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Common communication mistakes in the workplace
You already know that effective communication is critical to your business’s success, no matter what industry you’re in. But what you might not know is where you’re going wrong. Even seasoned executives are subject to making communication mistakes (which might not have anything to do with their grammar or word choices). Here are the top three communication faux pas you might be making at work.
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LocalBizSC.com Q3 2022
1. USING ONE-SIZE-FITS-ALL COMMUNICATION You’d probably be a little concerned if one of your friends replied to your text with, “Sorry, I don’t have the bandwidth to tackle this right now. Let’s circle back to this topic later,” just like you’d spend an hour trying to decode a text from your client that was littered with emojis. People don’t communicate with everyone in their life the same way, nor should they. But instead of lumping everyone into the broad categories of “friend,” “client,” or “coworker” to decide who warrants a text, phone call or email, try taking everyone’s individual psychology into account too. By definition, communication is the process of sending and receiving messages, so how the recipient processes your message can mean the difference between a successful exchange and a cluster-you-know-what. People interpret messages based on their background and life experiences, mindset, education and emotional intelligence, personality, and the context of their relationship with the sender – which is why you would be worried if your friend started sending corporate jargon over text. A seasoned professional in his sixties is not likely to consume communications in the same way that a recent college graduate does, so if you have a multi-generational team or work with people across vastly different specialties, you’ll have to communicate with each of them a little differently.
