How important is it to improve communication skills?

According to this article published by INSEAD, "Effective communication skills outrank other core business competencies as the number one skill for corporate recruiters looking to hire MBA graduates."

In the September 24th issue of Business Week, the magazine had listed 95 corporations as "Best Places to Launch a Career." Of these top 95 companies, they also listed what skills employers are selecting for (see below).

This results illustrate that communication is more of greater importance when it comes to getting a job the that highly sought after technical degree. It's interesting to note that many employers are looking for communication even in new hires strait out of college.

The Importance of Study and Practice in Developing Good Communication Skills

We all know the importance of communication to success. Yet, few people devote the time and for the development of their communication skills. It just doesn't seem that important to them.

Yet, if you took a poll of the average person, you might find that 80% of them believe they have better than average communication ability.

In effect, most individuals live a life of delusion, thinking that two ears and one month make them excellent communicators. Nothing could be farther from the truth. You will not process excellent communication without constant study and practice.

You cannot expect an individual to be any good at engineering without study. Neither should expect that your communication skills are better than average if you haven't taken the time and make the effort to improve them.