Five Principles of Effective Communication

The problem with communication is the illusion that it has occurred. George Bernard Shaw

I'm sure this has happened to you: a colleague has just done the exact opposite of what you wanted him to do. How can that be, you ask yourself. I told him exactly what I wanted. Yes, maybe you told him but did you check that he was listening, that he understood, that he agreed and that he would carry out the required action? Obviously not. The first principle of effective communication is to get appropriate feedback.

The second principle of effective communications is to really connect with your audience. It is a fallacy that the mere sending out of information is a communicative act. It isn't, especially in the current climate where everybody is drowning in information that overwhelms on us all fronts. To connect with your audience you need to address their different needs as partners because communication is a two-way process. You have to decide what you want the outcome of your communication to be: are you trying to inform, persuade, shock, praise, criticize, shame, please, inspire? Whatever your aim you need to plan your message, and the medium for the message, to trigger the emotional and cognitive responses that will ensure you engage your audience. And how do you know you've done that? By getting the appropriate feedback of course.

I learnt this the hard way. As part of the induction for new staff, I used to produce a manual containing all the operational information they needed. As time was always short, I would go through the headings with them and tell them to study it at their leisure. But nobody ever did. I was constantly bombarded with simple questions that were addressed in the manual. But it was my own fault. I should have set up a properly interactive session and followed that up with subsequent opportunities to study and discuss the information.

The third principle of effective communications is to listen and understand first. Don't send out a message until you know what your audience needs. If you are concerned about the quality of somebody's work, for example, don't jump in and issue an official warning. First find out what the employee's perception is. Use active listening skills to really probe the situation. Reformulate the employee's words, for example, echo the last words of their sentences, invite them to say a little more if they are hesitant. That way, if you discover the family has a seriously sick child or a big financial problem, you will start to understand what is behind the poor performance. You can then decide on the appropriate action.

The fourth principle is to understand that communication is more than the surface meaning of words. You need to be able to interpret other people's messages. This is just another form of feedback. Let's say you make an announcement and your group is discussing the information with you. They may feel inhibited about disagreeing openly, but read the signs because you don't have to be openly aggressive to show disagreement: note the body language, the kinds of words they use, the tone of voice. Somebody who is receptive will give you eye contact, will lean forward and will participate by asking questions, or offering to assist in some way. Those who are not in favour will look elsewhere, maybe fold their arms, use vague language instead of precise terms.

The fifth principle is respect. I don't want to go over the top here because you may well ask who is she to question the behaviour of the world's leaders? But it seems to me that many of the international political problems we experience are the result of lack of respect for the other party. Sure, it would be great if other nations didn't want to develop nuclear weapons, if they had democratic governments, if they weren't religious fanatics. But we don't produce good outcomes by taking the view that western leaders know best. To communicate with those we want to persuade, we need to respect them. Just because they don't agree with us, doesn't make them inferior or wrong. They have cultural backgrounds and histories that have led them to a particular course of action. Only by respecting that hinterland can we expect to make progress towards cooperation. To translate that to the workplace, you will only gain the cooperation of employees if they know you respect them. If you base your communications on lies, if you try to mislead people, if you ignore their needs and rights, they will see that you don't respect them and they will lose respect for you.

So where does all this lead us? Simply to the point that if you are having communications problems, you can now start analyzing where you are going wrong. What sort of feedback do you allow for? Do you understand how to appeal to people's emotions, their reasoning powers? Do you understand what makes your audience tick? Have you tried to find out about their real lives and what is important to them? And are you showing lack of respect by trying to hoodwink them? By addressing these questions as fully as possible you will go a long way towards improving the outcomes of your communications.

Brenda Townsend Hall is a writer and communications trainer and an associate member of the ITAP International Alliance (http://www.itapintl.com). She will shortly launching a website with a partner: http://www.euroconsulting.co.uk

---

Five Ways to Turn Resistance into Opportunity

Resistance. It isn't something people cherish or enjoy encountering. We... Read More

How To Use W Edwards Deming

Human beings and the way they interact are extraordinarily Complex.... Read More

Resolve Differences

Resolving conflict doesn't come easily to too many people. Most... Read More

Four Ways To Make the Case For Outsourcing

How do you convert outsourcing leads into clients? You may... Read More

A Tricky Supervision Challenge

Many managers believe that treating their team members as responsible... Read More

Teamwork Training: Learning to Build a Successful Team

Teamwork is a process that can be experienced outdoors and... Read More

Hidden Consultants Within Your Organization

You've all heard the old joke about a consultant being... Read More

Keys to Feeling Powerfull In An Uncertain World

Life has always been full of uncertainties. Over the last... Read More

Seeking Help

Where does the time go? Billable time. As a consultant,... Read More

Boost Your Leadership Skills By Disciplining Yourself In The Way Of The Question Mark

I'm often asked to come in to organizations and give... Read More

Time-Wasting Problems - One Question to Move You Forward

In any organisation, progress is frequently impaired by the time... Read More

Work Priorities: Where Can You Spend Your Time Most Effectively?

Understanding where you can spend time most effectively requires concentration... Read More

Knowledge Management - Creating a Sustainable Yellow Pages System

How can I "know who knows" None of us can... Read More

Sending Documents Through Email? Dont Get Burned by Metadata!

During a recent seminar I gave located in the suburbs... Read More

You Cant Not Communicate

Most of us would like to be better communicators. As... Read More

Quick Tip - Effective Meetings Earn a Profit

Most people treat meetings as a free resource that can... Read More

Its Not Always What You Say

A major source of communication breakdowns is incongruence between the... Read More

Climb out of the Box - How to Hold Effective Meetings

Out of the box thinking is a popular fad today.... Read More

Organisational Culture for Continuous Improvement

I have been working with leading Business Improvement guru, Tim... Read More

Conquering the Number One Problem in Business--Poor Communication

The Number One problem in business is poor communication: between... Read More

Hiring for Success

Hiring someone new to work in your business is one... Read More

Management Consultants, Creativity, Innovation

Most firms have intelligent, capable, knowledgeable managers who are very... Read More

Rapid Culture Change is Possible

Purpose: Show how immersion leadership training makes strategic initiative success... Read More

Coaching Employees in the Workplace

After a full week of training, you are still a... Read More

Is Your Brain Getting the Memory Full Message? 5 Ways to Free Up Room on Your Brains Hard Drive

Lynn was tapped to head up the project team for... Read More

Tales from the Corporate Frontlines: Training is in the Eye of the Beholder

This article relates to the Training competency, commonly evaluated in... Read More

Implementing Change

There are different reactions that individuals experience during time of... Read More

Using Outlook to Count Responses

Here's a productivity tip that will save you a lot... Read More

Training Adults, Not Teaching Children

Adults are vulnerable to personal and professional embarrassment from poor... Read More

Bringing Ideas to Life: Seven Principles for Pulling Together

You're so excited you're practically bouncing off the walls. This... Read More

Proven Secrets to Keeping Your People and Increasing Your Profits

Why are people changing jobs so quickly these days?Here are... Read More

Dont Wait for Tax Time to Look at the Bottom Line

A curious thing happens to entrepreneurs in the spring of... Read More

The Power of the Contract in Performance Management

An essential step in managing the performance of salespeople is... Read More