The Pfeiffer Book of Successful Communication Skill-Building Tools

Introduction

Getting the Most from This Resource

The recipe for effective interpersonal communication, in the workplace or elsewhere, is really quite simple: two or more people who trust each other's motives speak honestly and listen attentively as they discuss the subject in question.

Given those three elements—trust, plain speaking, and a sincere attempt to hear and understand the other's point of view—it makes no difference what the subject of the conversation is or whether the two people agree or disagree about it. Even if they're arguing, both parties will emerge from the conversation understanding clearly what the argument is about and why they're on opposite sides of it. That puts them way ahead of most arguers.

In other words, while the goal of most attempts at workplace communication may be to achieve agreement, effective communication isn't necessarily about agreement. It's about accuracy. It requires a symbiotic relationship between the sender and the receiver of a message. The goal of the relationship is that the receiver should accurately perceive the honest message that the sender intends to transmit. (If the message is dishonest, the sender may be a skillful liar, but he or she will not long be an effective communicator.)

If the recipe is simple, why is communication a sorry mess in so many organizations? Because one or more of the three main ingredients are often missing. Justifiably or not, we don't trust the motives of our managers, our subordinates, our co-workers, ...