Why Should Business Schools in India Focus on Communication Skills?

Communication is the essence of everything that we do. Starting from a mere telephonic conversation to writing emails the scope of tactful communication is so powerful that it can make or break impressions!

Developing appropriate communication skills has always been a very significant factor for people working in the corporate sector, especially the students of business schools who are gearing up to become future managers with high-flying corporate jobs.

You might already have decent communication skills, while another one can grasp it with time. You might be known to have great conversational skills when talking on the phone but might have issues while communicating on a professional platform in front of people.

Another very important aspect of communication is confidence. A great communicator might not always be super confident – or they might even lack that proficiency to express their thoughts despite having sound knowledge on a certain subject.

So, no matter where you consider yourself, building upon the communication skills is always going to be profitable, and honestly, that is half the game won.

Now, when it comes to business communications, it is not merely restricted to delivering a speech or communicating with colleagues and employees.

Communication in the corporate world is one of the most crucial factors that run businesses all over the world.

Multitudes of aspects such as verbal communication, visual communication like graphs, images, infographics, maps, written communication like emails, messages and last but not the least non-verbal communication such as gestures, body language are considered to be of supreme importance.

There are various significant reasons why business schools have specialized courses to nurture every student and develop all-around communication skills. Let us take a look at why business schools should equally emphasize building communication skills today.

Significance of Communication Skills for Business Students

For impactful business communication
You will very soon be a part of the work environment and need to have good communication so that you can express your ideas, knowledge, thoughts, opinions, and message to clients. Your communication needed to be strong, clear-cut and focused if you wish to see yourself as an effective manager.

Understand the etiquettes of communication
This is a crucial factor that plays an important role in the business world. How colleagues interact with one another, through all platforms has to be under certain parameters. To guarantee that all communications should be done efficiently, the communication flow must be taken into consideration making conversations more meaningful.

Cross-cultural communications
In this universal economy, diverse forms of cultures exist. Additionally, doing business in a polished way necessitates knowledge of several cultures and languages. You may get projects from around the world all having specific needs so catering to those requirements; you need to have basic communication knowledge of cross cultures.

Boost employability
It is alarming that studies suggest that only around 7% of MBAs in India are employable (source). And a lot of it goes for poor communication skills.

Starting from talking in public and asking questions to put out your opinion and holding your ground while expressing your views, these are considered employable traits that are essential.

With the right grooming of communication skills, you can absorb information correctly and articulate your ideas in a clear, crisp, and meaningful manner to others.

Students with great communication skills are always known to have been of higher preference to the recruiters.

Respect in your workplace
Whether it be applying for various jobs or promotions from your current designation, you will have to show your communication skills.

You need to speak fluently at the same time maintain your confidence. You have to exhibit a diverse vocabulary and customize your language according to the audience. You also need to listen efficiently, showcase your ideas, and write concisely. This is one of the essential traits every employer seeks.

Having the skills mentioned above helps you:

• Listen to other people and give attention to them
• Handle telephonic conversations properly
• Boosting interest and engagement in teams
• Articulating your opinion

In-demand skills
Both verbal, as well as written communication competencies, are constantly ranked within the topmost ten looked-for skills by the employer in most of the surveys.

Employers look for:

• Communication both verbal as well as written
• Being organized
• Teamwork spirit
• Acute thinking
• Analytical abilities

A progressive career advancement
You will have to assimilate information, deliberate on issues, give out instructions, work within teams, and interact with colleagues and clients. To achieve teamwork and efficient cooperation, workplace relationship skills are essential. Moreover, as these workplace aspects becoming more worldwide, you need to consider communicating appropriately in a diverse setting.

Employers desire staff members who think deeply, make use of initiative and resolve issues, staff who are highly interested in the company’s long-term success. If you are to be seen as a valued member of the organization, it is important not just to be able to do your job well, but also to express your thoughts on the products and processes or services which need improvement.

Maintain a solid customer rapport
Customers wish for only one thing, and that is to get their queries across so that they are understood by the company as they love to be heard out as well as listened to. This applies especially to businesses catering to a great number of customers, both on the phone and client interface.

Professional image enhancement
We all look for making a good impression on our employers, family, and friends. We all want to portray a positive image of ourselves. This also is very important for your career, as you will be representing your business in both spoken as well as written form. Your skills and professionalism will mirror optimistically for you and set your path for success.

Additional benefits of communication skills
The most triumphant organizations recognize the fact that being successful in the current business world requires good communication at every level. Below are a few helpful points to remember that will benefit your business and yourself from achieving effectual communication:

• Enhanced problem solving and decision-making
• Improvement inefficiency
• Influential and convincing corporate equipment
• Concise and more systemized workflow
• Good human business relationships
• The flourishing response is guaranteed

Good Presentation Skills
Even though, most of us need to use good presentation skills frequently. There will be multiple times where you need to showcase your presentation skills in your life starting from business schools to your business work even in an informal or formal setting.

Writing Communication skills
Communication skills do not only limit themselves to direct engagement with people and also lie in the writing skills you have. The capability to write unmistakably and efficiently is essential in communication.

These sets of writing skills are not only limited to professional authors or journalists. Poorly written communication skills will be annoying for readers and most likely damage your image – no one likes to see spelling mistakes on a website or email or be it any written communication.

You need to recognize and rise above the general mistakes and get better at your communication when it comes to writing. You can take up different classes to brush up on your communication skills. Students should be educated on these skills to be able to learn, express their ideas, and grasp others' ideas more effectively.

Learn to focus
Personal Skills are when you keep up a healthy mind and body and added to that you enhance your communication. Like enhancing and upgrading your confidence and self-esteem can assist you in feeling positive and your capabilities.

Once you are optimistic, your communication becomes more refined and perceivable.

When you have a better understanding of your capabilities, you feel more relaxed and have an encouraging outlook on your life, and this could lead you to become charismatic - a feature that can additionally support your communication flow.

To communicate successfully, you have to avoid these distractions and remain focused.

Learn to listen
Communication is not only about you, do the talking; on the other hand, you must make sure to pay enough attention to what people around you are saying. In other words, building communication skills also include developing your listening and comprehending abilities.

Your goal should be to understand and connect with people, to be a true manager. If you feel that you are not spontaneous, then you need to practice, to build up worthwhile interactions.

Conclusion
The capability to communicate successfully with clients, co-workers and managers is vital, whichever sector you are working in. Proper communication enhances teamwork, gives way to high performance, and improves workplace culture.

Communication is now an inseparable part of our modern life, and with appropriate communication, there is no task you cannot achieve.