Communication Skills

Annotated Bibliography

Coffelt, T. A., Grauman, D., & Smith, F. L. M. (2019). Employers’ perspectives on workplace communication skills. The meaning of communication skills. doi:10.1177/232949061985111

The aim of this study was to explore what employers understand by the term “communication skills”. The article also explores the value that employers attach to communication skills in their employees especially college graduates. The study was a qualitative study where 22 managers were interrogated. The different dimensions of communication that were explored include written communication, oral, visual and electronic communication. To understand the meaning of communication skills, the researchers explored what the learning institutions teach and whether it aligns with what is expected in the employment market. Based on the university curricula, the article contends that there has to be a collaborative approach between employers, students and professors to discern the meaning of communication skills. Furthermore, the authors argue that workplace communication skills can be specific to a given workplace setting or can as well be diverse as reflected in the closing the gap studies.

Data about the different responses about communication skills was collected by use of informant interviews. A word file was established for interview questions and then the answers from the interview forms were coded with a corresponding value. The questions revolved around the areas of communication skills mentioned before. Since the volume and diversity of oral skills were expected to be large, open and axial coding was employed on the data.

The results from the interview showed that managers understand written communication as types of documents taken as a mode of communication. Oral communication on the other hand is understood as the ability to present, interact or conduct meetings. Thirdly, visual communication is understood as the use of non-verbal communication. Lastly, respondents understood electronic communication as use of email correspondence. The researchers concluded that faculty members can incorporate their findings in the design of their courses as well as learning outcomes.