The Importance Of Non-Verbal Communication In Workplace Communication

Effective non-verbal communication is more important than verbal communication in the workplace

In the organisational workplaces, there are diverse set of employees who are from varied cultures. The people in organisations such as clients, managers, coworker, etc. have to communicate with each other on a daily basis. Thus, there is vital role of communication at the organisational workplace. The more effective the communication is, the higher is the organisational value (Dwyer, 2012). There are various modes of communication. In the organisations people usually focuses upon the verbal and the non-verbal communications. Verbal communication is the channel of communication which involves voice message. It can be through phones, video conferencing or face to face communication. On the other hand, non-verbal communication is the communication which involves gestures to communicate with each other. There is taken sue of postures, eye contact, facial expressions etc. in the verbal non-verbal communication. It is a very argumentative subject that whether the verbal communications are more important for the organisations or the non-verbal communications (Richards and Schmidt, 2014). The essay will critical highlight that the non-verbal communication is of more importance as well as there are few major aspects which will be shown in the essay demonstrating that the non-verbal are highly advantageous for the business organisations.

As per the results of a recognized study which was conducted by a psychology professor named Albert Mehrabian, it was found that there is a total impact of just 7 percent of the verbal communication. The other 93 percent impact is of tone, the body language that stands of 38 and 55 respectively. This research was also well knows as the 7-38-55 rule of psychology (Islam Auwatanamongkol, 2013).  There are various researchers who viewed non-verbal communication as a source of distortion of the information as the roles played by n on-verbal communication according to them is merely passing cues to the receivers. But having an in-depth analysis of the literature and the diverse views of the authors, it is clearer that the non-verbal communication is of vital significance in the organisations in comparison with the verbal communication (Dwyer, 2012).

There can be take place a number of improvements and developments at the organisational workplace performance by the means of non-verbal communication. It helps in improving the association among the individuals in an organisational workplace and poses a positive impact on the performances of the individuals. According to the 7-38-55 psychology rule, in the organisations also nor verbal communication has a key role in the interpersonal communication taking place among the individuals. There are various meaning which can be drawn from the different elements of non-verbal communication (Mehrabian, 2011). If an individual communicate in a good posture then it shows confidence, having eye contact at the time of communicating shows that both the parties are interested in the communication, the various gestures shows the diverse points of the communication, the different facial expressions depicts diverse emotions of an individual, the emotion of satisfaction, understanding, anger, etc. and the tone of speaking in any communication shows the understanding of the listener as well as the speaker (Hamilton, 2013).

The role of non-verbal communication in organizational communication

The organisations are the part of a global world and so there are number of different kind of individuals from every part of the world working for a similar goal or objective.  Whether it be the professional or the personal lives, there is a need to have communication among each other as it is one of the most essential element of a human life. In order to achieve the organisational goals and objectives in a faster manner, it is essential that the communication taking place between the managers and the employees is direct, pure and comfortable. At various events there is more importance given to the aspects of non-verbal communication instead of verbal communication (Mishra, Boynton and Mishra, 2014). For example, at the time of organisational change or performance feedbacks, the managers are required to focus more on their non-verbal communication instead of verbal communication. If directly the decisions of change management has been announced then there are high chances of revoke or resistance but on the other hand, if the managers have a communication with the employees in a soft tone and proper understanding of the reasons behind this change in a generous tone, then there are high chances that employees will become a part of the change process. Therefore, in various organisational functions and their successful execution, there is a key role of non-verbal communication. The better people are at their communication, the higher are the chances for positive outcomes (Bovee, 2010).

The non-verbal communication comprises of all the unspoken arguments, words or feelings which are more important than the messages conveyed to the people in the verbal communication. This unspoken communication is shown to people in the form of tone of the voice, eye contact, posture, facial expressions or gestures. All these are the modes of non-verbal communication for having a lasting impact on the listener (Dwyer, 2012). The importance of non-verbal communication can be shown in various aspects as it is one of the most appropriate way for showing disagreement or agreement. At the time of organisational meeting or when some information has to be announced, then at some point there is a need of consent from the employees or the audiences. A simple nod can make a big difference in the opinions. The gesture of nod simply demonstrates the consent of the audiences that whether they are agree to the point or disagree with the point (Knapp, Hall and Horgan, 2013).

Non-verbal communication helps to maintain relationships among employees

Another key importance of non-verbal communication is that it helps in developing and maintaining the relationships at the workplace. When people greet each other with a smile in spite of not having any kind of verbal communication, there develops a sense of belongingness. Such signs are very crucial on maintain relationship with colleagues at the workplaces. There is also a key aspect of listening. The eye contact which is an aspect of non-verbal communication shows the interest of the listener in the discussion. If the organisational members do not maintain an eye contact at the time of discussion, it shows that they are not interested in listening. This develops a negative impact upon the speaker. Therefore, there is great significance of eye-contact at the time of discussions (Leathers and Eaves, 2015).

The other postures and gestures are also of same importance at the time of organisational communication. When the leaders or the managers are having some meeting with their team members or the employees, then it is vital that employees show their presence by their postures and gestures. Any kind of inappropriate posture reveals the uninterested behaviour of that individual which results in disruption of the entire discussion. Therefore non-verbal communication has key relevance in the various organisational functions (Talley and Temple, 2015). One of the key elements of non-verbal communication is paralanguage. It is the aspect which is relation with the speed of the words spoken and the pitch and volume of the voice in which communication has taken place. When there is faster communication at the workplaces them it is not clear, if the voice of the speaker is low then it does not convey the messages appropriately to the audiences or to the employees which results in diverse set of outcomes of any organisational function (Burgoon, Guerrero and Floyd, 2016).

There are various other aspects of non-verbal communication which depicts that in present scenario the nor-verbal communication is of high importance than the verbal communication. Aspects such as the sign of confidence, sign of detachment, reassurance of the interest, knowing about the culture and maintaining space are the results of the various elements of non-verbal communication taking place at the workplaces. The postures at the time of communication shows the confidence of the speaker, the various other postures of sitting also help the speakers in understanding the attachment or the detachment of the listeners with the discussion. Therefore in the organisations, there is now more emphasis given upon the non-verbal communication so that there can develop and build a much strong relationships among the employees, managers and the colleagues (RYMASZEWSKA and CIS?O-ROBSON, 2015).

Conclusion

From this argumentative essay, it can be concluded that the organisational communications are a vital part of the organisations for the continuous development and future growth. Earlier there was equal importance of the verbal as well as the non-verbal communication because both have their distinct positive as well as negative aftermaths. But, from the views of various authors and critically analyzing the literature, it can be viewed that there is more significance of non-verbal communication at the organisational workplaces as it helps in improving relations among the employees and the management. Just by some of the facial expression or the postures, there can be conveyed a number of things to another individuals. Thus, in an organisational workplace, people should give adequate emphasis on their non-verbal communications aspects so that there can be smooth associations among the individuals.

References

Bovee, C.L., 2010. Business Communication Today, 10/e. Pearson Education India.

Burgoon, J.K., Guerrero, L.K. and Floyd, K., 2016. Nonverbal communication. Routledge.

Dwyer, J., 2012. Communication for Business and the Professions: Strategie s and Skills. Pearson Higher Education AU.

Hamilton, C., 2013. Communicating for results: A guide for business and the professions. Cengage Learning.

Islam, M.S. and Auwatanamongkol, S., 2013. A novel feature extraction technique for facial expression recognition. International Journal of Computer Science Issues, 10(3), pp.9-14.

Knapp, M.L., Hall, J.A. and Horgan, T.G., 2013. Nonverbal communication in human interaction. Cengage Learning.

Leathers, D.G. and Eaves, M., 2015. Successful nonverbal communication: Principles and applications. Routledge.

Mehrabian, A., 2011. Albert Mehrabian.

Mishra, K., Boynton, L. and Mishra, A., 2014. Driving employee engagement: The expanded role of internal communications. International Journal of Business Communication, 51(2), pp.183-202.

Richards, J.C. and Schmidt, R.W., 2014. Language and communication. Routledge.

RYMASZEWSKA, M. and CIS?O-ROBSON, M., 2015. The power of gesture: A brief look on nonverbal communication. In Forum Filologiczne ATENEUM.

Talley, L. and Temple, S., 2015. How leaders influence followers through the use of nonverbal communication. Leadership & Organization Development Journal, 36(1), pp.69-80.