Are you not advancing in your career quite as you had hoped? Have you fallen into a rut that, no matter how hard you work, you just can’t seem to pull yourself out of?
The problem might not be your skill set or the company culture; it could simply be your communication skills. While you may have all the potential and ability in the world, if you’re not being heard—and conversely, accurately listening—you might miss out on that next promotion opportunity, not to mention the negative impact on your day-to-day life in the workplace.According to the HerMoney blog, effectively expressing yourself and understanding others—colleagues and managers alike—is a critical piece of reaching the next level in your career. Here are five tips to improve your communication skills and start making those career-changing connections.
- First, understand yourself. The best leaders are self-aware. If you don’t understand your own communication style, and the personality traits and history that have formed it, you’ll have trouble understanding and adapting to the differing ways people communicate. To get a better sense of self, regularly write down your goals to get a clear picture of what’s most important to you. Also ask a trusted colleague to give you feedback on your communication style. Then start paying close attention to your various workplace interactions, especially the difficult ones. Take a hard look at your part in those conversations and how some small tweaks might’ve helped.
- Ask key questions. When faced with a communication that isn’t going well, ask these three questions:
– How do you feel about this? This is a critical piece of information to understand about the other person in order to shape how you move forward in the conversation.
– What are your reasons? Understanding what the person is basing their emotions on will give you insight into whether they have misinformation or not enough information. Or perhaps it will reveal something new that will shift your way of looking at a situation.
– What do you want to do about this? Chances are, the person has a pretty good idea of how to fix the situation. Hear them out, then help come up with a realistic plan together based on resources and other issues at play that the person may not be aware of.
- See conflict as an opportunity. While many of us prefer to avoid conflict, confronting it head on will help you gain an invaluable understanding of issues that you may not even be aware of, such as problems in other departments. Once you get a handle on this, you can start providing solutions.
- Get out of your own head. Overthinking a problem is often your worst enemy and prevents you from taking action and moving forward. To avoid this, set a deadline for yourself. For example, let your colleague know that you need until tomorrow to process the information you’ve been given. Then stick to it. Or if you’re in the heat of the moment, take a pause, count to five, then ask a question or send an email.
- Get face to face. Whether it’s a brainstorming session or providing important feedback, some situations just call for in-person interaction. If three emails or slack messages don’t solve a problem, it’s time to get face-to-face.
