Today, there is a belief that the established skills of communicative relations have a close relationship with the material component. Money, career, relationships, friends - communications play a significant role in all this. To successfully build the process of interpersonal communication, you must own some tricks that you will familiarize yourself with in this article. With competent interaction with the interlocutor, it will not be difficult to arrange it for oneself.
Group, mass and interpersonal communication
Before moving on to the terminology of the basic concept, we suggest that you familiarize yourself with other types of communication:
- Mass communication is the process of disseminating information and influencing others with the help of radio, television, print, cinema, etc., as a result of which messages of this kind cover a large mass of people.
- Interpersonal communication is a process of interaction and transmission of information from one person to another, involving information exchange. The main goal of this type is the mutual understanding of two or a group of people.
- Group communication means communication within a group of people, the number of which reaches, as a rule, up to twenty people. It is worth noting that interpersonal and group communications have some similarities, since in both cases people interact through speech. Returning to group communications, it should be added that the totality of communication interactions allows both to strengthen the group and increase conflict among participants. If the concept of interpersonal communication involves information exchange, the main purpose of which is the mutual understanding of two people, then the goal of group communication is to carry out interdependent actions and solve joint problems.
A bit more
Interpersonal communication is in direct contact with people face-to-face, that is, face to face. Interpersonal communication is characterized by psychological closeness of interlocutors, the presence of empathy, understanding and sympathy. This type of communication contains three interconnected parties:
- communicative - consists in the exchange of informational oral messages between the interlocutors, the transmission and reception of feelings and opinions;
- perceptual - affects the process of understanding and perception of the interacting parties, which contributes to the formation of certain interpersonal relationships;
- interactive - consists in the exchange of actions between communication partners (for example, request - consent or refusal).
Interpersonal communication is one of the most important categories of psychological science, since communication plays a major role in the interaction of people. In this type of communication, there are two types of communication: non-verbal and verbal. The first option has its origin since ancient times, and the verbal one appeared much later, but it is a universal way of communication today. In other words, interpersonal communication is the communication of at least two persons, which is aimed at the mutual establishment, cognition and development of relationships, involving mutual influence on the behavior, mood, attitudes, state of the participants in this process. She is also the most free from formal framework regulating the style and form of communication, which allows her to be more intelligible and accessible. In addition, in the process of personal communication, the perception effect can be enhanced by the intonation of the interlocutor, his gestures, voice tones, facial expressions, charm, focused exclusively on a specific person. It is worth noting that in interpersonal communication there are great unlimited possibilities for applying the feedback effect.
Forms
Depending on the transmission channel, interpersonal communication is usually divided into oral and written. The written form of interpersonal communications in communication includes information in the form of reports, reports, orders, etc., where the coding symbol is a written word. The following advantages of this form of communication are distinguished:
- the ability to store information;
- The greatest accuracy and thoroughness when creating a message.
The disadvantages include:
- more time is required for the formation of the message, in contrast to the oral form of communication;
- there is no opportunity to establish feedback and exchange information.
When choosing a form of communication, you should adhere to the rules:
- the oral form is preferable in those cases when it is necessary to convey to the interlocutor a personal, new, ambiguous, emotional message (telephone conversation, personal meeting);
- the written form is most effective in transmitting a routine, depersonalized, simple and long message (e-mail, official letter).
For the effectiveness of interpersonal communication, it is recommended to combine both forms. For example, using a phone call, you can warn about an important meeting and receive an immediate response from the interlocutor, and a reminding message in writing with the specified time and date ensures that the recipient does not forget about it. Today, there are many different tablets, mobile phones, faxes, computer networks that blur the boundaries between written and oral forms of communication and make each of them the most effective.
The oral form is in the form of dialogue, conversation, discussion, telephone conversation, where the word is the coding symbol. In addition to spoken language, non-verbal communication makes a huge role in interpersonal communication: intonation, smile, facial expressions, gestures, facial expressions and so on. Such information is able to convey feelings and thoughts in the most effective way than any words carefully selected. Oral communications also have disadvantages. As a rule, they include the following:
- difficulty in storing information due to the fact that this view does not leave notes, records and documents;
- the emergence of some interpersonal communication barriers, which subsequently can lead to errors and misunderstandings, usually include the inability to listen, stereotypes, different perceptions and more.
Let's consider them in more detail.
Perception
Perception is the process of obtaining and transforming information, through which the individual receives an understanding of reality. It is worth noting that it is subjective in nature, since it is common for each person to interpret a particular situation differently. With the help of sound, visual and tactile channels for obtaining information, a person perceives only what matters to him. Thus, it depends on the perception of how accurately a person will receive the information that the sender wanted to convey to him.
Stereotypes
One of the barriers to interpersonal communication is stereotyping. As a rule, stereotypes are a stable opinion about any situations or people. With them, a person does not have the possibility of objective analysis, which negatively affects both the sender and the recipient. In this regard, before communicating specific information to the interlocutor, it is important to make sure that he has a real understanding of the essence of the problem.
Inability to listen
Lack of concentration on the interlocutor and inability to listen is a serious barrier to interpersonal social communication. To correctly receive an oral message, you need to hear it. During the conversation, it is important to receive information from the interlocutor, interpret it correctly and give an adequate answer, if the situation requires it.
Experts provide several tips to improve the effectiveness of interpersonal communication in the listening process:
- It is not recommended to talk and interrupt your interlocutor;
- during the conversation ask questions, thereby supporting the interest of the partner;
- create a favorable atmosphere for the interlocutor, find interesting and general topics;
- during the conversation do not criticize or argue with the speaker, try to evaluate the essence, not the words.
- make it clear to the person you are listening to.
Non-verbal barriers
Nonverbal symbols include: gestures, posture, distance, facial expressions, eye contact, voice intonations. Their transmission occurs simultaneously with verbal signals (words), which can enhance or modify the meaning of the message.
Bad feedback
Successful activity through interpersonal communication is determined by the effectiveness or, conversely, the inefficiency of feedback. In any conversation always means a two-way orientation. Simply put, in the course of a conversation, feedback is necessary to increase the effectiveness of the exchange of oral messages from the interlocutor. Do not forget about its importance, as it allows you to evaluate how correctly the interlocutor understood the information. An obstacle to effective communication can be not only poorly established feedback, but also its complete absence.
Principles in Interpersonal Communication
Probably, many noticed that some people have difficulty communicating with people, while others, on the contrary, very quickly find a common language. The secret is simple - for a successful and productive information exchange, everyone should know the processes and principles of interpersonal communication. Every day we are faced with a large flow of people and, sometimes, social contacts are inevitable. Without noticing it, when communicating, a person has a certain effect on their interlocutors, and thereby develops their individual line of behavior. We offer you to familiarize yourself with the simple rules of interpersonal communications:
- In communication with the interlocutor, it is important to remain calm, because excessive emotionality can interfere with the perception of information. After the opponent has finished his speech, be sure to show that you understand and hear him.
- Do not forget about the appearance, as this allows you to create a first impression of the interlocutor. During a conversation, it is common for a person to involuntarily observe his opponent and draw up his own opinion about him, not only based on his words, but also on his appearance. Therefore, it is so important to monitor the gait, manner of conversation, hair, clothing.
- As previously mentioned, interpersonal communication is a process of interaction between two or more persons, therefore, for a successful relationship, you must carefully listen to your interlocutor. During the conversation, try to concentrate solely on the participant in the dialogue and not be distracted by compiling the questions that you plan to ask.
- Do not forget the fact that it will take only about five minutes of conversation to form the first impression of your interlocutor. In the first minutes of communication, all senses are aimed at recognizing the opponent as best as possible. As a rule, after four minutes, a person is ready to make a choice about whether to continue the conversation. Therefore, if you want to gain confidence and succeed in communicating with your interlocutor, from the very beginning you need to monitor your facial expressions, gestures and tone.
- Experts advise at the beginning of the conversation to address neutral topics. In the process of communication, it is worth showing benevolence, courtesy and tact. One of the proven and simple ways to win your opponent is an open and sincere smile.
- During the conversation, it is important to monitor your facial expressions and facial expressions. A vivid expression of emotions (both negative and positive) can become an obstacle to building a constructive conversation.
Features
We offer to consider the distinctive features of interpersonal communication:
- Irreversibility is the lack of the ability to return spoken words.
- Relations are a determining factor in the phased process of interpersonal communication, which are formed as a result of creative and business contacts, as well as the ability of people to emotionally perceive each other - empathy.
- Inevitability and inevitability is explained by the fact that a person is a social phenomenon, the existence of which is impossible without communication.
Thus, speaking about the features of interpersonal communication, the following aspects should be distinguished:
- The activity of communication partners. By sending informational messages, one participant assumes the activity of another, who, in turn, also needs to focus on the goals, motives and attitudes of his interlocutor.
- Active exchange of thoughts of the participants in the conversation helps to establish interpersonal communication.
- In the process of verbal interaction, mutual understanding or misunderstanding occurs, which is obtained in the presence of feedback.
- The essence of interpersonal communication is that the information is not only accepted by the interlocutor, but analyzed and meaningful.
- The information that came to the interlocutor and returned back organizes participants in interpersonal relationships in a common information field.
Criteria
The accuracy of the transmission of the meaning of information messages is most influenced by such factors, called barriers. Specialists identify the following criteria for interpersonal communication, with which you can determine the effectiveness:
- the costs of the functioning of interpersonal relationships;
- accuracy of the meaning of the transmitted information.
Kinds
There are types of interpersonal communication - verbal (speech) and nonverbal, where information is transmitted using gestures, facial expressions, and body movements. We suggest to consider each separately.
Non-verbal communication
Psychologists pay great attention to body language, since it can tell a lot about the intentions and feelings of any person. The movements and postures of people cannot be considered completely innate: as a rule, they are acquired in the process of communication. Body language includes such components as:
- facial expression - is a way of using facial expressions;
- gestures - information is transmitted using hands;
- proxemics - a method of using space, where the distance between the interlocutors is taken into account during communication;
- body position - implies control of your body;
- tactile communication - indicates the status, degree of closeness or friendship between communication partners.
Paralinguistic Tools
Paralinguistic means tend to embellish speech with an emotional tone that speaks of a person’s momentary state (fatigue, calmness, emotion). These include intonation, as well as the tonal level of the voice, for example, the volume with which it is common to express anger.
Verbal communication
Verbal communication is considered to be the most widespread and investigated variety of interpersonal communication. The speech form of interpersonal communication has a complex structure and appears in a variety of stylistic varieties (literary and colloquial language, various genres and styles, etc.). All of the above characteristics and other elements of the communicative process contribute to its implementation.
Ways to improve interpersonal communications
Any communication involves the interaction of people with each other. In order for each conversation to be successful, psychologists pay much attention to the development of interpersonal communications. By adhering to the following rules during contact with an opponent, you can significantly improve interpersonal communication:
- Learn to ignore psychological barriers, which are a significant obstacle to fruitful communication. Internal barriers can often arise in the process of conversation. You can avoid them by focusing on important points in the conversation.
- Do not forget about good manners and charm. Such "superpower" as charisma is available to many people, thanks to which you can get everything you need from communication without any special problems. This trait is not exclusively an innate quality, which means that it can be developed.
- Say no to psychophysical clamps. Cheeky or too constrained body movements will be a signal to the interlocutor about the presence of psychological and physical deviations. Perhaps the opponent will not be able to give a clear definition of this condition, but he will immediately feel that something is amiss. In this regard, the success of your conversation will be a big question. To avoid such cases, it is important to be able to relax during a conversation and, of course, exercise.
- Become a protege. If among your friends or acquaintances there are such people who are excellent in communication, then it is worth trying to observe them and imitate. Adopting an already tested model of behavior, significant success can be achieved.
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Experts advise to put into practice this method, the essence of which is simple: a person does not need to mention at the very beginning of the conversation those topics that can lead to disagreement. By smoothing sharp corners, you can achieve the best result. Psychologists recommend starting a conversation with questions that the interlocutor will definitely answer positively.
Finally
We found that interpersonal communication is a complex process of interaction between two or more persons with each other, which can not be done in the modern world. Thus, in order to successfully build the communication process, it is necessary to refrain from evaluating and criticizing your interlocutor, and to avoid conflict situations and disputes. In order not to become a boring interlocutor, it is not recommended to talk often about your problems. If you want your opinion to be considered, respect the point of view of the other person. Remember that the manifestation of irritability and tactless behavior can become an insurmountable obstacle to establishing contact between the interlocutors.