THE IMPORTANCE OF COMMUNICATION SKILLS

Solid communication skills are one of the most valuable overall job skills you can bring to the table in the workplace. However, it's important that you don't just throw the words around as a resume-booster. You need to be able to back up those skills in the real-life workplace. Whether

you have a friendly and outgoing personality or are more shy and withdrawn, you will need to demonstrate effective communication skills to be successful at work.

First, recognize that it's not always an advantage to your communication skills if you are friendly and outgoing. While your affability may win you friends in the workplace, it will not always bode well for you. For one, outgoing people tend to share stories about their personal life in the workplace instead of keeping their conversations professional and leaving their home life at home. These conversations may even take up valuable time that should be spent on work (supervisors definitely take notice) and irritate co-workers who are trying to get work done.

But that doesn't mean being quiet and keeping to yourself is an advantage either. After all, if you don't feel comfortable asking questions when you need more information on a work project, you may end up being ineffective in your work. Also, keeping quiet will not show your supervisor that you are an "ideas" person who wants to help come up with solutions and identify problems. You must be able to speak up in order to get yourself on the radar for promotions as well.

The key is to find a balance. A good general communications tip is to keep your conversations at work professional as much as possible. Sure, it's okay to talk about your family and life outside of work every now and then, but make sure your main conversation focus at work is work. Communicating professionally means leaving behind old habits of ending every sentence sounding like a question (think teenage girls), not starting out sentences using the word "dude" (think teenage boys) and steering clear of using profanity, even if your supervisor uses it. Parrot back the work assignments given to you to make sure you understand them and ask questions up front if you are uncertain about something.

Finally, remember that communication skills are not just limited to spoken conversations. You should also make sure your e-mail communications with your boss, co-workers and external customers are professional and do not use slang or "text-speak."