Effective Communication

#SimplifyWithSourabh Episode: 5

George Bernard Shaw said, "The single biggest problem in communication is the illusion that it has taken place.”

?I am sure you must have experienced this more than once. We assume we have conveyed a message while the targeted person has very little clue or understood it wrong. Have you ever wondered why it happened??

In my long career of 20+ years, where I would have easily interacted with 5000 individuals or more. I have had multiple such instances. Sometimes I presented a topic to the audience, which seemed to go well, with all questions answered. After a couple of months, the same topic comes up, and the feedback from the audience is almost as clueless as if we never discussed this subject! Let me take another example.? To put it simply, in a 1:1 conversation, I may have spoken about Apples, to later we realize that the person had understood oranges. These are very common!

So, where’s the problem? There was indeed communication but the result wasn’t what was intended.

Does the fault lie with the sender of the message, the receiver, the message itself, the medium, or the noise? I don’t think we can blame or pinpoint a reasonThe bigger question is what can we do to ensure a higher success rate in communication? How can we improve upon communication??

There are umpteen courses and books available on communication skills that can holistically guide you. I will talk about a few points in which I have experienced success. Let me categorize it into three buckets – The receiver of the message, the sender of the message, and the medium.

As a receiver, the simple things that will make a huge impact.

1. ?Listen openly – Be attentive without any prejudice or pre-notions. Listen for understanding and not for providing solutions. Solutions can be provided a little later.?

1. Respond to the messenger, acknowledge the message and if not clear, ask. This provides feedback to the sender. Even small things like acknowledging an email, or nodding to a speaker can improve the impact.

1. ?Don’t make assumptions and don’t take anything personally – borrowing from "The Four Agreements" by Don Miguel Ruiz.

As a sender, the main things I would recommend are as follows.?

1. Talk straight – This is something that has helped me a lot. The more we try to package it, the more chances of it getting misunderstood.?
2. Simplicity is key – This is not an English class to impress with heavy phrases. The simpler the message, the chances of it getting understood are better, which is your goal.?
3. Be impeccable with your words – again, borrowing from "The Four Agreements" by Don Miguel Ruiz.?

For the medium, keep the below in mind.

1. A chat is better than email, a phone call is better than a chat, and an in-person discussion always is better than a phone call. In essence, the closer you are, the success of communication is better.?
2. Reduce the noise by thinking/practising/proofreading. Think about how the message can get distorted due to various factors.

All of the above have helped me substantially. They are all good but can become awesome only when we act.?

And for that, I borrow the 4th point from "The Four Agreements" by Don Miguel Ruiz – Always do your best. Whether the role is for the sender, receiver, or message, if we put our conscious effort to do our best always, the probability of success increases manyfold – in all aspects of life, including communication.?

Why don't you share your top communication tips that can help others in the comment field? Look forward to an engaging dialogue.

#SimplifyWithSourabh includes posts based on my experience where I try to simplify a concept related to life or technology.?Stay tuned as I share my experiences and my thoughts with you.