According to the BNET Business Dictionary (2010), interpersonal communication refers to the general features of contact, personal interaction, and passing over of information between individual people or a group of people. The effectiveness of interpersonal communication heavily relies on various interpersonal skills. These skills include the ability to listen, assert, emphasize, carry out diplomacy, persuade, and be sensitive among other qualities. Significant features of communication among or between people comprise body language, eye contact, and dialect among other aspects of communication. This paper is going to look specifically at eye contact, body language, and dialect as the concepts of interpersonal communication and link these to the organizational setting and their importance will be given.
Eye contact
This is one of the most important means of nonverbal communication available for any person to achieve effective communication. The most less costly and effective way to link with other people is to observe them in the eye. Apart from the eyes being what is described as the window to the soul, they also play a major role in the process of answering particular questions about whether someone communicating is paying attention, if the person being communicated to is finding one to be attractive, and whether this person has a liking for one carrying out the communication.
Among the cultures, there are those in which observing a person directly into the eye is taken to be an indication of honesty and being straight forward but on the other hand, among other cultures, this is taken to be a sign of rudeness and an intention to challenge. For instance, many people who belong to the Arab cultures have in common a great level of eye contact, and engaging in this can not very much be taken as a sign of lack of respect for someone. Taking the case among the English culture, a particular level of eye contact is needed but beyond this acceptable level brings in much discomfort among many people. Among the people of South Africa along with many other cultures, observing someone directly in the eye is taken to be a sign of rudeness as well as aggressiveness (Kotehilnikov, 2001).
Still basing on cultures as well as religions, among these groups direct eye contact between the male gender and the female gender is regarded as being threatening as well as teasing. Therefore, the male people who come from these communities that have this belief are not taken to be elusive or rude but they are taken to be respectful members of the community. Other than culture, other factors may affect eye contact. These factors include; general nervous tension, personality, emotional state, and several other medical conditions.
The eyes can play a major role in offering clues on the way someone thinks. Different people have different mental maps which influence the way they behave. These clues enable one to tell the kind of person he or she is dealing with. People who are effective in communication try to get the knowledge not only about how to interpret the message being conveyed by another person through eye contact but they as well go a step further to learn how to employ eye contact to bring influence over other people.
According to Anonymous (The Role of Eye Contact during Interpersonal Communication, 2010), the area of study of eye contact is known as gaze and mutual gaze. Among the areas on which studies have been carried out regarding eye is nonverbal communication, the area of eye contact is in overall terms not very much under the influence of the psychophysiological processes but instead it is a response that is learned having dependence on the rules of the society. More so, societies, in general, teach similar rules.
When a conversation is going on between two individuals about a particular topic of shared interest, all through the conversation the level of eye contact ranges from 30 percent to 60 percent. This is what is known as the mutual gaze. At the time of having interaction with someone speaking the eyes of the person listening are in most cases focused on the mouth of the one speaking. A person who is effective in communication will make the recognition at the point the other person raises the gaze slightly to make direct eye contact. At the time when there is holding of the gaze, this is an indication that the other person is about to speak. For instance, in the cases where people are in a committee holding a meeting and a person among the committee members has a strong disagreement with whoever is speaking, for this person to make an effort to be recognized and speak out his views in opposition to what the speaker is saying, he or she will make attempts to ensure he has direct eye contact with the speaker. In this case, the person is carrying out nonverbal communication suggesting that he or she is seeking permission to be allowed to speak.
In general terms, eye contact can be described as warm, cold, hard, penetrating, or even soft. Carrying out the quantification of all these can be very hard, but they refer to the dilation of the pupils and the associated muscles that influence the process of eye-opening and the way the eyebrows contract. In the case of the hard, cold stare, this may indicate power, anger, or some cases, defiance. Taking an example, a parent may employ this to warn a child not to do what he or she is doing.
Eye contact in an organization setting
Eye contact as a form of communication within the organization is very important. For instance, through eye contact, the manager or supervisor may be able to read a particular message an employee is passing over without necessarily engaging in verbal communication. Such messages may imply dissatisfaction, agreement, deceit, defiance among others. Eye contact can also play a role in communication in the case where there is a holding of a meeting. In the course of the manager addressing the employees or other senior members of the organization, he or she might be able to read in people’s eyes and be able to tell whether he or she has been able to capture the interest of the audience or not and whether the audience tends to agree with his or her point being put across.
According to Anonymous (Non-verbal communication, 2009), eye contact is a form of communication that is direct and very powerful (which is not verbal). In the organizational setup, a superior person or the boss in general terms maintains eye contact for an extended period than the junior or subordinate whenever they are carrying out communication between each other. A stare that is direct by the one sending the message indicates openness and frankness. It brings out a feeling of trust. There is the idea of associating the glances that are downward with modesty and also associating the eyes rolled upward with tiredness.
More so, eye contact can be very much useful at the point when an interview is carried out regarding recruiting a new employee or employees. Through eye contact, the interviewing panel may be able to learn about the interviewee, whether she or he is a confident person, whether he or she is a deceitful person among other characters. By the interviewee being aware of how to communicate using eyes, can be very useful to the person since he or she will be able to pass over positive messages and avoid passing over the negative messages. The person being interviewed can also be able to learn about the attitude of the people interviewing him or her towards him or her by observing them in the eyes. However, this has to be done in a tactical way for it can easily send out a negative message. By observing in the eyes of the members of the interviewing panel, the person may be able to determine whether these people like him or not and be able in an appropriate manner to clear off any potential of negative results.
Therefore, it is quite important in any organizational set for people to learn to communicate using eye contact. More so, people should learn to read the messages being passed overusing the eye. By the managers in the organization being able to read the messages passed over by the eye, he or she can be able to learn about the employees’ feelings and issues and be able to come up with better plans to address this.
More so, by the employees learning about eye contact communication, they can be able to interpret the message their bosses are trying to pass over to them without necessarily talking to them. The knowledge of eye contact communication can as well be useful among the employees themselves to carry out effective communication among them.
Body Language
This is another form of nonverbal communication. It consists of gestures, body pose, and even eye movements. People engage in passing over messages as well as subconsciously interpreting the messages. There is a common belief that communication among people is 93 percent in terms of body language and the use of words only accounts for the remaining 7 percent (Borg, 2008).
Physical expressions are all forms of communication that are not verbal. Such expressions include actions such as waving, touching, pointing, among other expressions. People engage in the movement of their bodies as they communicate as this plays a role in assisting them to ease the mental effort in a situation where communication is hard. These expressions talk a lot about the individual portraying them. For instance, a particular posture can indicate one being in a boring mood or having much interest, the gestures can be used to emphasize a particular point or pass over a particular message, and a physical expression like touch can indicate encouragement or warning.
Another body language expression is crossing the arms across the chest. This might be an indication that one is setting up a barrier between him or herself and other people in a manner that is not conscious. This can also indicate that the person carrying out this activity might be experiencing some cold and trying to gain some warmth. In a situation where all is well, this can be an indication that the person doing this is in deep thought regarding whatever issue is being discussed. But on the other hand, in a situation where all is not well, this can be an indication that the person is making an expression of being against the idea under consideration in the discussion. And is mostly true where it is found the person has inclined away from the person who is speaking.
In the body language, expressing disbelieve can be carried out by using a turned away gaze or scratch the chin. The indication that someone is bored may be identified by seeing a person tilting his or her head to one side. A bored person can as well express this by looking straight at the one speaking but this person’s eyes turning out to be slightly not focused and looking dull without any show of interest.
More so, lying or holding back some information may be portrayed by one touching the face in the cause of the conversation. More so, deceit is very well be portrayed by a person blinking the eyes more often or excessively. However, according to Borg (2008). the evidence traced recently after carrying out research reveals that in the absence of blinking there can also be an indication of deceit and this can be even a more reliable indicator as compared to blinking excessively.
However, it is quite important to have it that, among the people especially those having particular disabilities make use of the body language and understand it differently, or sometimes they don’t use it or even understand it. Carrying out the interpretation of their expressions may result in wrong interpretation and lack of understanding, and this is the case mostly where much preference is put on body language more in comparison to the spoken language. It is also important to note that the understanding of the body language varies from one culture to the other and the way one culture can carry out the interpretation of a particular body language may not necessarily be the same as the way the other does.
Body language in an Organizational setting
Body language plays an important role in interpersonal communication in any organization. Body language is used in several situations within the organization to pass over particular messages or assisting in getting particular messages which could otherwise not be passed over verbally.
For instance, the manager can be able to read a particular message being passed over by an employee such as in a situation where the employee is not satisfied with the instruction that he or she is being given. More so, the manager can be able to know whether a particular employee is being honest or telling a lie regarding the message this employee is passing over.
More so, the body language can also be useful where there is the management board meeting. One of the board members who might be making a particular proposal can be able to read about whether other members are agreeing with his or her opinion or not by reading the body language. More so, the body language turns out to be very useful at the time the organization wants to carry out the recruitment of a new member or members of staff.
Recruitment is done by carrying out interviews. Other than relying on what the one being interviewed has to say verbally, much more information might be obtained by reading this person’s body language and be able to determine who this person is. This begins with the way the person is dressed, the way she or he walks, the way the person sits, among other activities associated with the body language.
The interviewing panel may be able to look at the sitting posture of the person being interviewed and the way he carries body movements as he or she tries to express himself or herself verbally. There can also be the observing of the facial expression to see whether the person is showing any signs of nervousness, rudeness, honesty among other expressions.
Dialects
Dialect is a terminology employed in two distinct ways. One of the uses of this terminology is where it refers to a language variety that is associated with a specific group of speakers of the language. Its application in most cases is based on the speech pattern of a particular region but it can as well get a definition from other factors like social class. It is the case where it is linked to a specific social class is referred to as a socialist. Where it applies to a particular region it is referred to as a regiolect.
The other use of the terminology gives reference to a language that is socially subordinate to the standard of a region or nation in terms of language. This clear use of this terminology makes it easier to give a distinction among the language varieties.
The distinction of a dialect is made by considering the vocabularies, pronunciation in general, or phonology. In the case where distinguishing is carried out regarding pronunciation alone, then the appropriate term here is accent and not the main term, dialect. Standard languages are among the other varieties of speech. This is where standardization is carried out for public performance.
A standard language is also referred to as a standardized dialect or simply as a standard dialect. It is a dialect that is supported by organizations or institutions. This kind of support may take in the recognition of the government and a presentation is made as being the right form of language to be used. This can be done in schools, dictionaries, and textbooks that put in place a written or spoken form that is deemed to be right or “correct”. Several standardized dialects may exist regarding any particular single language. An example can be given by the existence of different forms regarding the English language such as Standard Australian English, Standard American English, and Standard Philippine English among others. All these may be regarded as the English language standard dialects.
According to Gill and Adams (1998), dialect can affect communication either positively or negatively. The way it affects communication is dependent on the situation and circumstances in which it is being employed. On the positive side, dialect is part and parcel of the identity of a society or community, and therefore, the individuals in the community who have a common dialect experience a sense of oneness among themselves. The presence of these good feelings facilitates effective and good communication. In the presence of those people who do not belong to this community, there can be using of dialect in a manner to serve as a protective wall. Giving the case of the Afro-Caribbean teenager’s Gill and Adams (1998),
Say that these groups have come up with their brand of Creole that they use as their secret language.
Considering the negative side, in particular instances, it can turn out to be very much hard to carry out decoding of the mixture of grammar, vocabulary, accent, as well as the tone that form a dialect which is strangely associated with a particular region. If the person sending out a message is a dialect speaker or herself, he or she may come across problems and end up getting frustrated for not succeeding in a pass over the message to another person or a group of people.
Basing on this negative effect of dialect, Gill and Adams (1998), give an example regarding the West Indian children. Most of these children encountered frustration at the time they were taken by their parents to Britain in the course of the nineteen sixties. The English teachers could not even follow what they were saying when they tried to communicate in English.
There is another additional point here worthy noting: Even if there is the existence of a great interest in dialects that are regional and intentional efforts to preserve these dialects, many people have regard for these dialects that they are sub-standard forms of the English language. However, this is not right. The dialects are mostly used by people who are in the working class. Following this, the dialects are most often associated with the identity of the people in the working class. This possibly brings about arrogance among people who take themselves to be above the working class. In a situation where there is an affecting on the perception of the people such as in this way, interpersonal communication can bring about so many misunderstandings and wrong judgments.
Dialects in an organizational setting
In the case where the two parties are involved in a negotiation in a business setting, this can be hampered where the two do not have the same control of the language they are using. This may come about as a result of the existence of the differences in their dialects and this may cause misunderstanding and misinterpretation.
More so the attitudes that are associated with the dialects may bring about barriers in international business communication. The idea that a certain pronunciation indicates awareness or devotion to a region or a country is dominant in several languages. For instance, the use of a language like Mexican Spanish in Spain, or the use of Indian English in the United States of America, among others are encountered and this indicates that there is no familiarity even if the one using the language is very fluent in this language (Encyclopedia of Small Business, 2010).
More so, still, regarding dialect about communication in an organizational setup, the class distinctions and national discrimination are often toughened through dialect. For instance, because of the regional discrimination and racism, particular dialects in the United States of America are taken to go with the rural areas, or urban areas may strengthen the stereotypes that may not be positive regarding the ability to do business, the level of education and the level of intelligence. Furthermore; dialects can be used to distinguish between the social classes.
Basing on this, this brings in the idea that in the organizational setting, dialect can turn out to be a barrier to effective interpersonal communication. As it has been looked at, dialect can play a major role in influencing people’s attitudes to one another and where there is a wrong attitude, effective communication can take place. In any business organization, the managers who might have a different dialect from that of a particular of employees may be the reason of being in a different social class should learn to understand the language of these employees and be able to communicate with them in a language that all of them can understand.
An organization that is committed to having effective communication so as it can realize its goals should come up with a standard language that can be understood by every member of the organization and even any other person who can be linked to the organization’s activities.
Conclusion
As it has been considered in the discussion, effective interpersonal communication is very important in bringing about understanding among people. The concepts of interpersonal communication considered in the discussion above, that is, eye contact, body language, and dialects are very important elements of interpersonal communication and need to be considered keenly.
For any business organization to succeed in achieving its goals, it has to ensure that there is effective communication within the organization among the workers and the management. It should also ensure effective communication with the outside including its customers among other participants in the organization’s activities.
As it has been considered, eye contact plays a major role in passing over some particular messages. A manager can read about an employee’s honesty through reading in his or her eyes, a manager addressing people in a meeting can be able to read people’s level of satisfaction about the issue he or she is addressing to them, among others. Therefore people need to get to learn how to read the messages conveyed by the eyes for them to engage in effective interpersonal communication.
Body language is another concept that has been looked at. It has been seen that body language plays a major role in communication as compared to verbal communication. It accounts for more than ninety percent of the communication that is carried out between the people and verbal communication only accounts for less than ten percent. Body language is always in use whenever there is communication and therefore it is as well quite important to know how to use this kind of communication as well as how to read it.
The last concept considered is the dialects. As it has been looked at, dialects can affect communication both positively and negatively. Where people share a common dialect, there can be very effective interpersonal communication. People may be having a common dialect by being in the same region, nation, or even in the same social class.
On the other hand, where people don’t share a dialect, there can be no effective communication. This can come about as a result of the lack of actual understanding by a person of the language being used by the other to communicate. More so, this can come about as a result of wrong attitudes of a particular social class towards another class that uses a particular dialect. There can be misinterpretation and misunderstanding of the information because of this. Therefore, as it has been looked at, for the business organizations to be successful in realizing effective communication and subsequently achieving their goals, it should consider the issue of the dialects within the members of the organization seriously in terms of coming up with a standard language to be used for the purposed of effective communication within the organization.
Reference
Anonymous, (2010). The Role of Eye Contact during Interpersonal Communication. Web.
Anonymous, (2009). Non verbal communication. Web.
BNET Business Dictionary, (2010). Interpersonal Communication. Web.
Borg, J. (2008). Body Language: 7 Easy Lessons to Master the Silent Language. Prentice Hall life.
Encyclopedia of small Business, (2010). Cross-cultural/ international communication. Web.
Gill, D. and Adams, B. (1998). ABC of communication studies. Nelson Thornes. ISBN 0174387431, 9780174387435s
Kotehilnikov, V. (2001). An important non verbal channel for communication and connecting with other people. Web.