I read an interesting statistic this week: three-quarters of our time is spent communicating. It’s not surprising when I think about it, just eye-opening. Three-quarters!
There are hundreds of models for effective communication and yet we still have difficulty.
So I’ve been thinking about what lies under effective communications. Every communication has two active roles – sender and receiver. Each role must pay attention to these three areas:
Curiosity
Intention
Understanding
All of these must be present for the sender and the receiver. Both roles have responsibilities.
For the sender:
- Curiosity about how to communicate in this specific circumstance
- Intention about what to communicate
- Understanding that the communication was received and comprehended
For the receiver:
- Curiosity about what is being communicated and why
- Intention to understand
- Understanding and verification – ask questions until you do
We spend the majority of our time communicating, so a focus on improving even incrementally will have a big impact. Try it this week, and let me know how it goes!
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“Karen Walker”