Three Ways on How to Avoid Communication Breakdown:
Workplace relationships are some of the most challenging relationships in life. Unlike your other relationships, there is usually no love and affection between you and your colleagues.
While you are in a position to cause severe damage to each other in a professional capacity, this makes managing workplace relationships much like navigating through a minefield. One wrong step and everything can burst into flames.
The resulting fire could result in lost productivity, corporate culture disintegration, and loss of trust between colleagues.
A critical tool that you as a professional need to master to help you navigate through situations is effective communication. Communication is one of the essential elements of any relationship.
However, the art of communication is much more nuanced in the workplace. That is because your work depends entirely on the support and information you receive from these people.
Hence, if you’re unable to communicate appropriately with them, your work can become more complicated than it needs to be. That is a communication breakdown.
Communication breakdowns are terrible for any relationship, but at the workplace, they can be severely damaging to your career, hence must be avoided at all costs. Fortunately, you can use simple tips to prevent a communication breakdown from happening.
With the right attitude, words, and follow-up, you can give and receive adequate support and form healthy relationships at the workplace, which can make your work life a breeze.
To make things easier, we’ve put together this guide on how to avoid communication breakdown at the workplace.
With these tips, you can learn all you need to know to avoid a communication breakdown at your workplace!
1. How to Avoid Communication Breakdown at the Workplace Using Clarity
A lack of clarity is one of the biggest reasons for any communication breakdown. While you may be able to handle the consequences in other situations, a lack of transparency in the workplace can be a fatal move for a project.
The problem is that while working on routine tasks, we sometimes assume that the other person has the same information. This leads us to make vague and unclear statements that the other party quickly misinterprets.
The first rule in our guide on how to avoid communication breakdown at the workplace is to always start by thinking that the other person knows nothing. Explain each point to them as you would to a child to ensure that nothing important is missed and they have all the information they need to carry out that task.
2. How to Avoid Communication Breakdown at the Workplace by Not Making Assumptions
How many fights can you recall just now that you’ve had with friends, family, and colleagues just because one of you assumed something? We’re sure you’re having a hard time counting.
In a workplace setting, assumptions are even more harmful as they can hurt the organization.
Suppose you and a colleague are working on a new client pitch, and while taking care of the business plan, you assume they will be working on the presentation.
Then, one day before the client meeting, your supervisor calls you both in and asks for an update on the presentation. You look towards your colleague, who looks right back at you and says, ‘I thought you were going to do that.’
By failing to confirm your assumptions with each other, you not only get into trouble with your boss and potentially lose out on a client but also hurt the business’s growth.
In the workplace, make it a standard practice to always ask your teammates or project mates about which task is being handled by whom. Similarly, with a new job, ensure you go over all the basics with your supervisor without assuming anything.
This will ensure you are never caught off guard at work.
3. Asking Questions
One thing that cannot be stressed is the importance and benefits of asking questions. Often, we cannot complete our tasks solely because we do not have all the necessary information.
Since most functions in the workplace are interdependent. Therefore, without the required information/data, you cannot possibly complete a task correctly.
Despite what you may think, most colleagues will be happy to help, especially if you share a healthy relationship with them! The only way to avoid that is to ask questions until all your queries are resolved.
Whenever you start working on a new task, after the initial review, note down all your queries and take their responses from the relevant persons. Even after that, if any further questions arise, don’t hesitate to ask for answers.
FAQs
Do the 7 Cs of Communication help prevent Communication Breakdowns?Â
Yes, the seven principles that together make up effective communication are essential. Communication that is clear, concise, concrete, correct, coherent, complete, and courteous will likely prevent all breakdowns!
Can you resolve a communication breakdown?
There are simple steps you can follow to resolve a communication breakdown. Start by sitting with the other party and discussing the problem.
Is verbal communication better than written?Â
Arguably, yes. Verbal communication has that human element that helps build relationships. However, in a workplace setting, you must keep a record of all spoken communication as long as it is work-related.
Just send a follow-up e-mail after you speak to a colleague about a task to ensure there is a record.
How to avoid Communication Breakdown at the Workplace while working Remotely?Â
Many online tools can be used to ensure effective communication for remote teams. With good use of technology, you can easily avoid communication breakdowns at the workplace.
Conclusion
As a professional, you are learning how to avoid communication breakdown at the workplace is of utmost importance. By providing the proper support and understanding to receive the right support, you can become a more efficient professional and ensure you excel at your tasks.
So learn all you can about this skill and take the reins of your career into your hands!