“Since we communicate whether we want to or not, it’s in our best interest to get good at it” by David Grossman Communication Expert.
Here are five things that will help you become a better leader and a communicator:
Build rapport and get to know your people
People communicate best when they feel safe and trusted around their leader. Rapport isn’t a one-time thing in the day to day interaction with people. It’s a continuing process of building relationships and cultivating shared perspective. When rapport becomes a priority in your culture, people sense they can approach their leader and have an open dialogue. Without getting to know people on their level, it becomes a hit or a miss to communicate effectively with them on a regular basis.
Build rapport and get to know your people
People communicate best when they feel safe and trusted around their leader. Rapport isn’t a one-time thing in the day to day interaction with people. It’s a continuing process of building relationships and cultivating shared perspective. When rapport becomes a priority in your culture, people sense they can approach their leader and have an open dialogue. Without getting to know people on their level, it becomes a hit or a miss to communicate effectively with them on a regular basis.
Takes time to explain
As leaders, we tend to assume everyone knows as much about the subject as we do. Yet, this is not always true. Take the time to explain and give a brief background to the subject at hand. Taking time to explain may take additional efforts on your part but in the long run, it helps to know you covered all bases with your team. In one way or another you are setting your team up for success because you wanted to ensure everyone gets the message clearly from the very beginning.
As leaders, we tend to assume everyone knows as much about the subject as we do. Yet, this is not always true. Take the time to explain and give a brief background to the subject at hand. Taking time to explain may take additional efforts on your part but in the long run, it helps to know you covered all bases with your team. In one way or another you are setting your team up for success because you wanted to ensure everyone gets the message clearly from the very beginning.
Create a culture that shares feedback
As leaders we must ask for honest feedback from the people around us. We need to create an environment of where people feel safe to share their thoughts with you and vice versa. It’s an on-going process to create moments of truth and accountability in your organization. When people feel appreciated for their feedback, they know they can come back and share more of their struggles, frustrations and aspirations.
Act on the feedback you hearing
Feedback is only good if people are acting on it. Leaders have a great opportunity to learn and grow through the communication feedback. It teaches us that we need to act on the needs of others in our organization. Great teams act on what everyone is sharing so they can get better results. By listening to all perspectives and taking the information in, we are able to make better decisions for the future.
As leaders we must ask for honest feedback from the people around us. We need to create an environment of where people feel safe to share their thoughts with you and vice versa. It’s an on-going process to create moments of truth and accountability in your organization. When people feel appreciated for their feedback, they know they can come back and share more of their struggles, frustrations and aspirations.
Act on the feedback you hearing
Feedback is only good if people are acting on it. Leaders have a great opportunity to learn and grow through the communication feedback. It teaches us that we need to act on the needs of others in our organization. Great teams act on what everyone is sharing so they can get better results. By listening to all perspectives and taking the information in, we are able to make better decisions for the future.
Face time is valuable
Face time in communication can be underestimated at times. Technology is a great resource to reach many people fast in today’s world. We want to reach our teams all across the world in the most efficient way possible. However, we have gotten away from face to face connection that should not be replaced with videoconferencing. Let’s get out of the office and communicate eye to eye. Let’s build those relationships by a human connection. |
(Five Ways To Improve Communication With Your Teams, n.d.)
(Keep in touch with internet friends, n.d.)
(10 Ways to Build Rapport, 2013)
(Getting a Feel for Feedback, 2015)
(Keep in touch with internet friends, n.d.)
(10 Ways to Build Rapport, 2013)
(Getting a Feel for Feedback, 2015)