In the corporate world, communication is often seen as the mother of all soft skills. If an employee is sound in spoken and written communication, it takes a lot of other ‘not haves’ for him to be deemed ineffective. Per Harvard Business Review, the communication umbrella opens up to include many aspects like verbal & written communication, friendliness, mutual respect, active listening, constructive feedback, confidence, and more.

I found it an interesting exercise to delve into the different ‘situations’ of communication from a soft skills perspective, and how we approach them in our daily life. The Sanskrit word ‘samvaad’ struck a chord in me.

“Loosely translated, ‘samvaad’ means dialogue or conversation, generally between a teacher and a disciple. It may also be interpreted as a debate or argument.”

In a ‘samvaad’, the teacher’s views are not canonical. There is room for nuance, questioning, and disagreement. Unlike a debate, ‘samvaad’ does not imply an intent to establish one point of view over another. Rather, it is a platform to articulate, engage, and question. Its quest is to arrive at a mutually acceptable truth, backed by logic and proof. Over time, ‘samvaad’ has remained integral to the evolution of philosophies, cultures, and beliefs, particularly in India.

I see ‘samvaad’ as a fruitful debate, sans the rhetoric. Engaging with different points of view through its principles helps broaden one’s perspective. Today, when the debate has become synonymous with acrimony, polarization, and noise, I believe it is important we reintroduce ‘samvaad’ into our lexicon.In the corporate world, communication is often seen as the mother of all soft skills. If an employee is sound in spoken and written communication, it takes a lot of other ‘not haves’ for him to be deemed ineffective. Per Harvard Business Review, the communication umbrella opens up to include many aspects like verbal & written communication, friendliness, mutual respect, active listening, constructive feedback, confidence, and more.