Communications

Everyone communicates all the time. Even when we say nothing, we are communicating. When working toward effective communication, it is important to understand what effect the various components of communication have on our success. Verbal, vocal and visual components are the very important part of any communication.

The following verbal communication example is my story from my earlier years as a Shipping Clerk. My manager in the firm (design firm) needed set of plans shipped overnight to a client to close a deal. One of the stipulations was that the plans be submitted to the client’s office by 9:00 a.m. the following day. So the manager gave me the plans and told me to ship them to ABC Company in Pittsburg overnight and have them delivered before 9:00 a.m. tomorrow. I followed the directions and sent the plans to the ABC Company in Pittsburgh, PA. The next day, my manager stops by the shipping area and asked me if the package was sent. Thinking how proud he will be, I responded very proudly, yes. With the response I also stated that the package was shipped to the ABC Company in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. I could see my managers’ change to his facial expression instantly. His body language and his gestures with his hands toward me become very uneasy to me, very apprehensive. Then his emotion turns to anger. With very angry voice, screaming from the top of his longs he stated to me that the ABC Company location was in Pittsburg, Kansas. I had to do some of explaining to my manager. He needed to explain to the owner of the design firm why on how these mistakes happen. It seems that such a simple verbal communication from my manager would be almost impossible to misinterpret by me.

The second story is an example of me acting as a Manager of Quality Assurance Department. My current company requested me to perform the first quality survey. As a result of the Quality Survey taken this year, certain issues were raised. One obvious issue was consistency of communication from Quality group. There is a problem existing within our facility that the Quality Assurance Department, in general, is not consistent in interpretation of requirements. In example, a technician may go to three different individuals in Quality Assurance to determine a requirement