Communications Growth: A Key Component of Successful Organizations

Communications growth is vital to our overall success. And the communications process is quite complex in every aspect of life. This is especially true in the print and related industries ... where every detail matters. Organizations are comprised of people — and communications patterns are complicated.

On top of this, we must know that our world is noisy and rapidly moving in nature. It is constantly connected. This is just a fact. So, while some organizations complain, I see others taking advantage of this modern landscape. In consulting with companies and speaking to many groups across the country, I ask them the following question: What level of competence is your communication in? Let's take a look at the four common stages of communication development.

The goal in this process is to define where your communications level is today in order to best determine how to improve tomorrow. We all want to grow, right? And let's face it, communication is the backbone of every organization. Period. The four stages of communications competence are listed below and try to think about, as you read, where you (no matter what your title is) fall.

The first stage of communication development is referred to as the unconsciously incompetent segment. In this stage, a person is not aware of what s/he knows. In this stage, many people think they know more than they do and tend to overestimate their overall knowledge, skills, and abilities. This can be dangerous.

The second stage of communications competence is that of being consciously incompetent. In this stage, a person is now aware of how much s/he knows or does not know. It is during this second stage that a person realizes their need to learn, grow, and improve — and is no longer over-confident.

The third stage is referred to as being consciously competent. This is a good place for a person to be. In this component, a person is cognizant of what s/he is doing well and is also effective at what s/he does. So think of a person in this third stage as one that is committed to "lifelong learning." They are good but still need to think about it ... and realize they must continue growing to reach the highest level.

The final developmental segment is the fourth stage. This is when a person is unconsciously competent. A person in this stage has become so competent that they no longer have to think about things in great detail. Simply said, their competence is ingrained and comes as second nature. This should be where all people want to get; albeit, with the understanding that nobody should ever stop learning and that we can all learn something new each day.

What level of communications competence are you in? Where are you in your communications journey? Are you failing to communicate or in a different stage? Do you want to grow? There is no better time than a new year to become a more effective communicator. If you want to grow ... let’s talk.