ENT1/5: COMMUNICATION SKILLS

r with information being understood by the receiver as communicated by the sender.

Essentials / principles of effective communication

For communication to be effective, it should possess the following, i.e. 7c’s of effective communication
 Clarity, the message conveyed must be organized, loud and clear leaving no room for any dough.it should have a well thought through introduction, detailed body and a smart conclusion.
 Consistence, the sender should be consistent in the use of channel and the code through which he is communicating the message
 Concreteness, it is advisable to organize the communication in logical manner and
coherent
 Courtesy, the communicator should not be rude, should communicate politely. The message should have a good tone able to maintain and build relationship
 Consideration, plan carefully and try to understand the information needs of the recipient. Be empathetic of the recipient, this enables you understand the
message.
 Conciseness, effective communication should be brief and straight forward to the point. The sender must be clear and properly focused to the purpose of communication
 Completeness, the message should have all the necessary information e.g. a notice for a meeting should have the date, day, time, venue and purpose of communication.
 Interest and acceptance, the sender must ensure that adequate interest is generated among the recipient of the message and that they are ready to make reply.
 Environment, the sender should ensure that the recipient receive the message as required.
 Distribution, the communication should be addressed to those who are supposed to have it. There should be a system to ensure that wrong people don’t access to the information
 Simplicity of the language, the sender must keep his language as simple as possible keeping in mind the recipient standard of knowledge so that the message is clearly understood.
 Timing, the message should be conveyed at a time when the receiver is able to listen and receive it.
 Media, the sender must use a media that the target recipient uses.eg newspapers when communicating to the elite of urban areas.
 Controlling Emotions ,emotions play an important role in interpersonal relationships between the sender and the receiver.

The video below explains ways how to improve in your communication skills

Barriers to effective communication

A communication barrier is any hindrance that prevents the receiver from getting the intended message from the sender. Some of the barriers to effective communication include
 Difference in individual interpretation of words. People perceive information differently. Some words have two or more meanings and this makes effective communication difficult.
 Unfavorable communication environment. If the environment is not appropriate and causes distraction e.g where there is a lot of noise, which obscures one from listening to verbal message properly.

 Language differences. Some people have different languages and this makes it difficult to understand the message communicated.

 Use of inappropriate channel of communication. Where the channel of communication is not appropriate e.g communicating through television when your target group is blind people.
 Non-verbal communication like body movements, gestures, eye movements and facial expressions may distort the meaning of a message
 Incompleteness of the message. When the message sent by the sender does not include all the facts that the receiver needs to know about the subject matter on which the communication is based, it hinders effective communication
 Lack of interest. If the receiver is not interested e.g if the message is communicated at an inconvenient time or a wrong target group and will make the message boring.

 Long distances between the sender and the receiver. Long distances create many obstacles which hinder effective communication
 Poor packaging of the message to be sent. If the message is not attractive to the receiver or the message is not well packaged to attract the listener hinders effective communication.
 Emotional block. Anger, fear by the recipient during communication is a barrier to effective communication.

 Poor listening skills and premature evaluation. Lack of good listening culture especially among the youth tends to make communication ineffective.

 Failure of the sender to be considerate when communicating e.g if the sender is not considerate in his communication.
 Information overload. Giving too much information make it difficult for people to understand it. it causes mental constipation.

 Poor planning by the sender of the message leads to poor receiving of the message (garbage in, garbage out)
 Network problems or poor network. In case of tele-communicating, communication is not effective when the network is poor, even with internet use.
 Use of wrong address. In enterprises, use of wrong address cause communication not to be effective as message is received by a wrong recipient.
 The difference in class between sender and receiver directly affects the communication process. If they share a class, they are likely to be more effective than when they don’t.

Ways of overcoming barriers to effective communication

 Explaining to the receiver so that he gets to share the meaning of the message of the sender to overcome differing perspective.
 By using simple direct language while communicating to overcome language differences.
 Understanding and changing people’s behavior to ensure maturity of Organisational members in order to overcome emotional blocks
 By understanding or being aware of the meaning of different gestures, body movements, clothing and postures
 Creating trust, this involves building confidence through understanding, discussing issues and creating an atmosphere of trust so as to restore credibility
 Eliminating physical noise e.g if it is a machine, it can be switched off or those communicating may move away in order to overcome destruction
 Planning well before communication, the sender should plan well in advance what he wants to say, why is saying it and how he will say it. He should also anticipate the receiver’s reaction towards the communication

Purpose of communication in business

For internal functioning of an organisations the objectives of communication include
 Search for establish and disseminate Organizational goals. Once the overall goal has been identified, departments also state their departmental goals. The different departments then bring ideas together through some communication process and finally a document is drawn up for instance the strategic plan which communicates
the plan of the organisation.
 To facilitate development of plans and strategies to achieve goals. Once goals have been articulated, strategies are involved, discussed and communicated. All this is facilitated by communication.
 To facilitate allocation of Organizational resources in a most effective way. Once resources have been identified they are a located in different departments and this must be communicated to the different departments in either meetings or memos.

To enable managers to influence direct motivate and create a conducive working environment of organizational members.
 To facilitate and make feedback about performance and enable collective actions to be made. As Organizational members perform tasks given to them, they have to make periodic reports to supervisors or superiors on what they have done.
 For enabling an organisation to relate to the outstand environment, the objective of communication.
 To link the entrepreneur to the suppliers. Communication enables organisation to identify suppliers who are competent and can avail them with various inputs like raw-materials used in the production process.
 To link the entrepreneur to important services and needs like banking services, insurance, transport etc which helps in the day to day running of the business.
 To keep the entrepreneur in touch with his customers. This helps the entrepreneur to carry out surveys into customer’s needs and observations of consumption pattern and trends.
 Inform shareholders about organisation performance. Communication enables the organisation to make shareholders aware of its performance and position in their claims.
 To get information about macro-policy intentions of government, tax policies, regulations and other information that the government makes available in the form of regulations from time to time.
 To relate and establish the needs of the society. Communication enables the organisation to relate to society and know the needs of the society for example organisations need to address social problems like HIV/Aids and global warming etc.

Importance of communication in business

 It helps an entrepreneur to pass on relevant information to his staff, customers, government and public which may be beneficial to the business e.g informing the staff about the new changes in management and production
 It helps the entrepreneur to search for, establish and disseminate organizational goals to the different departments
 It helps in recruiting and selecting workers for business e.g publishing advertisements, to those who can send application letters for selection of required staff.
 It facilitates the allocation of organisational resources in the most effective way. This is done on discussions and directives on how resources will be distributed
 It helps entrepreneur to implement his / her policies by giving instructions to employees or their supervisors.
 It helps entrepreneurs in negotiating with customers so as to get the best bargain in his / her dealings
 It enables managers to influence, direct, motivate and create a conducive working environment for organisational members
 It helps in keeping good relationship with his customers and new customers
 It helps the entrepreneur in making decisions basing on the informed that is available.
 It helps in creating good understanding between the entrepreneur and his / her employees through conducting meetings and discussions
 It helps the entrepreneurs to co-ordinate operations of his / her business that are executed in different departments
 It acts as a measure of managing credit sales and credit purchases in business, hence smooth running of the business
 Enables the entrepreneurs to get feedback from the organisational members of the tasks given to them as they have to make periodic report for supervisors
 It enables the entrepreneur to get information about macro- policy intentions of the government , tax policies regulations and other information that the government makes available in form of regulation from time to time
 Communication acts as a form of increasing the sales volume and widening the market share e.g through advertising, printing brochures concerning business etc
 Aids market research through the use of interviewing, questionnaires and customers and entrepreneur can be able to gather necessary information concerning people’s opinions about the products in the market
 It also helps the government and other regulatory bodies to monitor and direct the business operations
 It helps the public to get knowledge about the existence of the business and its operations, which improves on the public image of organisation.

Forms of communication

This refers to the methods or manner through which the entrepreneur can communicate his or her message.
Communication is an essential part of conducting business and there are various ways that people communicate in a work place. To be successful business person, it is important to familiarize yourself with the different communication methods so you know which ones may be most effective for what you need to accomplish

Verbal / oral communication
Refers to the form of communication in which message is transmitted by word of mouth, face-to-face or by telephone. When we talk to others we assume that others understand what we are saying because we know what we are saying
But this is not the case; usually people bring their own attitude, perception, emotions and thoughts about the topic and hence create barriers in delivering the right meaning
It is always used when bargaining and interviews, training and meeting. It is the commonest form of communication in business and it will involve normally, entrepreneurs, customers, suppliers and bankers

So in order to deliver the right message to the above, you must put yourself on the other side of the table and think from receiver’s point of view. Would he understand the massage? How it would sound on the other side of the table

Advantages of oral communication
 It brings quick feedback in face-to-face conversation, by reading facial expression and body language one can guess whether he / she should trust what being said or not.
 There is room for flexibility where questions or instructions can be rewarded to suit the situation.
 It also allows contribution and participation of all parties involved.

Disadvantages of oral communication
 In face-to-face discussion, user is unable to deeply think about what he is delivering, so this can be counted as a written communication.
 Little time is allowed for important matters to be discussed which will leave both parties unsatisfied.

Written and printed communication
In written communication, written signs or symbols are used to communicate. A written message may be printed or hand written. In written communication message can be transmitted via email, letter, report, memo, circulars, notice, minutes, circulation slips, Bulletins, agenda etc. message in written communication is
influenced by the vocabulary and grammar used, writing, style, precision and the clarity of the language.

Written communication is the most common form of communication being used in business. So it is considered core among business skills.
Memos, reports, job descriptions, bulletins, employee manual and electronic mails are the types of written communication used for internal communication.
For communicating with external environment in writing, electronic mail, internet, web site, letters, proposal, telegrams, faxes, post cards, contracts, advertisement brochures and news releases are used.

Forms of written communication
a) A MEMO

This is on internal communication, it is a written message used with the same organization.
In fill it is called Memorandum

Elements of a memo
From: This shows where the memo is coming from.
To: This shows where the memo is addressed.
Date: This shows the date in which the memo is written.
Reference: This shows the number which distinguishes the communication within
the other.
Subject heading: This shows the main idea expressed in the memo.
Body: This shows the details of the content of the memo in a paragraph form

Practical situation
You are employed as a general manager of Elgon Fliers Bus Company to which many customers are complaining about the quality of the services.

Write a memo inviting the customer relation officer for a meeting

Advantages of memos
 Inexpensive, a major advantage of a business memo is that they are inexpensive to create. Even when business people physically print the memo, doing so usually costs the company far less
 Memo information is harder to dispute than oral communication because the memo is evidence of what the writer said
 Business people are able to produce and deliver memos unobtrusively. Even when the memo is physically printed , employees can read the memo at their leisure
 Delivery of memo is easy. With hard copy memos, it takes just one person to hand the memo out to employees or put it in the employee mail box or notice board.
b) A business letter, is usually used when writing from one company to another or for correspondence between such organisations and their customers and other external parties.
There are very many reasons for writing a business letter. It could be to request direct information or action from another party, to order supplies from supplier, to identify a mistake that was committed, to reply directly to a request, to apologize for wrong or simply to convey good will
A business letter must be clear, complete, and timely and be able to promote the image of business organisation

How to write a business letter

A business letter

A business letter is used to send information from the business organization to an individual or another business organization on specific areas of interest between the business and the address.

Contents of a business letter
A business letter must dear, complete timely and be able to promote the image of the business organization. Though varied, a business letter usually contains the following:

The letter head: A business organization usually has pre-designed and printed papers called letter heads, which show its name, address, telephone No. and the email address. The letter head may also have the organization vision, mission, bankers and any other information deemed necessary.

Business letters will be written on these letter heads instead of writing on a plain paper.

Reference: This is used to identify the subject matter and the recipient of the letter.
Each business organization adopts unique and convinced reference system for its letters and documents. The reference can include the address. The subject matter and the dates for example L2/m/12/7/2016.

Date: All letters should have a date. For exam case, the date should that which one is setting for the paper
Inside Address: This shows the name and address of the person/organization the letter is addressed to each item should have a separate line.
Salutation: This is a general greeting used to commence the letter for example “Dear madam” is normally used if the letter is addressed to an organization and the  addressee is known to be a lady a man. A personal name can also be used for example
“Dear Perry” if the writer knows the addressee.

Subject heading: A subject heading gives a brief indication of the content of the letter using capital letter or bold print.

Body of the letter: The body of the letter communicates the intended communication to the addressee. Paragraphs are used to show different ideas in the letter.

Complimentary close: This is a general closing to the letter, it is common to end with “Yours Faithfully” If “Dear Sir/Madam” has been used “Yours Sincerely”, “If dear and name of recipient have been used”

Signatory: All business letters should be signed.

Enclosures: If the letter has any other document enclosed, it should be stated by using the abbreviation “ENC”

Copy: A copy should be kept for the file, and others distributed to different officers who may need to know about the information communicated.

Format of a business letter
There are two format used that is
 Fully blocked style
 Indented block style

NB. Many people may choose to use an indented block style business letter because like the way that it looks. The definition of an intended block style business letter is a letter that is justified at the left margin except for few elements, these elements include the return address, the reference line, closing, signature and printed name

c) Agenda refers to the list of items to be handled at the meeting. It acts as a guide to the meeting indicating which activities or business to be handled and sequence to be followed.

Sources of items from agenda
 They can be drawn from previous meeting
 Uncompleted business

From new suggestions from members
 New development in the company
NB. Modern agenda should be timed (each item should be given specific time)

Content of the document. Should have the following
 Heading indicating word
 Agenda
 Type of meeting
 Organisation
 Venue
 Time

Items should be numbered
Please make research for the real format of the agenda
d) Meeting minutes, these are records of what took place at the meeting. They are taken down by a minute secretary he or she would record them in a minute book and later transcribe them into final minutes

Minutes are important documents for presenting deliberations and resolutions made at a meeting; once they have been signed they become legal documents, which can be referred to by courts of law, auditors and other inspectors.

Elements of minutes
 The name of the business
 The venue where the meeting was held, time
 List of members that were absent with apology.
 List of members that were absent without apology.
 Contents of the minute which is written basing on the flow of agenda

Importance of minutes
 Confirm any decisions made
 Record any agreed actions to be taken
 Record who has been allocated any tasks or responsibilities
 Prompt action from any relevant attendees
 Provide details of the meeting to any one unable to attend
 Serve as a record of the meeting’s procedure and outcome
 Provide the validity of the meeting

e) Notices, these may be used by an entrepreneur when giving out short message to concerned person, e.g a notice may be a reminder to the customers for payment, intensions to sue Etc.
In case the business is to shift contents must include, time frame or shifting, old location and new location contact.

g) Report, these are used by entrepreneur to give conclusion and recommendations based on investigated facts and situations, e.g weekly report etc
Elements of report writing:
 The name of the business.
 The topic of investigation.
 Objectives of carrying out the activity.
 The background on which you carried out the investigations.
 Your findings of the situations.
 Your recommendation about the situation.
 Your recommendation for further research.
 Conclusion.

Characteristics of a good report
 It should be precise ie short and clear about the purpose for which it is written
 It should be accurate since it will be used to make decision.
 The facts presented should be relevant to the situation under investigation.
 It should have consideration ie written with the reader in mind
 Recommendations should be objective and clear language
 It should be brief and complete ie all relevant facts should be included
 It should contain correct grammar and sentences
 It should be written systematically in logical sequence
 It should be written in simple and clear language.
h) bulletins, a brief report, especially an official of public interest issued by an organisation for immediate publication or broadcast e.g journal, business manual, and they are given to customers and potential buyer

i) Circulation slip. This may be used by an entrepreneur to inform the named
personnel, i.e. If one person receives the document, reads it and pass it on to another person named on the slip

Advantage of written communication
a. It provides information that act as a source of reference in future
b. It is capable of relaying complex ideas like legal matters, sale of goods agreement
c. It gives chance to the presenter to analyze , evaluate and summarize material in such a way that could be appropriate to the receiver
d. It can be used to confirm, interpret and clarify earlier oral communication
e. It forms a basis for forming contracts or binding agreements.

Disadvantages of written communication
a. Documents can be time consuming in production and sometimes very expensive and costly like written reports
b. Communication in written form tends to be more formal and distant compared to oral, it lack mutual advantage that proximity provides for its usually easier to influence the person you are talking to than the one you are writing to.
c. There can be a problem of interpretation, if the receiver is not well acquainted with language and style of the sender
d. It doesn’t allow exchange of opinions until after a long period of time yet by then the issue might have been overtaken by events.
e. Lack of instant feedback. Unlike oral communication, written communication doesn’t allow for instant feedback, such as questions or facial express
f. Possibility of miscommunication. Written communication doesn’t include nuances of tone of voice or facial expression, making miscommunication more likely

g. Impersonality. Written communication is less personal than oral communication, making it less ideal for emotional messages e.g most people feel that important news such as being fired, getting a promotion, ending relationship should be communicated in person

Visual or non-verbal communication

Is the process of communication through sending and receiving wordless (mostly visual) cues between people.

Communication by means of elements and behavior that are not coded into words in this case, body movements such as gestures, facial expression, and eye movement, nodding and pointing can be used to convey
messages. It also includes the use of sign language to communicate to people with hearing disabilities.

Forms of visual communication
 Organisational charts: these can be used to show the organisation structure of the business showing different sections or departments in the business and how they relate or report to each other.
 Photographs: these can be used as illustration of some other information given so as to improve on appreciation and understanding, such photographs are used to advertise the goods and their needs to customers
 Films or documentaries: these can also be used by entrepreneurs to provide information about the business’ operations e.g films may show customer care activities, business latest products and their applications, they can also be used for training purposes
 Posters and wall charts: these can be used to represent or illustrate certain information in the business and serve as an important method of advertising and giving awareness to the target groups
 Graphs: can also be used by an entrepreneur to present information about the performance of the business, like one can use bar charts, graphs, pie charts etc to compare the sale or profits of different periods and also to show the trend of business performance

Effects of non-verbal communication
Nonverbal communication, especially body language, can send a strong message inspite of what your words say. Even the tone of your voice, its pitch, volume, quality and speed effects what you say, your body language can
 Repeat the message your words are saying
 Contradict what your words are saying
 Be substitution for your verbal message
 Add to the meaning of your message
 Accent or make stronger, like pounding your fist on a table

Channels / media of effective communication in business
 Press. This communication media basically includes newspapers, magazines, journals, printed catalogues etc. under this medium, message is conveyed among traders. Between manufacturers and consumers, wholesalers and
retailers or even wholesalers and manufacturers.
 Radio and television, under this media, traders are able to communicate to the public about the goods and services they offer through television and radios. this communication is in form of advertisements which can persuasive or
informative,
 Telephone. This is a medium of oral communication where people speak to one another through telephone receivers. It may either be through the exchange control (switch board) or it may be direct without going through the exchange control. Today, the commonly used are mobile phones.
 Internet. This is the worldwide area network of computers communicating across continents. It is a worldwide website for communicating across continents.
 Letters. This is a method of written communication which involves writing letters and sending them through the post office to be delivered to the addressee or they may be directly delivered.

Ways of communicating to customers and suppliers.
How to present a product?
When presenting a product to a customer, an entrepreneur should consider the
following strategies:
 Ensuring that the sales person is smartly dressed, so as to deliver the present the
products more easily.
 The target customers’ needs must be analyzed in order to select the most appropriate way of representing the product.
 Starting the presentation of the products by first giving the outstanding features of the product, the benefit to the customers etc
 By keeping the customer privacy, convenience ability to use the products and others so as to plan how best to present the product.
 Giving samples of the products to customers so as to identify and get their input into productive development.
 Using relevant presentation aid, photographs, charts to back up the information about the product.
 Telling the truth about the products and during presented to potential customers.
 Giving a chance to potential customers to give their opinion about the product.
 Handling any doubts in the minds of the customers tactfully by trying to convince him or her.

How to bargain with customers?
This is used to ensure win – win situation in bargaining
In bargaining with customers, an entrepreneur may undertake the following
strategies:
 Being a good communicator during the process of bargaining with customers like talking dearly, showing respect etc.
 Avoid dominating the bargaining process, by allowing customers to also give their own views during the bargaining process.
 Giving counter offers to customers e.g. reducing the price of the product so as to induce them to purchase.
 Improving on the customer service, by having an effective customer service department to facilitate the bargaining with customers
How to give personal attention to customers?
 understand customer’s wants and needs and bring products to satisfy them
 Sell products at the right prices, in the right quantity and quality.
 Use the right promotion and in the right place at the right time in order to meet customers’ needs and wants as identified by the entrepreneur.
How to follow up orders from suppliers?
The entrepreneur should
 Make sure that he has the physical address, telephone numbers and all other contacts.
 You can make other methods of contacts as you follow up your order like writing a reminder letter, visiting suppliers’ premises, sending e-mails, making telephone calls.
How to collect overdue accounts?
 Begin by identifying all the debtors for a given period from the accounts books of the business and listing them according to their debt amounts.
 Grouping of all the debtors according to their credit periods and then assigning specific workers to each of them to help in collection of the debts.
 Sending polite reminders to customers with overdue accounts or calling them on phone to remind them of their debts.
 Receiving /collecting of debts from different debtors through the workers assigned to do the collection.
 Updating of the debtors records and then issuing statements of accounts to each
of them.
 By sending a more strongly worded last debt reminders to debt defaulters to pay their debts not later than the new deadline date stated.
 Taking legal action against debtors who still have failed to settle their debts after the new deadline date by employing courts of law to recover the debts.

A practical situation
You are dealing in salad making business in which most of the products are sold on
credit.
Prepare a debt recovery program

How to handle difficult customers?
In order to handle difficult customers, an entrepreneur should
 Receiving or acknowledging and evaluating the difficult customers objections or complaints to determine whether they are genuine or not and taking appropriate action to address the problem so as not to lose the customer.
 Listening carefully to what the difficult customer is saying so as to make him have hope that the complaint shall be addressed and then planning how best to solve the problem raised.
 Learning to apologize to the difficult. After understanding the problem, the sales person has to apologize to the customer orally in case of a minor problem or write an apology in case of a big problem.
 Getting the difficult customer open up and give all the details about the complaint so as get the cause of the problem and be addressed.
 Trying to convince the difficult customer especially in the case of a minor problem that the problem experienced shall not be made to occur again.
 Refunding the money of the difficult customer if that customer rejects replacement of the product.
 Replacing of the product sold to the difficult customer in case the upset is due to receiving a damaged/faulty product and an apology made to the customer.
 Buying more time for problems that cannot be immediately solved by asking the customer to come back later.
 Reducing the price of the product in case the previous purchases made by the difficult customer had a problem as a way of trying to make the customer feel happy.
 Establishing the customer care desk or office and employing a well-trained worker to handle problems of difficult customers.
 Calling security personnel to handle difficult customer who becomes violent at the business premises.

LISTENING SKILLS

Listening is defined as the ability of an individual to interpreter and understands what is being communicated. It is more related to visual and oral communication. However the term is strictly tight to oral communication.
The process of listening:
This process has five stages – sensing, interpreting, evaluating, remembering and responding.
1. Sensing: this means to get in tune with the speaker, as we tune a radio the listener is prepared and knows that he has to listen.
2. Interpreting and evaluating: Listening is meaningful when a person converts the words coming to him into ideas. The ideas make sense or no sense. The listener keeps what is useful, separates what is useless, and keeps a note of what is unclear or incomplete.
3. Remembering, Listening serves a great purpose when creating mental pictures, for example when an address is being explained.
4. Responding: this means to act on the message received and to let the speaker know this. The listener may respond on the spot by making appropriate remarks:
“I see,” or “Is it so?” or “Okay.” This reassures the speaker. The listener may ask questions to bring out the required information and complete the picture from his point of view.
5. Evaluation

Approaches to Listening:

Listening can be classified from a mere show-off to the wholehearted act:
1. Pretending to listen: here the listener faces the speaker, across the table or on the phone line, as long as he speaks and then switches off without registering the message. This is mere hearing and not listening.

2. Selective listening: This is when one edits the message as talk able and not
takable. In the case of an important message, selective listening leads to partial
fulfillment of the instructions.

3. Superficial listening: This is where the listener takes in only the words but not the
spirit of the message.

4. Emphatic listening: This term conveys full emphasis on the act of listening and taking in the entire message in word and spirit. The listener takes in the tone, the pauses, and the body language related to the words. Emphatic listening is necessary to move from one’s preconceived stand. The listener’s openness makes
him ready to be influenced.

5. Dynamic (mutually creative) listening: Here, listening is a creative process in which the listener contributes to the meaning that is being conveyed. He adds his energy to that of the speaker to generate.

6. Intuitive listening: this means a direct insight into the truth. For an intuitive listener, a mere hint, an undertone or a silence is enough to read the other person’s mind. It is nurtured when one listens to high quality music or finds
natural or meditative solitude.

Barriers to Effective Listening:

1. Poor hearing: If one’s sense of hearing is defective, listening is impaired.

2. Listener’s chain of thoughts: i.e. when the mind of listener is having own thoughts.
These may become rapid and loud from time to time, marring one’s receptivity.

3. A too heavy message: Use of jargon or over compression of ideas may make an oral message too heavy for the listener.

4. Listener’s self-importance or prejudice: i.e. when the listener has put himself above the speaker, there is no receptive attitude.

5. Misunderstanding about the role of a listener: Some listeners may not be aware of what their role in a particular situation is. They may think that it is the speaker’s responsibility to explain everything properly.

6. Cultural gap: If the speaker and the listener have different cultural habits, the listening may be incomplete. The listener may assign different importance to a word or phrase than is meant. While Orientals are used to an elaborate style of addressing a gathering, westerners are often quite brief about it. But this can be distracting to an easterner.

7. Preoccupations: Some people listen while eating, drinking or doing handiwork. In such cases the attention is divided. A busy manager, for instance, may try to listen while filing papers or opening the mail. This affects listening.

8. Ego influence; if the receiver considers him superior and is not willing to listen, this ego problem acts as a stumbling block in the listening process.

How to develop entrepreneurial listening skills

Entrepreneurs are usually good communicators but they need to have the ability to listen. Most of us listen to only 25% of our ability while others may be even less than
25%. We normally listen to our close friends, teachers, family members and bosses.

The following strategies can be used to develop effective listening:
1. Send signals to people through the eyes and body gestures so that they know one
is listening.
2. Relax when communicating such that others will feel comfortable when adding  their comments.
3. Slow down the minds when listening so that you are predicted by what people say.
4. Improve on the concentration.
5. Avoiding forming a reply before hearing what other persons say.
6. Do not be defensive about the individual point of view during communication.
7. Keep the voice soft rather than aggressive.

How to attend to the messages

The following is involved when an individual attends to the message:
 Making eye contact: Eye contact increases your chance of getting the message.
 When on phone, try not to look at things that will distract you from listening to and attending to the speaker.
 Your body posture, including slight leaning posture suggests that you are paying attention and helps you to stay tuned in.
 When on phone, try to position yourself so that you are comfortable but not relaxed that you lose the ability to attract the callers. Use vocal attending behaviors’ “eh-huh”, mm-hmmm”
 When interacting with the speaker in person face the speaker squarely and lean forward slightly towards the speaker to show that you are attentive.
 Verbal or non-verbal acknowledgement of the speaker helps to involve you in the communication process and lets the speaker know you are paying attention.
 When interacting with the speaker in person, use non verbal attending behavior such as nodding and facial expressions.
 Clear your mind, on thoughts to avoid mentally wandering and other destructing behaviors