Is your communication and credibility suffering from COVID associated challenges?
Message clarity, workplace connection and personal credibility are all potential causalities of our ever-changing workplace.
Once upon a time, you could walk around to someone’s desk, meet in a meeting room or grab a coffee.
These occasions provided the opportunity for in-depth conversations, accompanied with the insights from both physical and visual cues that once formed the foundations of our communication narrative and connection.
Our communication narrative has irreversibly changed.
The new challenge is our communication narrative is now increasingly played out in a range of online video conferencing forums. These online workspaces create a barrier that makes it easier to assume each other’s intentions, to judge and to criticise.
Those around you are consciously or unconsciously reading and interpreting your choice of words,
tones and gestures through the frame of a screen.
Not only is your audience missing many of the non-verbal cues that you would traditionally have with person-to-person contact, but they are also missing the holistic view of the room and all of those in it, the variety of non-verbal responses and ques that if they had observed, may have influenced their thoughts.
If we want our message to be heard, understood and acted upon – now, more than ever you need to be:
- aware of your communication intentions and potential impacts.
- aware of assuming the intentions of others and judging others
- open to different perspectives and possibilities.
It is a challenge. Our thoughts wander and we are often more aware of how underprepared we are for our next meeting – and how we will fit a trip to the restroom – let alone have a lunch break. If that is not enough, we are increasingly working with people (myself included) with reduced attention spans.
Generally speaking. We all think we are good communicators.
Look around you, the fact is some people are more effective communicators than others.
Why? What differentiates their communication from the rest?
It is what they focus on. Their top three traits are probably:
- They are present in the conversation.
They are paying attention. Not pretending to. It is more than an acknowledgement or leaning in. You feel heard! - They listen to understand.
They seek to understand why something is important to you and ask clarifying questions. You feel that your views are being considered and discussed, rather than side-lined or criticised. - Admit when they don’t know something.
They are not afraid to say so and are respectful to others in the same situation. They allow time to retrieve information and for all to learn. You feel safe. You feel it is OK to be vulnerable.
Mastering these three traits builds credibility. Good communication and credibility go hand in hand. However, good communicators don’t focus on their credibility. They focus on…
Connectivity and understanding.
Pre-COVID, I feel we used to spend more time on framing our messaging and being logical. Sadly, some of us would push our views as the best way forward, while not listening to others. We would often try to prove how right we are (and how others are wrong), how intelligent, how… The list goes on.
Hopefully, through the challenges of the video conferencing world, we are now learning to focus more on connectivity and understanding.
Have your communication traits adapted to your new environment?
—-
Sign up to my blog and I will take you on a journey of exploration of all facets of the trouble with talking, how we communicate on autopilot and what to do about it in order to create healthier workplace conversations and a better understanding of how we build and fracture our professional credibility.
In my next posts, I will be sharing tips on how to decrease your judgement to improve your communication outcomes.
Tess Brook is a communication specialist and author.
She transforms organisations by creating awareness of our communication needs, differences and patterns via her signature workshop ‘The Trouble with Talking’. The Trouble with Talking workshop explores communication mishaps and mayhem in a fun and safe way without participants feeling as if the finger is pointed at them. This workshop will guide your people to build their professional discourse, soft skills, communication and credibility.
Reach out to her to learn more. Tess@cohesiveconversations.guru
When she is not transforming organisations, she can be found discovering a new corner of the world to sit and write. She and her husband love rummaging through old bookstores for gems. They live on a sailboat with their two dogs and Zac the cat.