如何在职场有效的沟通【全英文版】
How To Communicate Effectively In The Workplace
有故事.有方法.有工具
这是2018年第34篇原创文章
全文约2600字，阅读时间5-8分钟
Q: Where do you spend most of the day?
A: Office
Q: What do you do the most in the office?
A: Communication
Q: Is your workplace communication effective?
Scene One
Colleague A met colleague B and tried to find out the root cause of the problem through communication and solve it properly. Both of them were involved with the issue. They communicated over and again and gradually diverted their focuse on who caused the problem: A said that B did not follow the process, and B said that A had insufficient execution power. Consequently the problem was not solved. A and B blamed each other, and they quarreled, almost fought with each other in front of their colleagues with a very unhappy ending.
Scene Two
Your subordinate came to you to report their work. He introduced a lot of background with great passion for more than 10 minutes while you are still confused. Finally, you can't help asking: What's the point? Can you tell me what you wanted to say?
Scene Three
A colleague made a report. The 15 minute time limit has been extended to 20 minutes but there was still no signs of ending. He planned to focus on points A and B, while he was talking about Z, and even worse he didn't mean to refocus on A and B. 30% of the audience began watching mobile phones, 30% were in a daze, and 30% were dozing off.
Scene Four
I have a colleague who does not always follow up. When things are handed to him, there will be no sound for a long time. After a few weeks I suddenly remembered and asked him what was going on. He said, "It's done." He thought I would be very satisfied, but in fact, I'm skeptical about the result. So I asked: "When did you finish? How is the quality of the work done? Have you taken the key point 1, 2 and 3 into account ? He became uneasy when hearing these questions, because he did not consider those key points. So the things were just done but with no guarantee of quality.
Scene Five
You asked your assistant Eva to help you book a Beijing-New York one-way ticket:
You: Eva, please book a one-way ticket for Beijing-New York for me.
Eva: Ok. Do you have a budget? In addition to the ticket price, the tax is about 1700-2200.
You: Thanks, you reminded me, please control the overall budget below 26,000.
After 20 minutes
Eva: Boss, to meet flexible needs here are three options/routes: (1) Beijing-New York direct flight, total cost 24800. ETD 9:00 a.m. Beijing time, ETA 10:30 a.m. the same day New York time; (2) Beijing-New York, transition in Hong Kong, total cost 20,500. ETD 10:00 a.m. Beijing time, ETA 5 p.m. the same day New York time. The transition time at Hong Kong airport is 4 hours; (3) Beijing-New York, transition in Japan, total cost 19,700. ETD 12 p.m. Beijing time, ETA 7 p.m. New York time that evening. The transition time in Japan airport is 3 hours. All three routes are either Air China, or the combination of Air China + Dragonair or Air China + United Airlines, and all of these airlines are Star Alliance members.
You: Great! Let's take option 2, transition in Hong Kong. Good time and good price.
Eva: OK.
30 minutes later
Eva: Boss, one-way ticket for Beijing - New York, transition in Hong Kong has already been issued. The total cost is 20,500. ETD 10:00 a.m. Beijing time and ETA 5 p.m. New York time. The transition time at Hong Kong airport is 4 hours. The plane is a Boeing 787. According to your preference, the aisle seat in the first row is booked. Also this is the Hong Kong airport map for you. Do you want to rent a car or book a taxi? What are your specific expectations regarding accommodation in New York?
The scenes described above is probably repeated every day sometimes, somewhere. What is the effective communication in the workplace? The book Mastering Communication lists out the following four goals for effective communication. An effective communication fails if any of the goals is not met:
1. Received (heard or read)
2. Being understood
3, Being accepted
4. Others take actions (change behavior or attitude)
My understanding at an effective communication is:
(1) The point is clearly articulated by one party (pitcher) and is well received by another party (catcher) and didn't result in any misunderstanding.
(2) The recipient (catcher) takes corresponding actions.
(3) The expected results are generated.
Why is effective communication in the workplace important?
Surveys have shown that people in the workplace spend more than 60% of their time on dealing with complex interpersonal relationships. But in fact, many people are suffering from poor communication:
Do not know how to hold the correct attitude in communication;
Do not know how to skillfully express; do not know how to listen to each other's voice;
Do not know how to deal with the details of communication;
Do not know how to establish good interpersonal relationships through communication;
Do not know how to deal with superior and subordinate relations through communication,
Do not know how to solve the crisis through communication.
Many people feel they work very hard and earnestly, but they are not appreciated by their boss. Hard work is indeed a positive attitude that is worthy of recognition, but communication at work is also an indispensable ability. The "hard work" people can be successful, but may have a bumpy career path or lose a lot of opportunities due to lack of communication.
Knowing how to communicate well with different people can bring great help to your work. Positive and effective communication can create a good personal relationship for people in the workplace. Mastering some communication skills can often escalate your business to the next level.
Huawei usually sends a communication and training manual to each employee. Each Huaweier must understand the meaning of communication, the importance of communication, the barriers to communication, and the methods and techniques of communication. For example, Huaweier believes that the process of communication is: information sources (personal expression) - coding (expression mode) - channels (informal channels such as internal formal channels or media) - decoding (comprehension mode) - acceptance (Personal understanding).
How to communicate effectively in the workplace?
I summed up the following "Three Do" and "Three Don't":
Three Do
Psychological: Empathy and Courtesy
Empathy: Empathy is a psychological concept. Its basic meaning is that if you want to truly understand others, you must learn to stand on the perspective of others. Empathy is especially important in communication. A British proverb says: "If you want to know whether someone else's shoes fit or not, put it on and walk for a mile." But for communication, the superficial empathy is not enough, and we have to have deeper Empathy, in order to truly understand each other's "meaning."
Courtesy: First of all, for the people more senior than us (elderly, superior, teachers, etc.), use the courtesy"you" instead of the plain "you". Second, continue to find something to thank in the communication process and say "thank you."
Behavioural: SOFTEN Principle
The so-called SOFTEN is composed of six English words or phrases, including Smile, Open Posture, Forward Lean, Tone, Eye Communication, and Nod.
(1) Smile
When we talk to others, we need to learn to manage our facial expressions. In the famous book Reading Heart it shows that a lot of information is revealed from the speaker's facial expressions. Many times we don't know how to control our expressions when talking with others, and thus cause misunderstanding. If you want to show your willingness to talk to others, smile is the simplest expression.
(2) Open Posture
Being in a listening position at any time can imply that the other party cares about each of his opinions and ideas, gives each other trust, and relieves the speaker's distress. If you want to suggest that you be ready to hear him, you can face the speaker standing or sitting. It should be noted that do not cross arms around your chest, and many times this action means resistance; do not frequently watch the phone or the line of sight is erratic, easy to make others misunderstand you are tired
(3) Forward Lean
Leaning forward is a typical gesture in which you concentrate on listening to the dialogue. In the course of communication, from time to time, tilting your body forward can satisfy the other person, thinking that his/her speech has really attracted you, and convincing him that his words are valuable and useful to you.
(4) Tone
When communicating with others, the level of voice, speed, volume, tone, etc. will have a significant impact on the effectiveness of the conversation. For example, when you talk about excitement, you will unconsciously increase the tone of voice, speed up the speech, and increase the volume so that the other person can feel your mood swings at the moment. At times, the impact of voice and tone on the other party is actually higher than the content itself, especially when negotiating. Learn to control your own tone, timely delivery to the other person your mood at the moment, but also to avoid the harmful effects of emotional out of control.
(5) Eye Communication
For business people, the exchange of eyes will affect the trust evaluation of
others. Interacting with the interlocutors from time to time, you can let the other party feel your sincerity, and believe that you are listening to their speech carefully; on the contrary, as far as possible to avoid the eyes of others will make you suspect that you have hidden something, but also revealed your uneasy and nervous.
(6) Nod
Occasionally nodding to the other side is equivalent to telling the other party that you agree or approve of his point of view. It also shows that you really have been receiving information from the other side and have some knowledge and understanding of his information. The nodding movement is conducive to smooth communication. On the contrary, when you have doubts or problems with others' speeches, you can use frowning and other minor actions to make the other party aware that the previous speech may need to be interpreted.
Content: Simplest
Two days ago I read a Harvard Business Review article which says when one person continuously speaks for more than 40 seconds, the other person may become bored (unless what you say is very interesting). You may not even realize that the other person is politely trying to get a word in, or subtly signaling that they need to be elsewhere (possibly, anywhere else if you have been really boring).
Marty Nemko, host of a radio show about work on KALW, NPR's San Francisco affiliate. He offers a great improvement strategy. Nemko calls it the Traffic Light Rule. He says it works better when talking with most people, especially with Type A personalities, who tend to be less patient.
In the first 20 seconds of talking, your light is green: your listener is liking you, as long as your statement is relevant to the conversation and hopefully in service of the other person. But unless you are an extremely gifted raconteur, people who talk for more than roughly half minute at a time are boring and often perceived as too chatty. So the light turns yellow for the next 20 seconds— now the risk is increasing that the other person is beginning to lose interest or think you’re long-winded. At the 40-second mark, your light is red. Yes, there’s an occasional time you want to run that red light and keep talking, but the vast majority of the time, you’d better stop or you’re in danger.
Three Don't
Psychological: Focused on The Thing
It is not right for people to stress that "things" are the center, because the problems to be solved are centered on "things." Not right, it is not against people. Although things are made by people, in addition to the complexities of human beings, people and the environment have complex and inextricable interactions and connections. Moreover, people have a certain degree of subjectivity. It is difficult to say that this subjectivity is necessarily correct, or who's idea must be wrong. It is difficult to form a standard and no one can convince anyone. What is more important and crucial is that human nature is to seek advantages and avoid disadvantages. People are all in love. People are emotional. Protecting themselves is the first reaction of people, even if it is used in inappropriate ways. The inappropriate ways we often see are: finding reasons, pushing and bucking, conflict, discord, conflict on the spot, and so on. These are all deviating from the original intention of solving the problem. If we solve the problem for people, we will become a critique, and we will be biased. It is often that the current problem has not been resolved, but new problems have emerged.
Behavioural: Do not be emotional
When you have emotions, try to avoid communicating with your colleagues. Because bad emotions can lead to irrationality, it is difficult to ensure that what you say is true thoughts that you want to express in your heart. This kind of communication is not only useless, it may also cause misunderstandings and result in irreversible consequences.
Content: No Communication Without Conseration
The way of speaking faster than thinking is not suitable for the workplace. The expression that comes out of the mouth may make some words that should not be said. If you do not think about it, you will get out without thinking. Not only will the atmosphere be paralyzed, but it will also have irreparable consequences. Therefore, it is necessary to develop a habit of listening fast and speaking slowly.
It is not right for people to stress that "things" are the center, because the problems to be solved are centered on "things." Not right, it is not against people. Although things are made by people, in addition to the complexities of human beings, people and the environment have complex and inextricable interactions and connections. Moreover, people have a certain degree of subjectivity. It is difficult to say that this subjectivity is necessarily correct, or who's idea must be wrong. It is difficult to form a standard and no one can convince anyone. What is more important and crucial is that human nature is to seek advantages and avoid disadvantages. People are all in love. People are emotional. Protecting themselves is the first reaction of people, even if it is used in inappropriate ways. The inappropriate ways we often see are: finding reasons, pushing and bucking, conflict, discord, conflict on the spot, and so on. These are all deviating from the original intention of solving the problem. If we solve the problem for people, we will become a critique, and we will be biased. It is often that the current problem has not been resolved, but new problems have emerged.
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