Communication is Hard

Communication is one of the most difficult tasks that we have but is a key responsibility of leadership. It requires two people to be in sync with each other for it work properly and often requires the message to be passed through multiple levels while retaining its meaning…difficult to say the least. Several studies cite the number one issue stated by employees, in both large and small organizations, is communication. We all need to improve our communication skills.

The Problem with Communication:

• DO NOT ASSUME: what may be simple and easy to one person may be complicated for someone else. This absolutely applies to communication!

• Communication is creating, interpreting, and negotiating meaning. It is verbal, non-verbal, textual, and physical.

• The sender is responsible for ensuring the message is communicated properly and understood. Too often we think the message we are transmitting is received. More so, we naturally think people hear and understand the message the way we intend. Spend time ensuring your message was communicated and understood properly; ask for feedback. In the military, it is commonplace to have the receiver read back and state the intent of the message as they understand it. This is time consuming and, at first, can feel elementary but becomes empowering as it is used. It allows the sender to make adjustments and builds confidence in the receiver knowing they properly understand the task.

• We think that by transmitting a message at one level it will make its way to lower levels. Most often it does not and, even if it does, it normally isn’t what was originally stated or intended. A good rule of thumb on distributing a message, it will be transmitted downward with the following rate of loss:

  • 100%--Message heard by sender

  • 70%--Conveyed by sender to the next level

  • 50%--Retained by the audience at next level

  • To help resolve this:

    • Walk the floor and talk with your people. Make sure they received the message and understand it the way you intended. A simple sampling of your people is often enough to know if your message made it to them.

    • Reinforce important messages. Things such as mission, vision, values, policy changes, and safety information need constant reinforcement. A simple email, bulletin, or one-time meeting is rarely enough to reinforce new habits. Constant preaching and teaching will reinforce these messages.

• There are two types of barriers to communication, internal and external; external are easier to control but both have a detrimental effect on your communication efforts.

  • Internal—fatigue, mistrust, poor listening skills, lack of interest, fear, negative attitude

  • External—noise, distractions, too technical, broken systems (email, phone, etc), information overload

  • Additional article on barriers: https://www.seekhle.com/2018/07/barriers-to-effective-communication.html

An additional article on ways to help improve communication. Some of these are things discussed in the group last week: https://peakon.com/us/blog/employee-success/improve-communication-at-work/