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9 Guidelines for Effective Communication
by Michelle Montoro
I have always been fascinated by the way people communicate with each other within all types of relationships, personal or professional and everywhere in between. I think the fascination began nearly 10 years ago when I took a class on Family Therapy which focused primarily on family dynamics and the way family members communicate with each other.
The way we communicate is very much a learned behavior. We learn our communication methods from the environments in which we are raised. Depending on the examples we have to follow during our malleable years, we become either very good communicators or very bad ones. And somewhere along the line, it is up to us to figure out which side we fall on and take the time to learn better techniques of communication if necessary.
Over the past ten years, I have been paying closer attention to the way people communicate with each other. In these observations, I have discovered that the majority of people fail miserably at effective communication. And it has become sort of a pet peeve of mine.
Granted we all fail at effective communication sometimes. It can happen to the best of us. But the interesting thing about a failed communication that has gone terribly wrong is that it can be easily fixed with effective communication. But effective communication requires certain things from all parties involved in the communication. I have narrowed it down to nine guidelines that will make effective communication a bit easier. These nine guidelines are fairly easy to follow with just a little bit of willingness to become a better human.
In my experience, if all parties approach communication keeping these nine things in mind, arguments and misunderstandings will decrease at amazing rates and peace and understanding will become the new norm in human communication.
Here are the nine guidelines:
1. Honesty
Say what you mean. Mean what you say. Be precise and clear so little is left to subjective interpretation. Communication should never be a game of mind reading…
