According to Dictionary.com, communication is defined as “The exchange of thoughts, messages, or information, as by speech, signals, writing, or behavior.” Everybody has a need to communicate with others from time to time, even if they are on a deserted island. Remember Tom Hanks character from the movie Cast Away? He found himself alone on an island after a plane crash and had only a volleyball, which he named Wilson (after the brand) to talk to, and talk he did. Really this is only talking, and not truly communication because the volleyball could not give feedback.
We all communicate at some level with people-our children, boyfriend/girlfriend, co-workers, boss, people with whom we are obtaining services from and many others. Learning and practicing good communication skills can help us in most areas of our lives. As single parents, practicing good communication with our children can reap positive rewards. I have learned that listening is the most important part of communication. People who are good, active listeners possess a very valuable skill.
The communication process starts with a message that can be delivered in multiple ways-through verbal or written communication by a source or sender (typically a person-although animals can communicate too). The message is sent through a channel-such as an e-mail, telephone etc…and then received by the-receiver. An important factor to realize is that if the receiver does not fully understand the message, then communication has not taken place. I am coming to understand this as I am trying to be an effective communicator especially with my children. Just this morning my older son and I had a conflict because he did not understand what I was communicating. Part of the conflict included me thinking that he was using selective hearing and filtering out what he did not want to hear. I think this is true sometimes when we have conflict based on miscommunication or selective communication, but not necessarily in this case.
Communication failure can occur for many reasons. Some of them include inadequate information, too much information, poor quality information, and poor timing. Poor timing is my biggest downfall in communication. I have a keen ability to bring something up at the wrong time and it has affected my ability to communicate and other people’s ability to receive my message. I realize that effective communication is something that I need to continually work on in order to enhance my skill level.