5 Communication Skills Every Girl Boss Should Master

It doesn’t matter what industry you’re in—the ability to communicate effectively can mean the difference between climbing up the ladder or staying on the bottom rungs.

Have you ever struggled at work or with a client or customer because of a communication problem? Maybe you thought they needed one thing when really they wanted something else? Or perhaps they thought what they needed from you turned out to be something else completely?

The bad news? Either situation can lead to an unhappy customer, coworker, or boss.

However, we have some good news: you can fix these situations with effective communication.

But what exactly does effective communication entail? On the one hand, you need to give people the information they need when they need it and make sure they know you are the best person to provide it and more. On the other hand, you also need to get the information you need from people to be able to help them better.

The benefits of acing communication between you and whoever you’re working with are innumerable, but here are a few key advantages of being an excellent communicator:
You’ll have fewer mix-ups, which means you’ll work faster, giving you more time for other projects or for yourself.
You’ll easily impress whoever you’re communicating with, and they’ll leave with a lasting impression of your professionalism and helpfulness.
You’ll be able to take this skill out of the workplace or business and apply it to other aspects of your life, whether on your travels or at home with family and friends.

Below are a few essential skills you should develop to effectively communicate with your clients, colleagues, higher-ups, and more.

Active Listening

Don’t you hate it when you’re talking to someone and they don’t seem to be hearing you or even listening? The truth is that everyone does, which is why you need to make sure you’re not guilty of it as well. Active listening can help with that.

Active listening can help with that. It’s a communication skill that involves more than just hearing what’s being said. You’ll need to try to understand the meaning and intent behind the other person’s words and participate in the communication process. There are several ways to do this, but here are a few key points:

Pay attention—not just to what the other person is saying, but also their body language and non-verbal cues, their tone of voice, and any stress behaviors.
Show you’re listening and interested—Focus on the other person and be fully present in the conversation you are having with them. Keep eye contact, lean forward as you listen, nod when they make points you agree with or are familiar to you, and sit or stand still instead of fidgeting, which can give the impression of impatience.
Repeat key points by paraphrasing what the other person has said to make sure you really understand what they are trying to tell you
Don’t interrupt them while they’re speaking; let them finish what they’re saying before responding. Once you do respond, pause periodically to give them a chance to respond themselves or correct you.
Ask open-ended questions—avoid yes or no questions except when verifying that your understanding is correct. Instead, ask questions the other person must give full answers to, such as “When did you first notice something was wrong, and what was it that you noticed?” or “What happened?”

Charisma and Confidence

Everyone has moments of awkwardness. If you’re an introvert, you may feel that way in most social situations, whether at work or in your personal life. And even if you aren’t, it can be unavoidable, especially in unfamiliar situations with people you don’t know. But it’s possible to learn the charisma and confidence to carry you through those awkward moments. With practice, eventually, the only person who’ll realize you’re feeling awkward is you!

Here are a few key tips to coming off as charming and confident:

Be conscious of your body language—avoid slouching or fidgeting.
Read the room—try to get a sense of the general mood of people around you, and choose your words accordingly; if everyone’s serious, it might not be the best time to joke.
Tell stories, not facts—people want to listen to stories and experiences; they don’t want a lecture that can leave them feeling bored or talked down to.

If charisma and confidence are something you feel you need help with, check out our Pinay Girl Boss Academy course on building charisma and confidence by life coach and PGB Mentor Kimi Lu.

Conflict Resolution

Don’t lose your head when there are conflicts between people, even if one of those people is you! Instead of losing your temper or getting offended, try to be the calming force that helps solve the problem. When things are getting heated, try to backtrack and use those active listening skills to identify where the conflict started, then find ways each person can compromise to get to a point where everyone is satisfied.

Empathy

One of the most critical skills for effective communication is empathy. Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines it as “the action of understanding, being aware of, being sensitive to, and vicariously experiencing the feelings, thoughts, and experience of another.”

When communicating, you must not only feel empathy but also show it. First, get an understanding of the other person’s situation. Actively listen to them and ask questions to grasp better where they are coming from and to show you’re hearing what they’re saying.

Second, speak at their level. Are they more comfortable speaking in English, Tagalog, or Bisaya? Try and match them, even if it’s with a mix of languages like Taglish. Are you speaking with a highly technical person or someone completely clueless about technical jargon? The way you speak to one person will be vastly different from how you talk to another.

Sharing and Transparency

Apart from showing empathy for others, you should also get them to show empathy for you. The best way to do this is to help them understand where you’re coming from.

This can mean sharing your story and your past struggles or the stories and struggles of those you have worked with. The people you talk to will appreciate that you understand their current pain and can suggest ways to alleviate it. Or if it involves a lot of money, you may want to share the costs that go into the service or product you’re offering.

In this day and age, most people want to know more about who they’re working with and what they’re getting out of it. Sometimes they even want to know the tiniest details about every step of the process. Go ahead and give them this knowledge—if they don’t want to know it, they’ll tell you.

Setting Expectations

When setting a person’s expectations, you’re not just establishing deadlines, though this is a very important part of it.

Be honest about the quality of work one can expect, any factors that can contribute to delays and the consequences of these delays. When discussing projects or services, make sure you establish scope: what can each of you expect and, perhaps more importantly, what not to expect.

Being realistic and open about expectations spares both you and the other party any pain from not having those expectations align with each other because they were not well communicated.

Ready to develop and practice the skills above? You’ll find even a little improvement in your communication skills goes a long way at work and at home as well.