Does your organisation suffer a communication 'traffic jam'? Have you ever wondered why people cannot understand you or why they look at their watches, anxious for a meeting to be over? Have you ever tried to train someone who simply does not get the message? Have you ever asked a simple question and received a long, frustrating answer?
These are common experiences when communicating with others. Sometimes it is chalked up to a person having a poor attitude or a personality conflict. But is this really the case? There is an alternative reason for this lack of communication - a difference in thinking style.
We all know about the time and resources wasted as we inch along in traffic, becoming more and more frustrated as time passes us by - we look for alternative routes, other side roads, to beat that long stream of bumper-to-bumper traffic and get to work on time.
At the workplace, there is similar traffic. There are people we work with who do not understand what we tell them or misinterpret information. Our time and resources are wasted and frustration builds.
In free-flowing traffic we feel a sense of joy and contentment. Effective communication brings the same joy. We feel a sense of relief and know the work will get done the way we expect it to.
One way to get communication flowing well is to understand the signals we send and receive. This is the secret behind Traffic, a training programme designed to help people understand their own thinking and communication styles. This, in turn, increases our appreciation for the way others communicate.
We all have a dominant thinking style, and how we send and receive information is based on how we think. When one considers how complex we are, it does not take much to realise why even the simplest communication can be misunderstood. Understanding the way you communicate helps you send and receive messages effectively.
The programme addresses and adds value to the skills you use every day when working with colleagues and managing relationships. It is also based on the Neuro-Linguistic Programme (NLP) philosophy.
We are born with thinking styles. Some can adapt to any thinking style, however when faced with conflict, our brain freezes and we tend to shut down. We might also ask: "Why did I not say this, or that?"
The programme is amazing, fun and interactive. The benefits of Traffic are many: managers and team leaders reduce conflict and confrontation, increase opportunities for open and honest communication and improve customer services, sales communication and growth. Many managers have learnt to optimise the benefits of dominant thinking styles, thus improving moral, efficiency and overall service performance.
Traffic helps us understand that it is not something personal that gets in the way of communicating with others - it is about being more empathic.
We view the world not as it is, but as we are. Think about the chaos there would be if your community did not have any traffic signals. We universally understand what we are meant to do when we get to a red light, a yellow light and a green light. Traffic signals transform chaos into an effective flow.
People and organisations also have different traffic patterns. It is important to remember that no one thinking style is better than another - they are different. We also have a blend of all three styles within us - we just happen to prefer a particular one.
Communication is a two-way street. Being able to communicate effectively with each other, a great way to ensure our organisation and business flows well, also reduces conflict and builds understanding.
Just think how incredible that flow would be when you can work well with people who think differently.
Ms Scerri is a trainer and facilitator with Serendipity Learning Solutions.
sscerri@serendipitylearningsolutions.com