What Is Interpersonal Communication?

Interpersonal communication is the process of exchange of information, ideas and feelings

between two or more people through verbal or non-verbal methods.

It often includes face-to-face exchange of information, in a form of voice, facial expressions,

body language and gestures. The level of one’s interpersonal communication skills is measured
through the effectiveness of transferring messages to others.

Commonly used interpersonal communication within an organization includes daily internal

employee communication, client meetings, employee performance reviews and project
discussions. In addition, online conversations today make a large portion of employees’
interpersonal communication in the workplace.

The Importance of Interpersonal Communication

Effective communication is crucial to personal as well as professional success.

1. Personal Success
Your personal success and happiness depend largely on your effectiveness as an interpersonal
communicator. Close friendships and romantic relationships are developed, maintained, and
sometimes destroyed largely through your interpersonal interactions. Likewise, the success of
your family relationships depends heavily on the interpersonal communication among members.
For example, in a survey of 1,001 people over 18 years of age, 53 percent felt that a lack of
effective communication was the major cause of marriage failure—significantly greater than
money (38 percent) and in-law interference (14 percent) (How Americans Communicate, 1999).
Let’s now take a look into why interpersonal communication is crucial for your career
development and productivity in the workplace.
2. Problem solving

Interpersonal communication skills are necessary because they allow people to discuss problems
and weigh the pros and cons of alternatives before coming up with the final solution.

For example, brainstorming exercises are situations in which interpersonal communication

comes into play as it is very important that everyone feels respected and free to share their voice,
ideas and views.
3. Alignment with business goals

Poor communication between employers and employees can harm the business in many ways.
When managers and leaders are unable to clearly communicate tasks, workers can quickly
become frustrated and disconnected with the business goals.

Moreover, many employees say that their managers don’t give them clear directions and goals
for their work.

Therefore, managers should be able to, with proper online and offline communication as well as
the right internal communication tools, continuously align employees with the business strategy.

4. Trust

According to the American Psychological Association, a quarter of employees in the US do not

trust their employers, and only about 50% of them believe that their bosses are open with them.

Lack of trust and transparency are some of the most common causes of poor workplace
communication. Interpersonal communication skills are crucial for improving trust and
workplace communication, and all employees, especially business leaders, should therefore
improve communication with their employees.

5. Change management

Good interpersonal communication is very important during change management efforts within
organizations. Effective employee communication helps employees better understand the
change, align with it and collaboratively work towards implementing the change successfully.

6. Company culture

Interpersonal relationships, especially when executed well, are important for an organizational
culture to thrive. When employees possess good interpersonal communication skills,
organizational culture becomes more synergic and positive. With bad interpersonal relationships,
on the other hand, negativity, confusion, and conflicts become inevitable. This ultimately ruins
the work environment, reduces employee productivity, and adversely affects the company’s
bottom line.
7. Employee recognition

Good interpersonal communication drives more employee recognition. When employees have
good interpersonal relationships with each other and their managers, they are more likely to
recognize each other’s’ good work and give constructive feedback.

8. Workplace miscommunication

Managers who maintain professionalism, open workplace communication and a positive attitude
are more likely to be seen as approachable by their employees. When employees feel like they
can speak openly with decision-makers, workplace miscommunication, gossip and rumors are
much less likely to happen.

9. Personal relationships

Interpersonal skills are extremely important for creating and maintaining meaningful personal
relationships in the workplace. People with good interpersonal communication skills can,
therefore, build healthy relationships with their colleagues and work much better as a team.

10. Effective management and leadership

The ability to foster interpersonal relationships, establish trust and communicate clearly are all
crucial skills for an effective leader.

When a manager has poor interpersonal communication skills, they can expect to irritate and
confuse employees. In fact, there is a greater need for managers to work on their interpersonal
skills than there is for the average employee.

11. Conflict management

Conflict is normal in the workplace, and we can’t always expect from our employees to resolve
conflicts in a calm and timely manner. When conflicts like this arise, interpersonal
communication becomes crucial for resolving them.

Conflict management cannot happen without effective interpersonal communication. In fact, all
conflict management strategies that use communication to soften situations in stressful
environments are much more successful.
Elements of Interpersonal Communication

In communication theory, there are six key components of interpersonal communication.

The communicators

Term communicator refers to both the sender of the information as well as the receiver. In
interpersonal communication, there are at least two communicators involved in the conversation.

The message

One of the most important parts of interpersonal communication is the message. Message can be
conveyed in many ways: speech, body language, tone of voice, gestures and other indicators..

Noise

Noise refers to the gap between the message that is received and what it sent. Examples of noise
include jargon, language barriers, inattention and more. Noise is the problem that many
companies face in the workplace, and the reason why internal communicators are struggling to
get the necessary employees’ attention. Four types of noise are especially relevant. It’s important
to identify these types of noise and, when possible, to reduce their effects.
a. physical noise is interference that is external to both speaker and listener; it impedes the
physical transmission of the signal or message. Examples include the screeching of passing cars,
the hum of a computer, sunglasses, extraneous messages, illegible handwriting, blurred type or
fonts that are too small or difficult to read, misspellings and poor grammar, and pop-up ads.
b. physiological noise is created by barriers within the sender or receiver, such as visual
impairments, hearing loss, articulation problems, and memory loss.
c. psychological noise is mental interference in the speaker or listener and includes preconceived
ideas, wandering thoughts, biases and prejudices, closed mindedness, and extreme emotionalism.
d. semantic noise is interference that occurs when the speaker and listener have different
meaning systems; examples include language or dialectical differences, the use of jargon or
overly complex terms, and ambiguous or overly abstract terms whose meanings can be easily
misinterpreted.
Feedback

Feedback is the response of the receiver. In other words, it’s the message sent back to the sender.
Feedback is important because it allows the sender to know whether the message has been
received and interpreted correctly.

Context

Whether a message is received and interpreted correctly depends mostly on context. Therefore,
interpersonal communication is contextual. Context is about the environmental factors that
influence the outcomes of communication.These include time and place, as well as factors like
family relationships, gender, culture, personal interest and the environment

Channel

Finally, this interpersonal communication element refers to how the communication occurs. A
message is sent and received through a specific channel, or medium. Besides face-to-face
communication, some of the most common communication channels in the workplace include,
emails and intranets. Identifying and understanding the performance of those communication
channels is extremely important for employers.

As the communication ecosystem in the workplace is becoming extremely complex, and

communication channels such as email are becoming more and more inefficient, companies are
now looking for ways to consolidate all those channels into a single communication platform.

Types of Communication

The various types of possible communication will cluster under four basic
categories: verbal, listening, written and nonverbal communication.

1. Verbal communication

Whenever you talk or even make an audible sound (like “hmm” of “Ahh!” for example), you’re
creating verbal communication.

2. Listening
Listening is giving attention to a sound. When listening, a person hears what others are saying and
tries to understand what it means. Hearing is an automatic response that is the result of having
working ears. Listening takes more effort. It’s purposeful and requires concentration to
understand what the speaker is sharing.

3. Written Communication

When you convey a message via written symbols, you’re practicing written communication.
From emails and text messages to more formal memoranda and reports, written communication
is the cornerstone of most information sharing in business.

4. Non-verbal Communication

Nonverbal communication is the transfer of information through body language, facial

expressions, gestures, created space and more. For example, smiling when you meet someone
conveys friendliness, acceptance and openness.

Ways to improve communication

1. Verbal communication

The objective of Interpersonal Skills is to have a pleasant, informative, and valuable

conversation that leaves a lasting positive impression of you in others' minds. To communicate
effectively, the first thing we need is not only a good collection of words, but also a good
selection of words. Indeed, knowing how to speak is fine, but what to speak is the backbone of
any conversation. Proper usage of words and the right manner of communication will create
ways of sharing opinions and expressing ideas in a positive manner.

2. Active listening

Communication is a two-way process where active listening plays as major a role as speaking
fluently. Speaking fluently without listening will make any conversation a very short-lived one.
Hearing is simply picking up sound waves in our surrounding and realizing that there has been a
source of sound, whether you have seen it or not. Listening, on the other hand, is not only
picking up sound waves but also understanding the meaning of the words spoken, analyze them,
interpret them, and act accordingly. Active listening helps in getting a deeper understanding of
what the person is saying, which in return, will help you arrive at the most appropriate
conclusion.

3. Art of Asking

Many people shy away from putting their queries forward. On the contrary, you could say that
we human beings can attribute whatever we have learnt and our entire development curve to our
propensity of asking questions. The trick is in seeking purposeful answers that the person can
connect with and identify the thought behind the question.

Questions can be broadly classified under two categories:

 Open-ended questions – These questions are also known as the "Wh-questions" as they are
usually preceded by "who, when, where, what, how, and why". While answering these questions,
people tend to focus more on giving descriptive answers. Example: “Why did you think this was
the best decision of your life?"

 Close-ended questions - These questions can be easily answered in a few words, even with a
simple 'yes' or 'no'. They are asked to get a quick response from the listener about facts and
figures. Example: “Are you a resident citizen of this country?”

4. Body language
Body language helps us generate and transmit messages to observers through our posture,
gestures, and body movements.
The most important factors that sum up Body Language are:
 Eye Contact – Steady eye contact (not continuous as in staring) indicates a sense of
confidence and a willingness to connect with the discussion, as opposed to shying eyes and
drooping eyes that give an impression of either under-preparedness, low confidence, or
disinterest.

 Facial Expression – A person can very easily give away his thoughts if one were to study his
face. People who are genuinely happy tend to arch their eyebrows, as compared to those who
smile only out of courtesy. These small hints can give many details and unspoken messages
about people.
 Posture – It is recommended that you always maintain a proper, straight, and crisp posture
while standing or while sitting down. Slouchy posture is often associated with arrogance, sloth,
and unproductivity. On the other hand, a person sitting straight in his chair will exude confidence
and inspire respect.

 Specific Gestures – Nodding is universally accepted as a signal for 'Yes', and five extended
fingers denote the number 'five'. These are certain specific movements that you need to be
careful of while speaking, so that there is no discrepancy in gesture and speech.
5. Small talks
Small Talk is the friendly, amiable conversation people have with one another on general topics
such as weather or traffic that may open doorways to knowing each other better. Communication
experts consider small talk as an art, and they believe a pleasant small talk can lead to many
frank, detailed discussions on business too.

Let's see how small talk leads two people to share details about each other:

 Initiation – At this stage, the people in the conversation normally talk on general topics such
as the weather, traffic, time of the day, busy schedule, etc. This gives an idea as to whether the
other person is in a conversational mood or is avoiding conversation.

 Knowing each other – This is where people introduce themselves to the other person and
offer details about their name, work, and the reason they were at that particular place, for
example – "I am Vineet. I am a trainer and I was on my way to delivering an online training
session."

 Opinion Sharing – Here the discussion moves towards slightly more "weighty" topics like
politics, corporate way of life, philosophy, where the opinions of each other are listened to and
valued.
 Expressing Thoughts – Once all the above stages have been cleared, you reach the final stage
where both the persons can feel sufficiently comfortable in each other's company to be able to
disclose intimate details about each other.

6. Tips while talking

While talking to someone, remember that people like to talk to people who can receive and share
information simultaneously. If you dominate the conversation without giving any stress to what
the other person is saying, that will end the talk very quickly. On the other hand, if you only
listen and don't provide any intelligent or reasonable contribution to the discussion, people will
think of you as someone not worth their time talking to.
While having a conversation, make sure that you completely understand what the other person is
saying before making any remark on it. It is always advisable to use repetition in conversation,
both to clarify your statements and also to understand what the other person meant by his words.
It is also important to keep summarizing the content as the conversation becomes more detail-
oriented.

7. Using names in conversation

A human being’s name is the shortest and quickest way to building an emotional attachment with
him. Our names carry a powerful, emotional attachment with us. It is observed that people
immediately start paying you more attention and giving you more chances of interaction if you
mention their names correctly, especially when meeting them for a long time. Start the
introduction by mentioning your first name and your last name. That will also give a cue to the
listener(s) to state their names. Once they do that, repeat their names by acknowledging their
presence.

8. Making up for forgetting names

We all have gone through times when somebody greets us and we have no idea as to what his
name might be. Now, how to handle this situation? Always ask for a business card. If the guy
doesn't carry one, ask him which email he uses for business purpose? If another colleague
(whose name you know) is also in the vicinity, try introducing this person to him. Say – "Hi, let
me introduce you to Sam, the HR manager of our company". The other person now has to give
out his full name out of courtesy.