Closing the Communication Gap: An Effective Method for Achieving Desired Results

• Examines the importance of good communication
• Defines the four types of poor-quality communication
• Explains how to create a climate of communication
• Describes how a climate of communication encourages the development of quality relationships

Improved communication in business means higher profits. Improved communication in government means happier citizens. Improved communication in healthcare means quicker recoveries, fewer lawsuits, and happier nurses and patients.

Closing the Communication Gap can help readers improve communication by closing the gap between what the communicator means and what the listener actually understands. It supplies a complete overview of the various elements and dimensions of effective communication needed to stop talking and start communicating.

Defining and discussing both the formal and the informal communication systems within an organization, the book demonstrates the importance of good communication and details the four types of poor-quality communication. It explains how to create a climate of communication in your organization. It describes how this climate of communication encourages the development of quality relationships as well as what it takes to maintain this culture of communication.

After reading this book, you will understand how to be a better listener, how to use social media in marketing, how to deal with difficult people, and helpful tips for public speaking. You will gain valuable insights on how to talk to your employees, how to talk to your boss, and the best ways to communicate with a corporation.

This book can be read for personal growth or it can be used by a company to teach employees the importance of quality communication. Quality assurance departments will find this book useful in lowering errors and waste in the workplace. The book is also suitable as a communication textbook or supplemental text at the introductory university level.

About the Authors

Dr. Harrington now serves as the chief executive officer for the Harrington Institute. He also serves as the chairman of the board for a number of businesses. Dr. Harrington is recognized as a world leader in applying performance improvement methodologies to business processes. He has an excellent record of coming into an organization, working as its chief executive officer (CEO) or chief operating officer (COO), resulting in a major improvement in its financial and quality performance.

Robert D. Lewis (Bob) spent his early years in the civic and religious nonprofit world, where the importance of communication carried an enhanced role. It was there that his study and practice of communication took on serious and academic dimensions. One of his most helpful experiences in communication training was with Dr. John S. Savage, the founder and president of L.E.A.D. Consultants, Incorporated, for 25 years, and currently a senior consultant/trainer for the Kilgore Group. Lewis spent 200 hours in workshops with Dr. Savage and his associates studying listening skills, such as story listening, body language, and neurolinguistic programming theory and techniques. As an ordained minister, Lewis learned the importance of listening, the power of a question, and the importance of effective public speaking.