The Importance of Good Communication

You’d be surprised to know that many of the problems businesses and organizations face today are relatively easy to fix… at the top of the list is communication.

And leaders lead the way when it comes to communication issues.

Message Senders and Receivers

As senders of a message (in whatever form it may be: verbal or written) it’s often so crystal clear to us what we want to say. Then, when we get results that are far from our expectations, most leaders I see will point the finger at the receiver of the message as the one to blame… when really they should be looking in the mirror.

A Helpful Exercise

Here is a simple exercise I recommend you try with with your team or group of friends to see what most communications in businesses that are struggling are like:

1. Give everyone a single piece of 8.5 x 11 inch paper
2. Give your team or group the following instructions.  Do not explain more than what is written here.  Do not answer any questions...
   1. Fold the paper in half and tear off a top corner
   2. Fold it in half again and tear off the top corner
   3. Fold it in half again and tear off the left corner
   4. Rotate the paper to the right three times and tear off the bottom corner
   5. Fold it half again and tear off the middle piece
3. Ask everyone to open up their papers to reveal the results.  You should see a myriad of wildly different looking snowflake designs however, like snowflakes in winter, not one will look the same

Effective Communication and Outcomes

Ask yourself these questions:

1. Why is it that even though everyone received the same directions, not everyone had the same outcome?
2. What would have changed if you would have allowed the group to ask questions?
3. In the real world, have you ever had someone deliver something different than what you expected?  How did you deal with it?

There is so much we can do as leaders to improve communication in our organizations, teams, with our customers, vendors and every other stakeholder.  Effective communications lead to better cultures (happy, engaged employees), better planning and execution, satisfied customers, and world class results.  And it starts with you.  As a leader, coach, teacher or parent, if you are not getting what you expect, you are probably the reason.

Robert Murray is a Vancouver, BC based Business Strategy Consultant, #1 Best Selling Author, International Keynote Speaker, and TEC Top Speaker of the Year for 2018. For further advice, insight and inspiration on how to unlock your inner leader, connect with Robert on LinkedIn.

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