Can Communication Challenges

Ever Be Solved?

In the 6000 years of recorded human history we have time and time again where communication breakdowns have lead to devastating results.  Even when great care and consideration is given to communication, sometimes we still have the situation of miscommunication.  Therefore, the question that just begs for an answer is: Why haven’t we solved our communication challenges?

In order to answer that question we first have to fully appreciate what communication is.  Communication is the exchange of ideas between two or more people.  In communication there is a sender and a receiver.  In order for communication to take place the receiver of the communication has to understand the communication the way the sender meant for it to be understood.  Anything less would be miscommunication.

A communication starts with a thought, the thought is put into words, the words are transmitted through a communication channel (verbal, written, video, etc.).  The receiver of the communication then decodes the communication and derives a meaning.  As you can see there is a lot of room in the communication process for something to go wrong and lead to a miscommunication.

The three main parts of the communication process are the words, the tone of the words, and the emotions around the communication.  The words actually make up a small part of the communication process and yet can have a tremendous impact on the outcome of the communication.  Words mean different things to different people.   For example, I love sports and if I say so and so is a bad man, I mean this person is good at what they do.  Someone else could decode that communication as this person is always in trouble with the law.

The tone of words has a larger impact than the words themselves.  We have all heard the saying: “it’s not what you say; it’s how you say it.”  So the tone is very important.

However, the most important part of communication has to do with the emotions.  The emotions in communication have to do with how you feel about the other person’s ideas and how you think they feel about your ideas.  The emotions in communications are displayed in both the verbal tones and the non-verbal actions.

Understanding our own emotions and others emotions can play a big role in improving communication.  This is especially important for team members to work together effectively.

We did a Dynamic Communication Workshop for one of our clients that was having tremendous conflict among team members.  This conflict was having an adverse effect on productivity, customer and employee satisfaction.  As part of the workshop process we did behavioral assessments of all the team members and debriefed the results in the Workshop.  When the participants in the workshop began to understand their own behavioral style and the behavioral styles of their teammates, communication, teamwork, understanding, and appreciation improved dramatically.

While we may not be able to solve all of our communication challenges in the workplace or in our personal lives, we can improve the chances of having successful communications by understanding our behaviors and the communication process.  What communication problems do you face in your business?  CAPITAL iDEA stands ready to work with you to break down the barriers to effective communication.

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