Have you ever had an employee complete a project with totally different results than what you expected, even though you thought you communicated what was needed? We’ve all had that moment and wonder, “Is it them? Or is it me?”
It’s probably both.
We all learn to communicate differently, and even though we may speak the same language, we may not be speaking — or hearing — the same things. Many of us have been raised in Western culture, where the burden of understanding is on the speaker. If we see a quizzical look on the face of someone we’re speaking to, we usually have no problem saying, “Do you understand what I just said?”
That’s not true in other cultures, where the listener has to figure out what the speaker is saying based on body language, status of the speaker, and the context of what’s being said. Whew! See how complicated this all gets?
Read more about how you can boost your communication success and the key strategies that will allow you to do just that here.
