Are You Misunderstanding Misunderstandings? - Wellbeing Wisdom Tiny Bites

Do you lead a team? Then you probably have communication issues from time to time, and hopefully not all the time!

Whenever two or more humans get together, there’s bound to be misunderstandings. An author can’t be a good editor of their own book because they know what they mean. Their sentences and metaphors make perfect sense to them and may not to their readers.

If people came with an editor for their thoughts there wouldn’t be nearly as many misunderstandings. Joe says “it’s under control” and Mary hears “I’ve completed the task.” In reality Joe isn’t focused on that task yet and thinks Mary will help when it’s time to tackle it. When Joe comes to her later, expecting her involvement, she may feel like he’s dumping his emergency on her.

See how easy it is to miscommunicate?

And that’s just two people – most teams are much larger than that, providing much more opportunities for communication failures.

What’s a leader to do? Communicate clearly, set clear goals and timelines, give regular, respectful feedback, and keep your door open to all employees so they know they can come to you with issues. When they do, remind them that everyone is human and deserves the benefit of the doubt that it was a miscommunication, not a misdeed.

When you’re clear and kind, it helps your team be that way too. 

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