I want to bring up the topic of what positive communication means to me and the help it can bring to professional development and workplace satisfaction. These are things I have gathered through my own experience and studies. It is not a one-trick pony but rather various aspects from many areas.
As 86% of employees, including executives, name lack of effective communication as the main reason for broken down teamwork and workplace failures, changing the team dynamic by improving the way we communicate with each other is important. By working on your communication skills, you get fewer misunderstandings, fewer frustrations, better-adapted expectations, and improved well-being in the workplace to name only some benefits. When we work on our professional development and feel greater well-being, we ultimately produce better.
To improve our positive communication skills we must include:
Constructive, effective, and supportive when we are talking
In the best-case scenario end in a positive mental outcome, and in the worst-case scenario in a neutral outcome.
Active listening to try to understand our colleagues' points of view. Listen to what they actually say.
What does Positive interpersonal communication actually mean then? In no particular order will I introduce the aspects we need to improve our positive communication skills.
Active Listening- A Key Skill in Positive Communication
Positive communication is building rapport. Active listening is that.
Many confuse this skill and do not think it has anything to do with communication. In fact, it is an excellent communication skill to improve. I think we all have experiences with our colleagues, friends or family (probably you yourself as well) them saying "I hear you" or " I understand". This is NOT active listening.
Paraphrasing, for example, is a great tool to make sure that our colleague/s know and that we show that we are in fact listening. By repeating what we heard our colleagues say, we also give them the opportunity to correct us if it was in fact wrongly interpreted.
Asking follow-up questions is also a form of active listening as it shows that the person registered what you have said. This will not happen overnight, but if you are interested in professional development and communication it is good to remind yourself about it until it becomes natural.
Introspection for Your Personal & Professional Development
Do you always do and communicate correctly or could you in fact do things differently? I for sure could! Introspection can have a significant impact on your communication style. By reflecting on your thoughts and emotions, you can become more aware of how they influence the way you communicate with others. You may become more mindful of your tone of voice, choice of words, and body language, allowing you to communicate more effectively and with greater empathy. Introspection can also help you identify any negative thought patterns or biases that may be affecting your communication style and work to overcome them. Not taking only communication skills into account, introspection is a necessary tool for your other professional development.
Being a Better Communicator Means Thinking about the "Message Sent"
Language is the knowledge of grammar and the ability to talk. Communication is that plus extra. For communication to be effective and useful, a receiver must decode the message the way we have intended it to be. Words have connotations, grammar structures as well.
The mind gets triggered depending on these variants as well. It is automatic and subconscious. Add on tonality, body language, intonations, and other noise around that can interfere. Read more about interpersonal communication in the link here.
We all have biases and previous experiences that have us decode messages differently. Therefore the is "message sent" a vital component in positive communication skills. We will have to think about all the above factors to decrease misunderstanding and increase teamwork and progress.
Mitigating this completely is impossible, but it is important to work on our communication skills; our tone of voice, intonation, word connotations, etc to try to mitigate it as much as possible.
Mindful Cultural Aspects are respecting and understanding everyone from anywhere
Professionalism and professional development can be enhanced by understanding cultural communication aspects. Different cultures have distinct communication styles that can be classified as high-context and low-context. Awareness of one's cultural context and effective communication with someone from a different context can enhance mutual understanding and improve workplace relationships. However, it is of utmost importance that we have an open mind and do not stereotype. Over-generalizing can be damaging well-being can be decreased. Cultural contexts provide a general guideline, but individuals should be considered based on their unique communication style. Understanding cultural communication can promote professionalism and create a more positive and productive work environment.
Positive Communication Is Built on Trust & Honesty
For both your personal and professional development truth and honesty will be of great good for you.
As mentioned above, positive communication is about building rapport. Good rapport increases teamwork. Building rapport in your professional life is almost impossible if your colleagues, or clients, etc do not trust you or believe you, to be honest. There should be no doubt from the people around you that what you say is true. We will prevent many conflicts if we say what we mean and do what we say. It does not mean in any sort of way though that we cannot say negative things, bring up criticism, etc, quite the opposite! What we do have to increase teamwork and have better communication skills think about the above aspects when we say things negatively. In fact, we actually have to learn to say these negative things as we all know that no workplace is not unicorns and pink skies, we must be able to bring it up. Do not promise something that you actually do not mean or can keep; “I call you back in 5” How many of us really call back in 5?
How Do You Communicate in Conflicts & How to Get a Resolution
Conflicts are nothing we should be afraid of, rather the opposite. When conflicts arise in the workplace, it's an excellent opportunity to improve teamwork and push the organization forward.
However, it's important to engage in positive communication and learn how to properly communicate needs and wants. Professional development in conflict resolution skills, negotiation, and compromise can help. Open-ended questions can facilitate productive discussions and help both parties reflect on what they really want.
"Tell me what I can do right now for us to move forward in this."
We open up and give the opportunity for the counterpart to reflect, as we get all caught up in the circle of discussion, and think about what they really want. Also setting the tone that we need to move forward in a respectful way.
By showing vulnerability and a willingness to work together in a respectful manner, conflicts can be resolved and teams can work towards common goals which is not a weakness!
These are few aspects of Positive communication. I hope I have managed to show that it does not mean that we have to be positive all the time. It does not mean that we walk around with big smiles on our faces. It means to be intentional with words, bring clarity to a message sent, to self-reflect and understand others, take aspects of culture into account, and transform conflicts; all this to create a better workplace.
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