Communication is so incredibly important in any relationship you have whether it be with your spouse, a sibling, a parent, a co-worker, a boss, etc. Communication, or lack thereof, can make or break a relationship. My husband and I strive almost daily to make sure we are communicating completely with each other. It is very hard at times because there are times when you really don’t want to communicate what you are feeling. Let’s face it. In the end you are going to feel worse off if you don’t! A couple bullet points I took out of this day’s article follow:
1. Be consistent. Say what you mean and mean what you say…obviously sometimes you MUST add the sandwich factor in there..you know, start with some good then send your message and then fluff them up again at the end. My husband laughs at me because he can tell whenever I am trying to tell him something that may be hard on either me or him that I am sandwiching my message. It’s really funny because he always says to me “Remember, I read the same books you do.”
2. Be clear. Sometimes it’s so hard for me to get to the point whenever I am trying to communicate because I LOVE details. I know, I am SO that person. 🙂 Let me restate this, I love details when they are important and help paint the picture…I dislike very much the details where the story teller is just talking to hear themselves talk. I must admit, I drift to a far away land when this happens. But what I have to realize is that not everyone likes details like I do. There is a time and a place. A man I respect highly used to always say to me and a former co-worker “save your vowels”. I didn’t really realize the importance of this until I started researching things. Get to the point whenever possible and save other people’s time. They will appreciate it…and you will hopefully appreciate it too when the same happens in return. “Don’t try to dazzle anyone with your intelligence; impress people with your straightforwardness.” – Maxwell. I really need to work on this one 🙂
3. Be courteous. Show respect to everyone…no matter the situation. You just never know what sort of day this person has had. This one is a hard one as well. Someone may be completely rude and rubbing you the wrong way, but step back and just think that they may have had a worse day than you can ever image. Just bite your tongue…this time at least. Don’t get me wrong here…there is a time and a place to stand up for things…I’m just saying feel it out and take that split second God gives you to think about what you are going to say before you say it.
If you are leading a group, you especially need to work on communication. You can set the tone for your group of people…whether it be good or bad. I would say work on it being good…
Well, this article just pointed out to me again that there is still SO much I have to work on. Until next time! Be blessed!
