Can yuo raed tihs sentnece?
Communication is key to any organisation, without it you might get lucky and still function for a while if you have high performing people that take pride in their role but they will soon fall silent and not stick around for too long. Strong teams function well when they are all focused on a common vision, objective, goal and understand where they fit into the overall picture.
How do you rate the effectiveness of communication within your organisation?
If you want to focus on developing your communication skills, these areas are a good place to start:
Active Listening, be open, present and focus on the speaker
Be aware of your nonverbal communication, what is your body saying?
Find common ground, be relatable and have a sense of humour
Be timely, follow up and answer enquiries in a respectable manner
Adapt and tailor your approach for the people you are communicating with
It is a scientific fact that our brains will fill in the gaps of missing information.
Can yuor barin raed tihs sentnece?
This occurs subconsciously without much effort. It can serve purpose when reading this blog however in the workplace it can have a negative impact.
An example I like to share in my neuroscience facilitation programs is where a person of seniority quite simply asks a team member to catch up in their office in 15 minutes. What would be the natural response of the team member, “Oh no, what have I done!”, straight into threat response in their brain.
The brain goes into survival mode, the blood flow moves from the pre-frontal cortex (executive function area of our brain) to the amygdala in the limbic system (the sub-conscious, emotional centre). The blood then travels to the heart, lungs and limbs ready to fight, flight, freeze. Unfortunately, most of us react in this manner rather than an excited response of “YES… pay rise, I knew this was coming!”.
The above example shows us the importance of effective communication and the damaging effect bad communication can have on the workplace. Imagine what could happen within those very unclear 15 minutes, first and foremost the person would be suffering some mild anxiety about the upcoming meeting.
Emotions are contagious so without knowing they could spread their worry to fellow team members. What effect does this have on productivity and engagement levels. All because we missed out on providing some context. Something so simple yet the effects can be damaging.
Effective communication is important in any environment with human interactions. When it comes to the workplace, communication is a crucial element to the success of a business. It helps to build stronger relationships, increase team effectiveness, obtain higher employee engagement and in turn, increases profitability.
Be mindful of your communication style - see if it makes a difference in your interactions!
Tanya Camilleri
Delivering neuro insights into your feed