Effective Reading-1

 Reading skill is one of the most important skills to make you successful in your chosen career. I always ask my friends & colleagues to cultivate the reading habits. But merely reading is not going to help you become successful…you need to need to read effectively, get the exact meaning of each word, the way it has been used in a particular sentence and/or document. This week my topic of discussions would be Reading and I will try to cover  as many aspects of Reading as posible and I feel necessary, particularly for my friends who are in business or working as Managers and Executives. First of all I will talk about “Effective Business Reading.”

How efficiently do you read? Do you have more to read than time allows? You probably don’t have to look beyond the top of your desk to realize the importance of reading efficiently. Effective Business Reading is an essential business skill, why? Managers are shuffling more paper and reading more reports and books than ever before. In many cases, their reading has become narrow and specialized, to keep up with their chosen fields or to learn more about specific management practices. The solution is to read more efficiently.

For purposes of the following discussion regarding Effective Business Reading, I would like to define efficient reading as the extraction of information and meaning from a letter, memo, paper, report, or book as rapidly and completely as possible.In this process the individual words are only important in the way they contribute information and meaning.Managers cannot afford to pass up any opportunity to improve their reading skills. Alec Mackenzie, author of The Time Trap, found that managers are spending roughly 30 percent of their time reading.Although the need to read efficiently is clear, Managers often possess reading abilities far below their capacities. They learned to read during their elementary years and have not taken advantage of reading improvement programs available today. Their limited reading techniques have not prepared them for the formidable array of letters, memos, papers, and reports they read daily. Unfortunately, some otherwise efficient Managers are unable to read and readily understand information presented in professional journals, magazines, and books published in their chosen fields. Others forgo the opportunity to read for pleasure daily papers, weeklies, monthly magazines, and books because they read too slowly. They cannot afford time to read more extensively.

If you truly desire to read efficiently, there are basic steps you can take to master this communication skill.  

At the outset, give thoughtful consideration to the key factors which influence reading efficiency.

Tomorrow we will discuss these key Factors to Effective Business Reading, like- Comprehension, Speed of Reading, Reading Objectives etc.

Be with me..!