Everything comes down to communication. Any conflict or challenge I have witnessed or been a party to with a customer, a parent or student or co-worker was always a result of miscommunication or a lack of communication. “Open communication” is often considered as the solution, but what exactly does this mean?
Communication can be defined as “sending or receiving information”. In the context of the workplace:
- sending information could come in the forms of both verbal and non-verbal communication,
- receiving would be in the form of listening, actively or passively.
If we add the word “open” to form the term “open communication”, this would imply that there would be no blockages to the sending or receiving of information. In a workplace culture with trust firmly established and all parties feeling comfortable to share what is on their mind without fear of judgement or reprisal, then things are golden… right?
Be careful what you ask for!
To have true open communication, you need to be prepared to hear and say things that:
- you aren’t ready to hear/say,
- you don’t want to hear/say,
- may offend you or those around you,
- you wish you didn’t know.
It is quite purposeful that this Blog follows previous posts on:
- vulnerability,
- trust,
- creating a safe culture to take chances.
When the team knows that all communication is coming with the best intentions and they trust one another to do the ‘right thing for the business’, then open communication changes from negative conflict to healthy conflict. Healthy conflict? Stay tuned for this topic on a future Blog!
Who Benefits? Everyone!
A team should be able to have open, honest conversations to do the ‘right thing’ to improve:
- The Customer experience,
- A Patient’s journey with their disease,
- An End-user’s experience with a product,
- Internal processes that makes the team’s day-to-day job satisfaction a delight,
- The bottom-line results of the Business.
When the focus is on doing what is right for the items listed above, the focus of the conversation should be taken off of personality clashes. Rather, the focus should be placed on the behaviours that will improve what is ultimately the best decision for the business. If everyone is happy and the business is thriving, what more can you ask for?
Let’s chat!
I’m happy to discuss any successes, challenges and areas of need of enhancement that you may have in your workplace. Give me a shout at: 905-481-2734 or email: mike@humanscaffold.com
