Communication Competence

Introduction

Communication in its simplest meanings is a process by which information is exchanged between individuals through a common system of symbols, signs, or behavior. The field of communication focuses on how PEOPLE use MESSAGE to generate meanings and achieve goals and objectives within and across various contexts, cultures, channels, and media.

The primary goal of communication is to share meaning and valuable information which leads to effective decision-making and problem-solving.  But it must be noted that not every communication is considered to be effective and productive, the issue arises when determining the impact or the effect of communication; was the communication process successful or not , i.e. weather the interaction was competent or not?

Communication Competence

The term “communication competence” can be defined as follows:

• "The ability to interact well with others’. By well interaction we mean the accuracy, clarity, comprehensibility, coherence, expertise, effectiveness and appropriateness.
•  Another definition is "the degree to which individuals perceive they have satisfied their goals in a given social situation without jeopardizing their ability or opportunity to pursue their other subjectively more important goals"

Therefore a competent communication is seen as an effective communication that involves achieving the sender’s goals in a manner that, ideally maintains or enhances the relationship in which it occurs.

The competence is not a standard form that can be used and applied at each and every situation, it varies according to culture, workplace relationships, and on the context in which communication takes place. At the same time the competences can be learned and developed by clearly understanding the goals to be transferred and achieved, knowing and understanding the audience and the receivers of the message, and organizing the proper and necessary resources to insure that a proper communication will be initiated.

To get a better understanding to the concept of communication competence, a framework known as the model of competence  was  designed in 1984, it is comprised of three specific dimensions: motivation (an individual’s approach or avoidance orientation in various social situations), knowledge (plans of action; knowledge of how to act; procedural knowledge), and skill (behaviors actually performed).

Evaluation and measurement of communication competence:

Evaluation of communication competence:

There are two main principles to address when it comes to evaluating the level of communication competence. The first evaluates how effective was the communication process in achieving the target goals. The second evaluates how well the relationships were maintained, i.e. was the communication behavior acceptable or not.