What do you think communication is?
Many people will say that communication takes place when someone "transmits" something that another "receives." This is the most basic of models, and is worth examining.
This transmitter/receiver model is most useful in signalling, or in the transcription of code. Semaphore signals and Morse code, for example, allow a transmitter to send a message one letter at a time. The person receiving the message can acknowledge when the transfer is complete, thus ending the communication. Telecommunications and communications via computer are done the same way. A connection is established, data is transferred, and the process is completed, often with some error-checking built in so that nothing gets lost or mangled along the way.
But with human beings communicating, things are more complex. A lot more complex.
Answer these basic questions:
- Has anyone ever said anything to you that you "heard," but then realized later that you hadn't - at all?
- Has anyone ever accused you of not listening?
- Have you ever said that you heard someone, when in fact you didn't?
- Have you ever said that you were listening, when in fact you weren't?
- Did you ever hear something that you didn't understand and didn't speak up?
- Did you ever want clarification for something, but didn't ask for it?
This happens a lot, doesn't it?
The question you want to think about this week is: what can you do to communicate better with your colleagues, clients, prospects and family?
More about this next week!
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Dan Kusner
Chris Rasmussen
Please take a minute and let me know how you're doing out there. How have these tips been helping you?
