Question

(Management Class)

Which type of communication do you think is most effective in a work setting? Why? What have been your experiences with communication in the work setting or on teams in class? What tips might you share to improve the communication?

Answer 1

Effective communication helps to prevent stress, frustration, misunderstandings, and lost work. But more importantly, effective communication creates an environment where employees feel safe and that their work matters.

But because we live in a fast-paced society, time stands in the way of communicating clearly. To save time, we prefer speaking in the encrypted code of technology and emojis… We also forget to truly listen because we often go so fast we are already preparing our response before the person has even finished their sentence!

Can we all try to take that one moment before uttering those nasty words, before using a snippy tone, and definitely before involuntarily rolling our eyes, shrugging our shoulders, or even having our foot halfway out the door!

In that moment, just be still… In the stillness, direct your thoughts to the person you are actually speaking to and observe them. Make it about them… See if they look haggard, hurried, stressed, depressed, or plain mad, any of these emotions, and remember that at least 75 percent of the population feels some of these emotions at any given time.

Then take that one person, and before you speak, remind yourself to use a kind tone with the words you are going to utter and if at all possible look that person directly in the eyes! At that precise moment, the person will notice that you actually took the time to look at them. They will pick up instantly on the tone that you are using and thus be friendly or at least be polite back, and last but not least, keep your body language neutral, even if it takes a while to get an answer.