Communication is a major
part of every aspect of life. It's literally in everything we do.
As I reflect on my morning I see how critical communication is. The
following are examples of my communication before I even sat down in class today:
1.
I kissed my wife good
bye as she left for work to show her that I love her.
2.
I responded to a text
from a group member to let him know I would print off a paper.
3.
I got frustrated with
the jeep in front of me who wouldn't turn right at a red light when there
weren't any cars coming. (Sometimes it's best when people don't see or
hear our communication to them)
4.
I put my hand up to
thank a driver that let me cross the street.
5.
I gave knucks to a
friend – who was on his phone communicating with someone else – to say hello
without actually verbally saying "Hello."
Communication helps us
express how we feel and what we want or need. When searching for jobs or
when we're already in a career, the way we interact with teams, managers, bosses,
and clients is important. With many people we need to learn about them
and their beliefs and customs before we can effectively communicate with them.
If we don't take the time to do this, we may give a thumbs up to a
Middle-Eastern client to let him know everything is great, while, to him, he's
seeing the middle finger up. Understanding our audience is crucial to
being an effective communicator.
For me, I'm going to
start focusing on different aspects of communication. When others speak
to me, I'm going to critique (not out loud) their communication to me.
Also, when I speak, I'm going to critique myself and really focus on
whether I'm communicating clearly and effectively. By doing this, I know
I'll improve my skills of effective communication.
I love your focus on communication. We are all sending out and receiving communication all of the time, whether we mean to or not, notice it or not, and the more active we are in what we are putting out into the universe the more clearly we will be understood.
ReplyDeleteThe points of your communication you decided to include were extremely interesting--very honest and balanced, including the good and bad. I thought your inclusion of giving bones to a friend while he was on the phone was a neat observation and one that would have easily slipped my mind.
I know that the more we attempt to understand and appropriately respond to others, the better we will be received in this world, whether we will be in an international environment or if we hardly ever interact with people outside of our own community. Paying attention to others cues, being polite, and making sure our own intentions aren't misunderstood will make better business, as well as personal relationships, far better and more smooth.