How many of you are only ‘half
listening’ when someone is speaking to you, when you receive an email do you
really understand the request? The following example illustrates what can
happen when you don’t listen, understand or express ourselves in a way that is
understood.
The line manager made two requests
via email – one asking ‘A’ to print off the attached graduation certificates
and put each of them in a frame. When she went to collect them ‘A’ had only
printed two of the seven certificates. The second email went to an external
catering company requesting a food order. The venue was a different location to
their usual location (which was stipulated in the email) however the food went
to the wrong location.
Whilst these two examples can be seen as trivial, both
related to a graduation ceremony which, for the facilitators, participants and
organisation was important. Rectifying these two problems took time and the
coordination of effective action. Both problems related to how the request was
made and listened to and the ability of both parties to listen and speak in
ways that were understood.
I posit organisations are a network of conversations and
that is how work gets done. By understanding that work gets done through
conversation and that we bring our whole ‘Way of Being’ to these conversations,
we become more effective at taking action together to achieve organisational
objectives.
So
let’s consider how we take action together to get things done. I invite you to think
about your last full day of work in your job.
Do you remember who you spoke to? Was it on the way into your office, in
person, on the phone or email? What do
you remember about that first conversation?
What was the purpose of it? How
did you go away feeling after it? Can you
remember all the other people you communicated to, one-on-one, in small or
large groups? How much of your day involved communicating to others. How did these conversations support you
during your day to achieve results or to make your day more enjoyable? Were there any conversations that were
unpleasant, unhelpful or that exhausted you?
How much of your day didn’t involve any conversations and were just you
working alone without any communication?
Anne Courtney http://au.linkedin.com/pub/dir/Anne/Courtney and I use the simple
exercise in leadership development programs to highlight how, each of us spend
most of our time at work in conversations with others. Having conversations are
largely transparent to us; we don’t notice that this is how we get work
done. Every conversation has the
following elements present:
1. Listening – to hear and
understand ourselves and others
2. Speaking – our ability to express
ourselves
3. Moods/emotions – recognizing and
managing our mood and the moods of others
4. Physiology– how do we hold
ourselves that either supports or hinders our presence
Each element is a factor in our ‘Way of Being’. By bringing
our whole way of being to conversations we are able to become more effective at
taking action together to achieve organisational objectives. For a conversation
contact nicky@nickyhowe.com
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