To achieve the definite goal while communicating, it is important to manage the process of communication effectively. Interaction management is realized during all the stages of the communication process, and its effectiveness depends on the persons’ abilities to manage their specific interaction behaviours. Thus, interaction management is based on the people’s abilities to start a conversation effectively, to develop the topic, to terminate a conversation with references to the interests of the persons participating in it.
From this point, an ability to orient to the needs of the other persons and an ability to feel the people’s interest in conversation are important to develop the effective communication resulting in certain positive outcomes. Interaction management in intercultural communication can be discussed as more complex because it is necessary to pay attention to the aspects of cultures and traditions in order to manage the process of communication according to the rules which are typical for the definite society.
The abilities of people to manage their interactions can be different in relation to their skills in perceiving the information, interpreting it attentively, and responding to the facts adequately or appropriately to the concrete situation. If the communication process develops positively and results in outcomes which are satisfactory or advantageous for all the parties, it is possible to speak about the high level of interaction management.
A person who is good in interaction management knows when to start the effective conversation, how to develop the topic with references to the interests of all the parties, and how to meet the needs of the participants. For instance, starting a conversation with an employee on the issue of the low performance, a manager assesses the emotional state of the employee and his readiness to perceive the message provided by the manager.
Any changes in the behaviour of the employee should be perceived by the manager as a good communicator in order to be able to change the line of a conversation and achieve the primary goal of communication. In this case, interaction management is closely associated with the ability to predict the development of the conversation and to focus on the behaviour and needs of the other parties as the indicators of the communication’s effectiveness.
However, many people focus only on their own needs and interests while communicating. They usually ignore the preferences of the parties and signals provided by them. Thus, those persons who have undeveloped abilities in relation to interaction management often start conversations with the people who are not interested in communicating at the moment, and they do not provide the party with the opportunity to present the personal point of view.
For instance, during coffee breaks, persons can be involved in the conversation with their colleagues who have the intention to discuss their personal problems without references to the interests of the other persons participating in the conversation. The initiator of a conversation can be discussed as a dominator in this case, but the whole interaction process is ineffective because of drawbacks in the interaction management.
Interaction management is important for people to learn how to communicate effectively. Managing the process of communication, people can avoid extremes in their communication strategies and achieve the higher results in their interactions. The development of interaction management abilities guarantees the progress in the communication competence.