Can We Talk? - Deepstash
Can We Talk?

Adrian Anghel's Key Ideas from Can We Talk?
by Roberta Chinsky Matuson

Ideas, facts & insights covering these topics:

14 ideas

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Silence isnā€™t always golden.

Silence isnā€™t always golden.

70 percent of employees admit to avoiding challenging conversations with their colleagues.

A 2016 study that found that every failed conversationĀ costsĀ companies $7,500 and 7 days of work. Not only that, but a 2008 report revealed that the average employee spends 2.8 hoursĀ every weekĀ managing difficult situations.

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Workplace issues donā€™t just go away when we ignore them

Workplace issues donā€™t just go away when we ignore them

Poor, or absent, workplace communication inevitably ends up eroding organizational trust, worker satisfaction, and productivity.

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Confidence is the key to productive communication.

Confidence is the key to productive communication.

Thereā€™s no handbook for navigating difficult workplace conversations, no manual on how to ask your boss to stop micromanaging, and no step-by-step guide on how to tell Gary from accounts that he has onion breath.

The good news, however, is that if you understand the seven principles of effective workplace communication, these difficult conversations will start to become a whole lot easier.

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Confidence

Confidence

Confidence is key to navigating difficult workplace situations productively.

When youĀ areĀ able to inspire confidence in others, you instantly reframe your tricky requests into reasonable asks.

In short, confidence is the key to initiating conversations, allowing your best instincts to dictate your dialogue, and priming others to respond favorably to your requests.

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Clarity

Clarity

Make clarity a priority.Ā 

Before you begin a conversation, work out what you want from it. Set a concrete goal, like ā€œIā€™d like to work more closely with the design department,ā€ rather than, ā€œI want a more creative role.ā€

Decide ahead of time what youā€™re prepared to risk to achieve your desired result. Thereā€™s nothing worse than threatening to quit your job, only to have your boss take you up on the offer!

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Keep your objective in mind

Keep your objective in mind

Youā€™reĀ all about clarity, but the other person may not be. If they try to deflect focus, steer back to your objective and stick to facts.

While you should be prepared for the conversation to go poorly, donā€™t be surprised if it goes well.

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Compassion

Compassion

As a rule, people want to work with, and for, compassionate people. No one wants a boss who doesnā€™t care that their Grandma just died or a colleague who only grumbles about the extra workload when someone on their team breaks a leg.

Demonstrating empathy and compassion for others helps establish goodwill and rapport ā€“ two things that go a long way toward smoothing out potentially difficult workplace interactions.

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Curiosity

Curiosity

Getting in touch with your inner child can pay dividends when it comes to workplace communication.

But weĀ areĀ suggesting you tap into a childlike sense of inquisitiveness next time you face a difficult conversation.

Questions like, Why do you think this happened? And, What do you think our next steps should be? invite your partner to collaborate on achieving a constructive outcome from your discussion.

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Compromise

Compromise

Hereā€™s how to have win-win discussions:

Keep things respectful. You might be making a straightforward request for time off, or you might be grappling with a big-picture issue on which you and your teammate canā€™t see eye to eye.Ā 

No matter how simple or complex the conversation, youā€™ll derail it the moment you disrespect the other person. The perceived disrespect will take precedence over the topic at hand, whether they show it or not.

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Navigate a tough discussion

Navigate a tough discussion

If you know youā€™re about to initiate a tough conversation and youā€™re anticipating some pushback, put in some work prediscussion.Ā 

Clarify why youā€™re talking and keep that at the top of your mind during the discussion.

Donā€™t just ask your boss for ā€œmore responsibilityā€ ā€“ say exactly which tasks youā€™re interested in taking on and suggest a timeframe for doing so.

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Credibility

Make sure you know what youā€™re talking about.

Learn about the field youā€™re working in ā€“ and remember, developments in your area will continue to take place long after youā€™ve received your qualifications.

Stay on top of current research and trends.

The same principle applies to meetings and presentations.

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Building credibility

When youā€™re pitching a client, make sure youā€™ve researched their business model thoroughly.

If youā€™re attending a budget meeting, have the latest figures on hand.

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Aim for consistency

Aim for consistency

Acing a presentation or dazzling a client once wonā€™t win you credibility points.

When people know they can count on you, thatā€™s when they see you as credible.

Finally, own your mistakes. You can be knowledgeable, skilled, and a consistent high performer and still make mistakes. Thatā€™s okay! But the moment you deflect blame for your failures onto someone or something else, all that credibility youā€™ve worked so long to build up evaporates.

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Courage

Courage

Fear of discomfort is often what holds us back from initiating difficult but necessary discussions.Ā 

Someone takes credit for our work, but we decide not to call them out on it. Someone on our team isnā€™t pulling their weight, but we decide not to make waves by calling it to our bossā€™s attention.

Not talking about the problem wonā€™t make it go away.

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IDEAS CURATED BY

adriananghel

Full time dad and IT enthusiast for the rest.

CURATOR'S NOTE

Talking tough discussions at work need to be talked with some principles in mind. :)

ā€œ

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