Communication Skills.....

Everybody who has ever had a miscommunication, please raise their hands. OK, everybody with their hands raised can read the rest of this.

Miscommunication is the biggest single issue that is going to "make or break" your efforts to succeed in the marketplace. It's also the single biggest problem that is going to be responsible for you "getting flack" on the job or getting into someone's "bad books".   What you are going to run into time and time again on the job is someone who is not going to listen to what you are trying to say, because they think they "already know" what you mean.

Yes, this sounds really stupid, but it's a stupid world.

The Bible tells us this (actually, the Bible doesn't use "stupid" except in the newer translations. The Bible calls people who don't listen "fools")

The Bible also teaches us that only a man can know what's in his own heart (or her own heart) and the Spirit of God also knows what's in your heart.  That means that the other 6.5 billion people on the face of the earth are not going to know exactly what you mean. When this happens with a co-worker then friction and stress results and who needs more stress? When this happens with your supervisor or your boss, then this hurts your chances to advance in the work place - and this conference is all about you "advancing" in your career. So , unless you can incorporate some very effective communication tools into your corporate "tool box" to learn to use on the job, then miscommunication is going to cause you stress, and prevent you from getting "ahead" in terms of raises, promotions and advancement. But we want to equip your communication toolbox for you and that's part of what this conference is all about!

Here are just 4 examples of communication "potholes" you will run into every week (and sometimes every day on the job)   This conference will teach you how to avoid falling into these "potholes of communication".

 

1. Non Definitive Communication

You supervisor shouts at you from across the room "Hey - go over there and get that thing and put it over here." And then the supervisor disappears into some back room or walks away with other employees. You are now left to go over "there" where ever there is, and get that "thing" whatever that thing is, and then put it over "here" except you can't tell the difference between "here" and "there" and the supervisor is "nowhere" to be seen, so you do the best you can....and....guess what happens?

You get reamed out because you picked the wrong "thing" and your idea of "here" was the supervisor's idea of "there" and when it comes to trying to explain yourself to the supervisor, you just get "nowhere" because your supervisor, is, after all, the SUPERVISOR and he can do no wrong.  

How do you avoid this problem from happening to you?

 

2. Assuming

You are asked a question by someone higher up the food chain than you (like your manager or the boss) and as you start to answer, he cuts you off and starts pointing out all the problems with what you're saying. Except you haven't finished talking yet... but that doesn't stop the boss from already "assuming" that he knows what you are trying to say, which is pretty "stupid" because you haven't even finished speaking because he interrupted you.   But that doesn't matter to certain types of people and often these types of people somehow end up in positions of authority over you, and they think they "know" what you mean, so they just cut you off, cut you down, and then cut you up.   Frustrating???   Oh yeah  !!!   

But how do you deal with this?

 

3. The Omniscience Factor

Omniscience is just a 4 syllable word for know-it-all (but it sounds a lot more polite). Omniscience only occurs with One Person - God.  Unfortunately, some people act like they think they are "god" so when it comes to communication so they will only listen to a few words of what you say, then in "their infinite wisdom" they will think "I got the gist of it" and they will jump to their own conclusions of what you are going to say next, or what you mean to say (even if you have not had the opportunity to say it).  Usually, this leads to the person who feels they are omniscient to making a judgment call about what the problem is, how to deal with it, or how not to deal with it, or just not to deal with it all and completely ignore whatever you have to share that might actually be helpful to dealing with whatever you are communicating about.  This problem is very similar to "assuming" and problem relates to the same underlying factor - the other party just isn't "listening" to what you are saying. But if they don't listen, then they will jump to conclusions that are (usually) inaccurate and things get bogged down, screwed up, or things that need to happen - don't.

The trouble is - you are the one who gets in trouble when things don't get done.

How do you deal with someone who acts like they already know what you are going to say and then because they have the authority in the workplace to "make decisions" will make the wrong decisions?

 

4. Lazy Communication  ( also known as "Non Communication" )

You know you are being the victim of "Non Communication" when something doesn't get done and the next thing you know is someone else is pointing the finger at you saying "But she (he) was suppose to do it".

Except nobody told you...but you are still left on the hook and left out to dry.  AAAARRRRGGGGHHHH !!!!!!!

What makes this even more frustrating is when you try to defend yourself and say "I didn't know I was suppose to do that" and then the person who is in authority over you like your shift supervisor, the foreman or the department head says "You should have known".   What's interesting about this problem, is that the person pointing the finger of blame at you, is actually expecting you to be "omniscient" and be able to read their minds and somehow have "known" you were suppose to do something that nobody told you to do. It's like suddenly part of your job description is to be a psychic.

How can you get your job description and your expectations clearly spelled out, so you know what you are suppose to do, so you know what you are responsible for, and so does everybody else so that you can do what you're suppose to do, without getting in hot water for not doing what nobody told you to do?

 

If any of these 4 problem areas of miscommunication (and we have more than just these 4 ) describe problems that you have experienced on the job and they have caused you stress, aggravation and have prevented you from getting ahead as you try to advance your career, then this conference is gong to be a major blessing for you.