Communication Competence

As a professional in your chosen career, your interactions with others not only represent you, but also the company or organization employing you. Your professionalism and attention to detail in your interactions is a reflection of who you are, establishes your credibility, and can set you up for career success.

Effective communication, however, is not a natural ability. While it is true that our personalities dictate some of our social tendencies—such as being introverted or extroverted—we must still take steps to learn how to communicate effectively and competently.

Communication competence refers to the knowledge of effective and appropriate communication patterns and the ability to use and adapt that knowledge in various contexts (Cooly & Roach, 1984). To better understand this definition, let’s break down the components to help identify the characteristics of competent communicators.

The first part of the definition of competence deals with knowledge. We develop cognitive competence by observing and evaluating the actions of others, and by considering a variety of explanations to explain others’ behavior. You can also develop cognitive competence through instruction. Courses like this one encourage you to observe the communication concepts and practices of yourself as well as others. In doing so, you can bring concepts to life and apply the knowledge gained to the real world. As you build a repertoire of communication knowledge based on your experiential and classroom experiences, you will also be developing skills to use in your personal and professional life. The first characteristic of competent communicators is:

Competency 1: Competent communicators possess a wide variety of communication skills.

The second part of the definition of communication competence that we will unpack is ability. Just like the ability to master a sport, play a musical instrument, or paint a watercolor portrait differs based on individual factors, communication, too, is influenced by individual skill levels . Not everyone has the same abilities to communicate effectively in every context or situation.

At the individual level, a person’s physiological and psychological characteristics affect competence. In terms of physiology, age and maturity both impact competence. Likewise, a person’s mood, stress level, personality, and level of apprehension (anxiety regarding communication) are psychological influences affecting competence (Cooley & Roach, 1984). In other words, these factors will either help or hinder your ability to apply the knowledge you’ve gained by experience or in a classroom to actual communication behaviors. For example, you might be aware of the strategies for being an effective public speaker, but the anxiety you feel when speaking in front of an audience may prevent you from fully putting that knowledge into practice. This leads us to our second characteristic of competent communicators:

Competency 2: Competent communicators possess the ability to perform skills.

The third part of the definition to analyze is the necessity to adapt to various contexts. What is competent in one context may not be in another. The fact that competence varies based on social and cultural contexts makes it difficult if not impossible to arrive at one standard for what counts as communication competence (Cooley & Roach, 1984). Social variables such as status and power affect competence. In a professional situation where one person, a supervisor, for example, has more power than another, the supervisor is typically the one who sets the standard for competence.

Cultural variables such as race and nationality also affect competence. A Taiwanese woman who speaks English as her second language may be praised for her competence in the English language in her home country but be viewed as less competent in the United States because of her accent. So, although we have a clear definition of communication competence there are no clear guidelines for how to be competent in any given situation. This bring us to the third characteristic of communication competence:

Competency 3: Competent communicators are adaptable.

Based on the definition of communication competence and the characteristics of competence we have identified, we can say that organizational communication competence is one’s ability to successfully create messages that achieve goals and are considered both appropriate and effective within the organizational context. This definition emphasizes the complexities of communication competence and that competence is an impression or a judgment made by others and involves both communicators achieving goals (Irwin, Hopkins, Payne, & Spence, 2015).

As you continue to digest the content in this text, you will hopefully feel motivated to not only engage in effective communication with others, but to also apply the concepts and resources to your professional interactions in a variety of organizational contexts. Organizational communication competence involves gaining a wide variety of communication skills, possessing the ability to perform skills successfully, and to adapt to a wide range of different situations. No one characteristic of competence is more important than another. In the workplace, you must also have an awareness of communication structures to better understand what is considered appropriate in your organization and with external customers and clients.