Last week the Foreign Secretary, William Hague, was criticised over the botched SAS mission to make contact with Libyan rebels. He said: "They were withdrawn after a serious misunderstanding about their role, leading to their temporary detention."
This reminds me of the quote from Goethe: “No one would talk much in society if they knew how often they misunderstood others.”
Communication is the exchange and flow of information and ideas from one person to another; it involves a sender transmitting an idea, information, or feeling to a receiver. Effective communication occurs only if the receiver understands the exact information or idea that the sender intended to transmit. Many of the problems that occur in an organisation are either the direct result of people failing to communicate and/or processes, which leads to confusion and can cause good plans to fail.
For many years I had a poster on my wall that said: “I know that you believe you understand what you think I said, but I'm not sure you realise that what you heard is not what I meant.” this is a quote from Robert McCloskey.
As a leader, how clear are you? When delivering a message, what is it that you pay attention to?
Here are some hints on speaking to staff:
· When speaking or trying to explain something, ask the listeners if they are following you.
· Ensure the receiver has a chance to comment or ask questions.
· Get them to demonstrate their understanding.
· Try to put yourself in the other person's shoes - consider the feelings of the receiver.
· Be clear about what you say.
· Look at the receiver.
· Make sure your words match your tone and body language (nonverbal behaviours).
· Vary your tone and pace.
· Do not be vague, but on the other hand, do not complicate what you are saying with too much detail.
· Do not ignore signs of confusion.
...and as Shakespeare put it – “Speak comfortable words!“
What would you add to this list?
For more information on improving communication visit the Call of the Wild website
Comments