from a distance. In this time of global marketing, technological advances, team and collaborative efforts, and good communication skills are essential. A collaborative team has the opportunity to increase their output through new ways of effective communication. Listening, comprehension, and technological skills are the key elements for effective communication within a collaborative team.

Effective communication occurs when the message received is as close as possible to the message intended, thereby resulting in mutual understanding. Successful collaborative teams listen to each other and build upon each other’s ideas; only over a period does the meaning and significance of each idea become clear; meanwhile, unexpected ideas emerge. The emerging innovative ideas may be inefficient at that time however; it could emerge at any time in a collaborative effort, because one idea leads to another.

Effective listening within a collaborative team is to understand each other’s viewpoint, understanding the thought process behind the words, and having an agreement on the common goal. Advantages and disadvantages of other facets of communication can interfere with a collaborative team’s active listening or comprehension skills, which are verbal, written, and virtual.

Communication needs interfere when attempting to complete a task. Communication keeps the team members informed; therefore, a team working towards the same goal can be more effective and efficient. Communication facilitates a control environment. Verbal communication is the number one method for organizations to exchange information. This method of communicating is open and facilitates minimizing arguments and confusion; however, advantages and disadvantages do occur.

Advantages of verbal communication include:

1. Face to Face

2. Instant responses or actions

3. Circle of communication

4. Give clarity to information

5. Address single or multiple audience

6. Expressive

7. Inexpensive or free

Disadvantages of verbal communication include:

1. Lack of thought before speaking

2. Selective listening

3. Express insults

4. Lack of attention to conversation

5. Information overload

6. Improper use of words and phrase

7. Language

Written form is another component of communicating as stated earlier. Written communication provides warranty and assurance amongst members of a collaborative team. Many interactions exist using the written word in communicating, such as business correspondence, electronic mail, and text or instant messaging. Like other styles of communication, advantages and disadvantages exist within the written form.

Advantages of written communication include:

1. Validate agreements

2. Permanent record

3. Convey clear and specific information

4. Additional preparation time

5. Facilitates the transfer of meaning

6. Sent at the convenience of the sender

7. Allows for long distance communication

Disadvantages of written communication include:

1. Delay of feedback

2. No guarantee message was received unless feedback has occurred

3. Experience difficulty in composing correspondence

4. Additional preparation time

5. Communicating verbally for clarification

6. Difficult to maintain privacy

7. Lacks personal touch

Virtual communication are people communicating around the world using tools, such as e-mail, message boards, forums, threads, blogs, chats, text message, instant messaging, telephone, and videoconferencing in a virtual community. Communications through virtual methods are being used more each year. Knowledge sharing (information sharing) through virtual applications is becoming the modern way of doing things. Communication through virtual applications not only transpires between collaborative team members; however, information is also being shared with the manufacture of the software. Organizations are more flexible because the virtual environment allow teams to communicate effective and more efficiently. Virtual interaction in a collaborative team atmosphere saves the organization time and money. It enables members to exchange or share thoughts, ideas, beliefs in an open communication approach while working towards a common goal.

Advantages of virtual communication include:

1. Tasks are completed more efficient

2. Benefit to the environment

3. Less time consuming

4. Networking

5. Can reduce costs

6. Pace and convenient

7. Reduces information travel time

Disadvantages of virtual communication include:

1. Misunderstandings

2. Lack