Effective communication not just about the linguistics, but it is about how effectively is the message getting conveyed.
Communication skills are often misunderstood with linguistics which is the command over a language. Communication is not bound to how good a person is with spoken or written language, it is more about interaction in various forms.
A simple graph, independent of any words or numbers, is also a form of communication. Using color codes in status reports is free from language however is an effective representation to communicate the progress. 🙂 communicating a smile without using words.Â
In a performance evaluation of the team member, we often have a single skill called ‘communication’ where we try to fit the person’s command over the official language. Whenever you want to evaluate the communication skills, rather than looking at the language and vocabulary proficiency, look for the following key aspects –
– How well is the person able to put forth the thoughts and make others understand?
– Is the message well expressed and well received?Â
– How effectively are the various tools and modes of communication utilized?
– Has the person selected the right set of modes of communication?Â
Undoubtedly linguistics too is important, however evaluation of communication and linguistics should be done separately. Ensure you have separate evaluation and ranking or grading done for these 2 important qualities to identify one’s key strengths and weaknesses. Do not let someone’s language overshadow the communication skills and vice-versa.Â
Giving fair evaluation to each quality independently helps create a better judgement.