5 Tips To Overcome Miscommunications

Happy FriYay!

Another Friday Fast 5 coming your way.?

This week we are? focusing on communicating with your team. Many people say communication is key, but communication isn’t an innate skill that everyone has. It’s like any other skill, something that needs to be learned and refined over time. That’s why we’ve put our top 5 tips to help you towards better communication below!

1. Profile your employees (it’s also a great tool for your other relationships too hehe!) Profiling is a great way to understand how you and how your employees communicate. Everyone has different communication styles and it’s on the speaker to understand how the listener is going to respond to what they say. This is the first step I take to create a better culture of communication in your business. If you want to know more about how profiling works check out my keynote on this topic HERE.?
2. Embrace the silence. As leaders we feel like we have to have all the answers. That we need to be in control of the conversation and speak more. This can lead to reacting rather than responding, which means sometimes our point won’t come across accurately. Instead I challenge you to take a deep breath before you respond, sit into the silence for 3-5 seconds and see how much clearer your communication becomes when you give yourself to respond logically rather than emotionally.
3. Create safe words or safe spaces. Sometimes we just need a time out and aren’t able to communicate properly in the moment. In sessions I’ve often recommended that clients help their teams create safe words or safe spaces for when they are feeling vulnerable or don’t feel comfortable responding immediately. These phrases have ranged from “I need to think about this, I’ll get back to you in 24 hours.” or “The story I’m telling myself is…”, or even just saying, “I’m not feeling great today, can I please get back to you when I have space to take in what you need to tell me?”. Allowing people the chance to express themselves without pushing them to levels of discomfort improves open communication within the business.?
4. Encourage a horizontal business structure. I have never liked the traditional business hierarchy as it often stifles us from forming relationships with our co-workers and managers. That’s why I encourage you to think about arranging a business organisation chart that doesn’t place any individual above another. Trust me this makes a HUGE difference!
5. Communicate in the way that will best have your message heard. We often forget that not everyone communicates the way that we do. For example, I love sending my thoughts through voice messages but I know some of my team prefer picking up detail and will get tasks done more efficiently when I write the message to them. A good thing to keep in mind when talking to your team is, if it has lots of dates or important information send it in writing, if it’s more creative and is open to their interpretation you could use a voice message. If it’s a mix of both, video is also a great alternative particularly with programs like Loom available. (This one is my personal favourite especially when training new team members, or rolling out a new initiative).

Most importantly communication is about connection, not coercion and approaching each conversation as a way to get closer to your employees is the first step to having better communication.?

Keep an eye out for another fast 5 next week!

Be the Ripple - Create Waves of Change?

??Jade