Episode 2 - EI Team Tip #2

Effective communication is crucial in a team, but many companies struggle with it. Poor communication can lead to misunderstandings and conflicts, costing companies billions of dollars. Barriers to effective communication include not listening to others, lack of transparency and trust, and different communication styles. Conflict also hinders communication. To optimize communication, teams should encourage transparency, be active listeners, clarify misunderstandings, validate emotions, and use nonviolent communication techniques. If conflict persists, bringing in a neutral outsider can help resolve it. I'm your host, Laura Perez Earhart. Welcome to Coach Anomalous Presents Podcast, a part of the ECS Network. This is our Mini Bites series. Tip number two is around enhancing communication. Emotional awareness allows team members to communicate more effectively. They can express themselves in a way that's clear and respectful, leading to fewer misunderstandings and conflicts. Who doesn't love that? We communicate with people throughout each and every day. We communicate through conversation, our expressions, body language, social media, email, phone, and the list goes on. The team relies on effective communication skills to enhance plans, express opinions, share their expertise, ask for help, further negotiations, and even meet strategic organizational goals. Since we communicate so frequently through various modes, we should be experts, right? Well, we're not. The Society for Human Resources Management surveyed over 400 companies with 100,000 employees or more. SHRM found that companies reported losing over $62.4 million per year in revenue due to poor communication. That's $62.4 million per company, which totals more than $24 billion. That's with a B. It's staggering to know the high cost for poor communication within a team and how it damages progress. So, let's unpack some barriers to ineffective and interpersonal communication, which includes the inability to listen to others. And active listening is an important aspect of effective communication. You can't engage with someone if you're not willing to listen to them because you'll tend to make assumptions about their needs based on your perception versus reality. Also, transparency and trust. It's extremely difficult to communicate anything when there's a lack of transparency and trust. For example, if your staff or colleagues believe you're holding something back, they will become anxious, start to speculate, and as a result, it'll become a bit more difficult for them to process any attempts you make to communicate with them. And also, we know that everybody's communication style varies, right? We all have different communication preferences. Some folks are more direct while others perform a more indirect approach. Some use detailed data while others rely on generalities and so forth. Occasionally, one person is so entrenched in their way of communication, they find it a bit difficult to communicate with others who rely on different styles. For example, the individual may not think much and give it much thought about who their audience is. That's an issue. So, you might hear comments such as, Mary never explains what she wants me to do. She's never specific. Or, Bill gets so caught up in the weeds that I lose focus on the bigger picture. I think you get the picture here. Also, reality is, conflict will always come up in the workplace. It can happen for a variety of reasons and when it does, it becomes a barrier to effective communication. The nature of the complex is not necessarily important. But what is important is working to resolve the conflict. So, when conflict is not eradicated, it grows and then people begin to take sides, which further impedes effective communication. So, let's talk about how highly emotionally aware teams and effective teams can optimize communication. And this begins by encouraging transparency. Open and honest communication among team members. It creates an environment where team members feel comfortable sharing their thoughts and feelings without fear of judgment or reprisal. Also, be an active listener. Be intentional. Pay attention to not only what's being said, but how it's being said, including tone of voice and body language. And this helps team members to better understand each other's perspective and how they might be feeling in a given moment. And then next, clarifying misunderstandings. Just like conflict, there's always misunderstandings. So, when they do happen, make sure that the timing's appropriate to address it. And if it's not appropriate, meaning you're amongst team members, set aside a one-on-one if necessary. Recognize that misunderstandings can lead to hurt feelings and miscommunication. So, make sure to clarify any misinterpretation or misunderstanding as soon as they come up. And next, emotionally aware teams validate each other's emotions. They acknowledge and respect that key word being respect here, each other's feelings. Even if they don't necessarily agree with them, this helps to create a sense of trust and understanding amongst team members. And then finally, using nonviolent communication techniques to avoid blame, shaming, judgment or criticism of colleagues or teammates. Instead, use language that focuses on expressing feelings and needs and finding mutually beneficial solutions to problems. If you or your team struggle to find resolution, it might be time to invite a neutral outsider to facilitate the conversation and help provide expertise to resolve the conflict. Thank you.