Dear ,
I would venture to say -- I'd practically guarantee -- when you read the subject line, you immediately thought I was talking about the little green critter all the way up top.
Right?
When in fact, I was talking about one of my favorite cookies in the world (probably second only to kahk), Keebler Grasshopper cookies.
They're so dangerous, I can easily finish half a pack Grasshoppers in one sitting. With a tall glass of milk... YUM!
But, I'm not here to tell you about my preferences in cookies! You misunderstood which "grasshopper" I meant because...
I Didn't Properly Communicate
What I Meant
I thought of one thing while you were thinking of another.
And this happens every day in life -- in our business, personal relationships and in between.
So, how do we avoid misunderstandings in communication?
Lifehack.com recommends the 7 C's:
7 C’s to Ensure You’re
Nailing the Killer Skills
Moving ahead, there are 7 C’s that are essential if you want to avoid misunderstanding in communication. There are applicable to both written as well as verbal communication.
CLARITY
Clarity makes the message understandable. The message should be focused to one point and should not be catering to multiple things at once. The kinds of words you use and the type of sentence structure you form
decides if the message is clear or not. Use words that are most familiar, instead of “Domicile” use “Home”
CONCISENESS
Concise means short and brief. A concise message is the one which communicates with minimum words and is not redundant in nature. The advantage with conciseness is that it pays attention to what is important and eliminate everything that’s unnecessary. It saves the time of the sender as well as the receiver. Eg- instead of
using “in due course” use the word “soon”.
CONCRETENESS
Concreteness stands for strength and if you want to deliver a strong message you have to provide it with a solid foundation. Concreteness is important if you do not want your message to sound vague. You can do that by supporting your message with facts and figures. This makes you message more meaningful and effective.
CORRECTNESS
Like we
have already talked about, in order to avoid misunderstandings, a message should be free from grammatical and spelling errors. Along with that, one also has to make sure that the fact and stats mentioned in the message are accurate and should be misleading to the receiver. Correctness of language plays a key role in avoiding misunderstanding in communication.
COHERENCE
Misunderstanding occurs when there is no consistency to the message that is
being delivered. The receiver should be able to easily understand the message and that happens when the message remains focused and does not go off-topic. Bad Example: Being an excellent Doctor, I am sure you can help us. Good Example: As you are an excellent Doctor, I am sure you can help us.
COMPLETENESS
It is important that the ongoing communication should be complete. Incomplete messages can easily be misunderstood. White communicating,
always make sure you provide all the relevant information to the receiver. Completeness not only make the communication strong but also enhances it. All you have to do is, answer the Who, What, Where, When, What and How of the situation.
COURTESY
The element of courtesy bring in positive to the message. If the receiver knows that the sender is being polite and courteous he would always try and understand the message with a positive
mindset.
Good communication can help you avoid lots of problems and headaches, as well as help you achieve your goals faster.
Onward... and until next time...
