I Don’t Understand What You’re Trying to Say…

Can I be honest for a second? I have a big problem at times communicating to people as well as listening to people. This is funny to me because I am a strategic communication who loves to talk and communicate with people all over the world. I mean at age 3 my preschool teachers were writing my parents notes about my excessive talking! Though I believe my gift of gab is great to have, sometimes it hurts me in the end.  Why is this? One reason is because of my excessive talking, I’m not able to listen effectively as I should, I also end up misunderstanding topics my peers are trying to convey to me, and I talk so fast that my messages are not getting across to the people I am trying to talk to. I consider myself a leader and being a leader, you must have great communication skills.  Now you might be thinking she’s a leader so that means she’s a supervisor or manager at some big-time company, but the answer is no, I am not. I’m a leader because I enjoy coming up with new ways of getting task done, I like to think of ways to keep employees moral up, and I just want to be a great inspiration to all my fellow peers. For years I knew I had a problem with listening and understanding but just didn’t know how I could improve on my problems with communication. I came across an article by Dr. John A. Kline entitled Communication and Leadership, though this article was written for the air force, I believe it could help any organization or workplace this article was an insightful read and showed me ways I could be a better communicator as a leader. As I stated before I am not a manger or supervisor of any sort but I do consider myself a leader. The article explains the first thing to establish good communication is by providing a good working climate. This makes sense because if the work environment is not positive companies are usually doomed to fail. Upon further reading I found out that there are three basic climates in workplaces and organizations. The three environments include; the dehumanized climate, the over humanized climate, and the situational client.  The article claims the dehumanized climate take on the model of the master and slave relationship and the basic assumptions of dehumanized climate are that subordinates are lazy, won’t take responsibility. Lack desire to achieve significant results, demonstrate inability to direct their own behavior, show indifference to organizational needs, prefer to be led by others, and avoid making decisions whenever possible. Supervisors communicate their belief in such assumptions by withhold information, telling subordinates not only what to do but how to do it, doing all the upward and lateral communication themselves, and talking individually with subordinates to keep each person competing for their favor. This climate, is terrible. I was very surprised to read that this mentality is still going on in organizations and work places today. This climate cannot help your organization or workplace in any way. Next there is the overhumanized climate. The overhumanized climate is the opposite of the dehumanization climate. The approach of overhumanized climate focus on human relations are more important than organization objectives, conflicts and tensions should be reduced at all cost, motivation of subordinates should be almost totally intrinsic and self-directed and participate decision making is always superior to decisions by one of a few. Supervisors communicate their belief in the approach by emphasizing induvial needs more than organizational ones.  Though this climate is better than the dehumanized client there is still a high frequency of undesired responses.  The last climate is the situational climate. The situational climate is in the middle of dehumanized and the overhumanized climates. This climate gets to the point by suggesting that organizational goals and induvial goals need not be at odds with one another. What needs to be established to have a situational climate. Well first, a flexible climate that can adapt to the complex and changing nature of individual and organizational needs is superior to a fixed climate. Next, individuals are not naturally passive or resistant to organizational needs or reluctant to assume responsibility. Third, since individuals are basically lazy work can be structured to bring induvial and organizational goals in line with another. Now how can you make your organizational and workplace climate better? You do this by improving communication. One way to do this by encouraging feedback. I have always thought that many people don’t get feedback on their jobs due to the fear conflict will arise, but feedback is one of the most important things you can do for someone or receive. At your place of work or organizational you must tell you superior that you want feedback. Secondly tell them the best way to provide the feedback. Everybody is unique so you must tailor the feedback to their needs. Thirdly, use silence to promote feedback. Fourth, watch for nonverbal cues. Watching for nonverbal cues is one of the easiest way to pick up on things. Fifth, consider a feedback session. Finally, use statements to encourage feedback. Some examples of statements you can day are; “Tell me more about it,” “That’s interesting,” or asking questions that can be explained with a simple no or yes.  Another way to have a good work climate is by taking the time to listen effectively. People miss out on so much because we don’t take the time to listen. Many times, were coming up with an answer while someone is stating something. Other ways to promote a good climate or reducing communication misunderstanding, communication with key personnel at your work place or organization, and promoting group consensus. To be a great leader, you must make sure your climates are good, that you are a great listener, that you give good feedback, and that your communicating with your peers in an effective way. Yes, this takes time but the result is priceless.