In my previous article I showed a pictorial description of software failure due to a lack of effective communication. Here we discuss the various barriers to effective communication and how to overcome that.
Communication is an important aspect in software development. It plays a larger role from the beginning till the release of the software. Software development projects require a business analyst, technical designer, leads, managers, programmers, testers and many more teams. If all these teams communicate effectively, the project will be delivered with correct functionality at the exact deadline. Otherwise it will result in a larger impact to all the teams.
The ability to communicate effectively is an important skill for an IT professional. Before getting into the main picture first let's find out the barriers to effective communication.
Barriers to Effective Communication
- Physical Barriers - each team will be physically separated from others. For example business analyst(s) might be one location, managers and other team members will be in other location(s).
- Language - Words are not precise; sometimes the receiver misunderstands the words of the sender, resulting in a larger misunderstanding.
- Channel Barrier - The communication medium selection should be appropriate; if the communication is going to be longer, there should not be any interruptions and the clarity of the output should be good.
- Organizational Barrier - it includes the work culture, relationship with the team members, inadequate facilities of an organization.
- Poor Listening Skills - listening skill plays a vital role in understanding what the communicator explains
- Lack of Feedback - A proper feedback helps you to clarify what they understood. It shows the sender about your active listening skills.
Effective Communication Strategies
- Communicator is responsible for the communication - if you don't understand my communication, it's my fault. If others don't understand your communication, it's your fault. Keep this belief always in your mind to have an effective communication
- Most of the communication happens at the unconscious level - try to learn how to effectively expose the content to others using your slang and body language
- Communication can change the reality
- Be successful than to be the right
- Always connect with your audience
- Ask the right questions
- Speak, Pause and Listen
Communication Skills Categories
- Oral Communication
o Body language should be perfect
o Listening and being responsive
- Written Communication
o Academic Writing
o Presentation of data
- Non-Verbal Communication
o Body language and gestures
Finally the five C's of Effective Communication
- Clarity
- Completeness
- Conciseness
- Concreteness
- Correctness
Hope this article gave you all an idea about how the effective communication works out.