Misunderstandings in communication
In this arena of communications in a change situation, you really have your work cut out for you. Communications are about more than just the exchange of information. They are also about relationships, upon which change work is built. Communications always convey a combination of thoughts, feelings, and images of the players. There is always conscious and unconscious content. There is always filtering, both outgoing and incoming. There is always distortion by the media. There is always noise in the messages and the environment through which they travel.
It’s more of a wonder that we can ever understand each other at all than a wonder that we don’t always understand one another. Misunderstandings in communication can seriously undermine the relationships your network needs in order to do its work well. So whatever your communication intention, include some means for checking out what the parties have heard and what that meant to them.
About the Author
Dr. Jeff Evans
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