Effective interpersonal communication in the workplace depends on two factors:
One, the sender’s ability to get their message across. Two, the receiver’s ability as an active listener.
Here are some tips for getting your message across and for effective active listening.
Getting Your Message Across
To ensure the other person receives and understands your message, achieve these four elements:
Empathy
To communicate with empathy, put yourself in your receiver’s position. Adjust your communication to fit your receiver’s thoughts, feelings and situation.
Repetition
Your communication will be more effective if you rephrase the key points.
Effective Timing
Don’t compete for your receiver’s attention. Select a time when distractions are minimal, and your message will not be competing with other noise.
Focus on The Problem
When communicating negative information, focus on the problem and not the person. Your receiver will stop listening if your message attacks their self-image.
Active Listening
Listening is just as essential as talking for effective interpersonal communication. Six elements required for active listening are:
Don’t Interrupt
One of the most important elements of active listening is to avoid interrupting the speaker. Allow the speaker to complete their message and pause briefly before responding.
By not interrupting and taking a moment before responding, you show you are thinking about what the speaker has said. Furthermore, you can avoid the error of wrongly anticipating what the speaker will say.
Empathise with Speaker
Just as empathy is essential when communicating a message, it is also necessary when listening. It is important to be aware of the speaker’s thoughts, feelings and situation.
Maintain Interest and Focus
People interpret messages faster than they are delivered verbally, resulting in a tendency to drift in and out of a conversation and be easily distracted.
Sometimes we close our minds soon after a conversation begins believing it offers us no value.
Take the view that there is value in every conversation.
Delay Evaluation
We tend to form a first impression rapidly; in communication, this means quickly deciding if the message we are receiving is positive or negative.
Early evaluation, however, will cause us to screen out important information. Keep an open mind and delay your assessment until the speaker is finished.
Demonstrate Interest
Motivate the speaker by demonstrating your interest in the conversation. Use eye contact and other nonverbal cues to show the speaker you are paying attention and value the person’s time.
Provide Feedback
Active listeners will provide feedback to show they have received and understood the message communicated. You can do this by rephrasing the ideas expressed to you.
