Communication is a two-way street, and many professionals forget that communication often gets lost, or misunderstood as it is received. Whether it’s due to distractions (for example, a noisy environment or something else on your mind) or whether it’s due to
A couple of key notes when you are cultivating listening with your team:
What are people listening for? Are they listening for what the person really is saying or are they thinking about how they are going to respond?
Are they just noticing the words or are they also noticing body language? We know from research that body language and how things are being said contribute to a significant part of the message. Getting team members to notice what body language says, and does not say, in the context of communication can be extremely powerful.
While this may be common-sense for some on the team, many team members may not have thought through the impact of:
- Tapping your foot while listening to someone else
- Crossing your arms
- Looking up or away from a speaker who is talking to you
- Looking over your glasses as someone speaks to you.
How clear is the request being made in communication. Brevity and consistency is important in today’s world. So is “the call to action”. What are you asking people to do. Take action? Read something? Make a decision? Do something differently? Reply back to you. These are all different requests and if a request is not being made explicitly, it may be difficult to interpret what is being asked for.
In my next couple of Tuesday and Wednesday posts I’ll be exploring some of these other skills – Experimentation, Open-mindedness, Problem Solving, prioritization.
What’s the key learning/insight you want to take from today’s blog post?
Enjoy your Wednesday,
Jennifer