I worked with someone that I did not know well at the time but who I felt communicated well so that I knew exactly what they needed from me and they asked questions that helped me to communicate to them what I understood or did not understand. The person was going to be taking over the finances for the college I work for and the preschool is run by them. He was concerned about our budget and wanted to know what ideas I had to bring down the budget. I had put together some information for him but he preferred that I tell him my ideas and concerns. He listened to what I had to say then he sat back in his chair and asked questions about the areas that he had concerns about. When I was unclear about what he was trying to get across with the financial terms he would give me an example that I could relate to which helped me to see the point he was trying to get across. He was very clear that he wanted to see changes in the budget so that he could see that we were decreasing our spending and to work on marketing the preschool services to the community. In the end I feel that he respected my ideas and gave me the chance to share my side of the story about the budget.
The reason that I feel that this person was a competent communicator was that he was very clear on what he expected from me and what areas he wanted me to work on. He listened to what I had to say about the budget and my ideas for change before evaluating and responding off the information that he had received from others. When I did not understand something he did not make me feel incompetent he changed the way he was trying to get the information across to me to a way that I could understand and relate to.
I would take his way of just listening with out interrupting and not trying to evaluate what someone is saying and add my thoughts to their ideas. I feel as though sometimes I interrupt when someone is talking to me and I am already trying to figure out a solution for them or jumping ahead to what I think they are trying to say.
Communication is something we always need to be working on.
Effective communications starts with listening. Robert Gately
Retrieved from Essential Life Skills
Julie,
ReplyDeleteCompetent communicators are people who are able to communicate to diverse groups of people. These communicators provide clear and concise messages that people can accept and understand. Therefore, I agree that you should model yourself after the communicator to become a more active listener.
That was nice of him to see down and listen to your situation. Many people don't like to sit there and allow you to pretty much vent. He would be considered to be a competent communicator due to him listening and allowing you to share ideas.
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