“Words are, of course, the most powerful drug used by mankind” – Rudyard Kipling
Working together as a team and being a team player plays a major role in smooth functioning and increasing productivity of an Organisation. Communication between Peers and Management becomes indispensable for the business.
There are moments when conversing effectively seems like treading on a thin line. In an Industry that’s dominated by the opposite gender, talking firmly leads to being labelled as boisterous, whereas a calm tone earns the tag of being submissive. It is imperative to strike a balance and maintain the stance of being a professional. In my personal experience, it took a couple of experiences to set the limits and communicate assertively, yet politely.
Functioning as a liaison between my Company and the Client, most of my day was spent interacting with people from different geographies, spanning across 42 countries. I learnt that the foremost task is to understand and respect the Cultural differences and communicate accordingly. For instance, I found my peers in Japan to be highly culture oriented and respectful in their conversations, while those in Turkey were extremely task oriented. I learnt to shadow their behavior and converse in the same tenor.
While e-mail is an essential form of communication, over dependency on it leads to redundancy and waste of time. In case of differences, it’s best to have personal conversation than shooting strong emails. Involving people in decision making and encouraging them to talk their mind at meetings serve to be very effective.
Irrespective of one’s designation, taking a bossy tone does not earn any brownie points. Each individual is different, so the knack to understand and talk to them in a similar fashion. It’s best to find a common ground and minimise differences so that work doesn’t get impacted. A friendly environment at office helps to make decisions amicably and implement projects on time.
The trick is to stick to your principles, talk politely yet firmly than trying to be in everyone’s good books. Though it takes time to establish your credentials, setting the right tone at all levels makes the workplace more cordial. It’s a great feeling to wake up in the morning and look forward to go to work, full of vigour.
About the author:
Nithya Jagadish – A commerce graduate with an overall experience of 10 years in the Corporate Industry. Having handled diversified assignments at HSBC and Hewlett Packard, I decided to take a break for a while. Now, a doting mother of a one year old child, I spend my day reading, apprising on my topics of interest and baby-sitting. I strongly believe in living life to the fullest and making the most of each beautiful day
(The author is a guest blogger at Her Second Innings. The opinions expressed are those of the author.)
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