Effective Communication Requires Less Talking
Posted on February 08, 2011 by Guy Farmer, One of Thousands of Leadership Coaches on Noomii.
Leaders are often taught that effective communication means they should dominate conversations. This approach produces less than adequate results.
Leaders often find that effective communication is about showing how strong they are and talking all over their employees or clients. This approach overlooks the fact that there is more than one person involved in a conversation. Here are some practical tips to help you practice effective communication.
1. Talk much less. It’s much easier to discern what other people are saying when we’re not talking.
2. Listen much more. An often overlooked skill, active listening, helps us get more information and make better decisions.
3. Keep an open mind. Try not to go into conversations with agendas or a predetermined outcome. Be willing to consider ideas that don’t mesh with yours.
4. Trust that employees know what they’re talking about. Give your employees the benefit of the doubt and show them you really do think they’re smart enough to come up with their own ideas.
5. Remove your ego. Conversations aren’t all about you. Let go of the need to control communication and you may learn amazing things about what’s going on in your workplace.
Try these ideas and see what they do for your workplace communication skills.
Take care,
Guy
