Communication is the art of passing information from one person to another. Human beings communicate with one another as they interact on daily basis. Communication is essential in any transaction as it helps people to understand each other. Inclusive communication is highly effective in passing messages in business organizations. This paper illustrates the use of inclusive communication in a sales company.
Essential Elements and Benefits of Inclusive Communication
In order to pass information, five elements are essential. These include; sender, recipient, message, medium and feedback. The sender is the person from whom a message originates. He or she passes the message across to the recipient, or the person receiving the message. Message is the information relayed from one person to another. This information passes through a medium such as a cellular phone and television. In order to understand whether the recipient understood a message, it is crucial to get a response or feedback from him or her (RCSLT, 2003).
Inclusive communication is an approach of passing messages which involves any available means of communicating. The principle behind inclusive communication is recognition of the ability to use different methods of relaying information. Once a person acknowledges that there are several ways of passing information, they can effectively deliver information to the audience. This approach relies on; gestures, objects, facial expressions, speech, pictures including photographs, symbols and graphics, body language, as well as interactions.
Gestures are signs that primarily involve the use of hands to illustrate the point passed across, or to communicate non-verbally. A speaker uses facial expressions to accompany information. Pictures play a key role in communication since they offer a broad understanding of the topic under discussion. They accompany written and spoken messages. Objects represent people, tasks or regions. Interactions are extremely significant because they allow the speaker and the audience to probe into issues for more understanding (RCSLT, 2003). Therefore, the speaker can ask the audience questions to check whether they understand the topic under discussion. Similarly, the audience can ask the speaker questions in order to seek for clarifications. Interactions are vital for people with learning disabilities such as delayed speech. They enable such people to ask for clarifications and learn at a pace that allows them to understand most, if not all aspects of a topic.
Any person who employs these aspects of inclusive communication can communicate effectively to people of diverse cultures, races, ethnic groups, students, as well as people with different political affiliations. This approach acknowledges that people are different, and it advocates for respect to everyone. Attentive listening is essential in communication, and speakers must be good listeners (Bucher, 2010).
Application of Inclusive Communication
The deaf are part of people with disabilities. Some people also refer to them as people with hearing impairment. Acceptance of disabled people in contemporary societies is a recent issue. About 650 million people in the world are disabled, and the deaf are part of this number (Taylor et al, 2004). Deafness can present itself right from birth or later in life, as a person grows up. Several countries normally leave out the deaf in mainstream development. However, some countries are gaining recognition that the deaf are part and parcel of the society, and they ought to be treated as such.
Communicating with the deaf can be quite challenging at times since these people do not use spoken language directly to get a message. They rely on the lip or speech reading and interpreters. Some people feel that the deaf cannot use information and communication technology. I recently visited a sales company specializing in automobile parts, but it does not value the services of the deaf. The company belongs to the whites, and all employees are whites. I decided to hold a training session to educate the top management that deafness is not a tragedy, and the deaf are successful in a variety of roles. The goal of the training was to erase the negative ethnic and disability cultures in employment (Spring, 2007).
The session took place in the board discussion room, which had no sign of accommodating people with disability. I connected my laptop to the company’s projector. Thereafter, I began the session by airing a video showing the hearing impaired working in sales departments of different companies. I passed photographs of deaf people working in the corporate world for view by the management. Two deaf people accompanied me; a man and a woman. They communicated with the management officials about their working environments and their work experiences. I used gestures to demonstrate how the deaf communicate and speech to translate the information spoken by the two people. I listened to the management’s arguments against employment of the deaf, and I certainly empathized with the deaf. I made an effort to avoid any negative words that could reinforce stereotypes about the hearing impaired. At the end of the session, all of us interacted and had informal sharing on how to integrate the deaf in companies. Thereafter, the company decided to hire ten deaf people; five women and five men.
In conclusion, many companies undermine the role played by the deaf in the society. The society views them as a bunch of lazy people or outcasts who must fail. However, there are several deaf people who have been successful in life. Inclusive communication is essential in passing such information to people in the corporate businesses.
References
Bucher, R. (2010). Diversity Consciousness: Opening Our Minds to People, Cultures, and Opportunities. (3rd Ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson, Prentice Hall.
Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists (2003). What is Inclusive Communication? Web.
Spring, J. (2007). Deculturalization and the struggle for equality. Boston: McGraw-Hill
Taylor, M., Hughes, L., Laidler, M., & Sheedy, T. (2004). Communicate Appropriately With Clients And Colleagues: Learning Guide For Volunteers. Melbourne: Volunteering Australia.