Synergistic communication skills are essential for engineering teams working with multiple stakeholders in the field. It takes practice to learn how to say “yes” and “but” and the nuances of “ah” and “uh” to acknowledge others. Learn more about the importance of collaboration and how to improve your communication skills in the workplace.
Keywords for respect, persuasion, and better communication
There’s an African proverb that says if you want to go fast, go alone; if you want to go far, go together. While it’s easy to go it alone and reach a short distance, traveling a long way alone is never easy. It’s easy to burn out when you’re alone, but when you’re together, you can put your heads together and see it through to the end, even if you encounter unexpected obstacles. Organizations and teams exist to create win-win and collaborative synergies that go beyond the individual. However, the process of bringing a group of people together and working together for a common purpose is not always smooth. Anyone who has worked in a team has experienced difficulties in collaboration, progress, or communication. So how can we communicate to ensure successful collaboration?
This is an experiment on memory distortion by American psychologist Elizabeth Loftus. Some of the words we write down are not what they seem. In fact, more than 75% of the subjects wrote the word “hope”.
The average human brain can only remember seven words for a short period of time, so it thought it was seeing the word “hope” that these words evoked.
Communication also takes place in our own world. We all have our own way of expressing and interpreting things, which can lead to distortions, so it’s important to listen well, speak well, and be heard when collaborating. The October CS lecture was customized for engineering teams who want to go further together.
Respectful and persuasive language
As the engineering team usually has to communicate internally and externally, we had a time to share communication know-how among team members and explore collaboration synergies.
A useful tip for creating a different kind of conversation, the “Yes” and “But” style of communication involves taking a step back and acknowledging the other person’s opinion. By first acknowledging the other person’s thoughts and words (Yes) and then offering a rebuttal (But), you can respect the other person and convey your opinion smoothly and effectively.
The ‘Yes, But’ method was well-received by engineering teams, many of whom have to communicate with internal customers, as a way to be more respectful, persuasive, and persuasive while still being heard.
It’s the little nuances that make a big difference
Another shortcut to collaboration is the “nuance difference” – it’s not just the content, but the way you frame it that shows respect. Subtle differences in nuance can have the opposite effect when it comes to collaboration. Even if you’re saying the same thing, using nuances that fit the situation and context will allow for deeper communication and collaboration. One of the mindsets that improves the quality of communication is “I can’t change the other person, but I can change myself”. The engineering team strengthened their skills in friendly and effective communication by practicing nuance, including a speech stretching exercise to move toward friendly communication.
By Editorial Department
2023.12.05