Tips for Effective Communication (adapted from Indeed.com)
ACTIVE Listening
Being patient and listening to others can help build relationships and ensure understanding. Actively listening when others are speaking can show that you respect them and allow you to learn more. Active Listening means opening the space for others to completely say what they want to say. When they are done, summarize what you heard and ask them if you understood them correctly. This gives them a chance to correct anything.
Be Concise
Being direct and clear with your communications can ensure that you properly convey your intentions. Best to speak in short statements and ask your listener if they understand what you are saying. If they say they are confused, pause and regroup.
Be Empathetic
Empathizing with others can help you build trust and relationships. Letting others know you care about their well-being can also make you more approachable, which may encourage others to continue communicating with you. Being empathetic is also very useful in conflict resolution because it can allow you to imagine what others are feeling and understand their actions.
Be Confident
Being confident in your communication can grow your credibility as a leader and teammate. It also can help you properly communicate your needs. Slow down or pause if you need a moment to gather your thoughts. This demonstrates that you are being thoughtful about your words.
Tone is Important
Take inventory of yourself before you speak. Are you angry? Are you in a hurry? If you are not fully present when talking to others, they can feel disrespected. Your tone of voice or your body language may convey negative feelings, aggression, or impatience. Before you have a conversation, center yourself and be fully present and in control of your feelings and intentions.
Be Observant
Observing nonverbal communication, such as body language, is a very important aspect of communication. There can be a right time and a wrong time to have a conversation. Appraise the situation. Is the other person alert and paying attention or are they distracted? Are they too upset to take in what you are communicating? For difficult conversations, try to find a quiet, private, space. This can help focus attention and concentration. Additionally, be aware of what your body language is communicating. Standing directly in front of, or too close to, someone can inadvertently communicate aggression or confrontation.
Be Appreciative
Letting others know when you are thankful for their actions can help motivate your team and improve their skills. Providing verbal positive reinforcement also can help ensure that the person you are praising or thanking continues their good practices.
Communicating your appreciation can also help remedy issues. If a fellow teammate or friend makes a mistake, providing constructive feedback paired with an appreciation for what they have done correctly can help maintain a peaceful and productive environment.
Be Polite
Being polite in your communication can ensure that your intentions are clear. This can also establish an excellent reputation and invites others to treat you politely. Sometimes, politeness will have to give way to directness but, even when we are communicating difficult information, we can try our best to be patient and respectful.
Be Organized
Try to organize your points of communication so others understand your intended purpose of the interaction. You can communicate in a clear and organized manner by staying on topic and creating a purposeful structure for your conversations. Practice-write your email first before sending it or, rehearse your talking points ahead of time.
Sincerity
Being genuine when you communicate with others can build a sense of trust and respect. Speaking with sincerity involves sharing your feelings and opinions, which can encourage meaningful interactions with others. In the long run, it is better to be truthful when communicating which avoids misunderstandings in the present and future.
Consistency
Consistent communicators interact with others on a regular basis. Establishing a predictable and reliable channel of communication can help keep others well-informed. Consider creating a time frame and method in which you are available for conversation. If you reply quickly to online instant messages, encourage others to contact you this way if they need immediate answers.
Inquisitiveness
Asking detailed and thoughtful questions can lead you to learn new things and help clarify instructions. Skilled communicators often ask questions to strengthen their understanding. If you don’t understand, or you are having difficulty hearing the person, ask them to repeat or clarify. That might feel awkward but doing so may avoid misunderstandings in the future.
Be Proactive
Address conflicts in a timely manner and start a conversation when needed. Delaying a difficult conversation can lead to a worsening of tension and misunderstanding of intentions.
Take time to Reflect
Self-reflection is an important aspect of communication. It allows you to think before speaking, which ensures that you are clearly and intentionally communicating. Being reflective can also encourage you to consider how your words and body language might make others feel. Take time to consider if additional conversation is needed.
Other Things to Think About!
Try Not to be Defensive!
When receiving direction or constructive feedback, we can feel ourselves getting ready to defend ourselves. However, when a teammate or coach is offering good advice or direction, defensiveness can interfere with our ability to understand what is being said. When we are angry or frustrated, we may not be receptive to feedback, but we need to take in the information that will help us focus and that may improve our performance. Lean into the feedback and ask what more you can do to improve.
Over-Talking and Talking Over
Our style of communication can convey a variety of non-verbalized messages. By talking over someone else, we are communicating we don’t want to hear what they are saying. This can be deliberate, or it might be the result of unconscious motivations, such as wanting to avoid hearing negative feedback. Over-Talking can also result in establishing a form of control by preventing someone else from speaking. It can also convey that the speaker is highly anxious. If either dynamic is happening, it is not a balanced and effective conversation. Attempt to point out to the other person that they are engaging in this behavior. If they respond negatively, or continue with the behavior, suggest another time for the conversation.
Managing Emotional Conversations
- If angry or upset, consider postponing a conversation until you feel grounded and organized
- Strong emotions can impair listening and processing of what someone else is communicating. If a conversation can’t be postponed, try to speak slowly and clearly. If the person you are speaking to becomes upset, open up the space for them to share what they are feeling.
- Emotional conversations should not be rushed and, if possible, scheduled for a specific time and place that is private.
- Be mindful of who might be listening. If you must have an emotional conversation with others present, try to be aware of how your communication may impact the opinions of those not involved.
Resolving Conflict
A conversation that is addressing conflict is a specific form of communication. This is best done in a private space and at a scheduled time if there is a reasonable assumption that the dynamic can be improved. It takes two invested communicators to create the space needed to effectively discuss differing positions. Respecting the other is key and should be acknowledged before the conversation commences. The parties are encouraged to acknowledge the conflict directly and to mutually set a goal of greater clarification and understanding. When respect or mutual goals can’t be established, or when it feels unsafe to have this communication one-on-one, it may be advised to have others present. This can be done through a mediated conversation or through a more formal process as provided by the Department.