Three strategies to navigate communication breakdowns
One: Practice Active Listening
Active listening involves empathetic engagement with the speaker's thoughts and feelings. It cultivates understanding and forms the bedrock of effective communication. Next time someone is speaking and it’s your turn to react, try opening up with “To summarize what I’m hearing…” and read back in your own words what they’ve communicated. It shows you’ve paid attention and signals to them you genuinely care about and heard their views.
Two: Ensure Clarity
Clarity is the antidote to ambiguity, which breeds confusion and frustration. A team can't rally behind a vague directive. The two biggest things that help to ensure clarity for the listener are providing specific examples and providing context. It's certainly okay to say “I don’t know” or, “I don’t have the answer for that right now,” and to still deliver a clear message. Here’s an example: “We’re going to move away from focusing on “A” for this initiative because we’re noticing “B”. Our new focus will be on “C” as we believe that it will improve “D.”
Three: Create Strong Feedback Loops
Giving constructive feedback creates a virtuous cycle of improvement and nurtures a culture where ideas can grow and employees thrive. But it can also be one of the most challenging aspects of your manager’s job. Here is a basic template to create a solid feedback conversation:
Prepare and bullet some key points in advance.
Set the context and give specific examples.
After delivering the feedback, provide a few concrete, actionable solutions.
Remember! When giving constructive feedback, try not to sandwich it in between the core message you're trying to deliver as this confuses the recipient and distracts from the key points.