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Management Communication Tactics - Getting Yourself Fully Understood

Guest post by: Martin Haworth

Article Overview: Communication is the essence of effective management. Sometimes we seem to get on well with some people - at others times it's more of a challenge. Usually, this is down to the language we use...

Management Communication Tactics - Getting Yourself Fully Understood

As managers, we need to both get our own thoughts, ideas and instructions across, whilst also being able to build rapport with our employees by showing that we are interested in them too. When we talk, the words we use are the ones that we believe express what we want to get over. And usually, we really try to make the sense that comes from the words as clear as possible.

And it's vital to remember, the words we use are our words and as such mean uniquely what we ourselves interpret them to mean.

As a consequence, it's almost impossible for us to say what we say and it be completely understood by others, in exactly the same way that we said it.

Our words have to pass through the filter of whoever it is that is listening for their interpretation - and the filter is theirs and no-one else.

Other's Judgments

Because what comes out of our mouth belongs to us, others who hear those words have to make the best sense they can from them, despite the fact that they are impeded because they have their own filters fitted, not ours.

In life, whatever stimulus triggers actions by us, we learn to make the best interpretation we can to survive.

Whether they be sounds we hear (like words, as one example), things we see through our eyes; smells we notice; flavors we taste or touch we feel, we have learnt through our lives the experience to interpret and keep ourselves safe.

So, people make a ‘best judgment' on the stimuli they receive and make the best of it, based on their life experience and sometimes that 'sixth sense', intuition or 'gut instinct'.

It's how we get by in life.

Misinterpretation is No-one's Fault...Really...

So, if the messages you give out are your best shot; be assured that the interpretation of the words you said and were heard by others is their best shot too.

No-one makes the effort to get this communication wrong. It's a fact of life that you, as a manager, have to be aware of and make sure you appreciate and create work-arounds to get past.

After all, as Thomas Gordon once wrote:-

"Between that which I think,

And that which I want to say,

To that which I think I said,

Then that which I really say,

And...

That which you want to hear,

To that which you do hear,

And that which you think you understand,

To that which you want to understand,

And finally that which you understand,

There are at least 9 possibilities for miscommunication!"

So, that's a measure of how tricky this is!

We use language to communicate with others as best we can. The important issue here is never to assume that once you have said the words, your work is done. Far from it.

We have the responsibility to ensure that when we are in the driving seat as we communicate to others and we cannot expect anything from them.

It's up to us to make sure that the message is understood.

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Article Tags: being understood, communication skills, employee motivation, management development



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