Comments on: Shake up your communication beliefs, shock yourself into reality!

By: Anthony

Anthony — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 21:54:20 +0000

I agree with, but personally struggle with myth 3: Usually because I feel like I can’t find the balance on the pendulum. I often get feed back (hard push back) when I follow up something to the tune of “You already told me, do you not trust me?” or “You already told me, do you think I am an idiot?” (not exact words) So I stop following up, and when problems start to occur I ask about it and the same people say “Oh, I forgot”. Grrrr.

I work on the balance a lot, but still haven’t found a sweet spot. Some of the problem is there is a a wide variety of personality / styles on the team and each has their own middle ground and I don’t switch gears as smoothly as I want to…yet.

By: lyle hildahl

lyle hildahl — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 21:26:20 +0000

i agree with the myths and even more so today with so much mulitasking going on. i feel its my responsibility to follow up in a way that the message is heard. slowing down helps.

By: Sheryl

Sheryl — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 15:41:27 +0000

Wow – I am guilty of all three myths. I assume (yes, I know what this word can lead to) that if I’m not clear that the other party will ask. I need to take ownership in making sure they understand, and vice versa.

By: Camille

Camille — Sat, 27 Feb 2010 00:15:23 +0000

Excellent. I really need to ensure that I take the time to request the reflective listening. And, if they don’t know what that is I need to ensure I educate my direct reports.

One thing that I have been doing is “inspect what I expect” which ties to one and three. Very important.

In peer groups, I can be viewed as a control freak because I request for reflective listening and I follow-up with email confirmations to improve the forgetting curve. However, I will hold steady to my commitment to improve effectiveness.

By: Teran Petrina

Teran Petrina — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 01:00:10 +0000

Great reminder! I am a participant in the myths – two and three for certain. Typically, I will check back on any assigned tasks…my work needs to occur in the ‘making sure they got it’ portion. Have had occasions where my team members spend time unnecessarily as they did not clearly understand what I needed as an output. Note to self…work on reflective/active listening.

By: Victoria

Victoria — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 23:06:46 +0000

The third point makes complete sense to me, particularly when you’ve made a presentation to a group of people. Maybe it was a presentation to a group of sales people on a new product that is launching. You want to reinforce key points again and again.

However, if you have someone who you’ve assigned a task to and you’ve followed points one and two to establish mutual understanding and timeline, doesn’t point three conflict with holding that person able?

By: Renée Safrata - renee@reneevations.com

Renée Safrata - renee@reneevations.com — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 16:06:32 +0000

Thanx for the comment Isabelle. It is so true – professional assumptions of communication ‘competence’ are often extremely overestimated. Many of us are trapped in our own ‘story’. Results will not appear unless – we choose to unlearn our assumptions, relearn the basics and learn how to implement new behaviours.
Keep listening!
Have a great week.
Renée

By: Isabelle

Isabelle — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 18:03:33 +0000

So very true. My team has taught me so much over the years about communication effectively. I have clients that tell me daily that they are GREAT at communicating …but… they don’t understand why they are simply not getting great results…

This is a great simple videocast that effectively tells why. Well done Renee.