6 Biggest Communication Failures and How to Avoid Them - Introvert Whisperer

Introvert Whisperer / 6 Biggest Communication Failures and How to Avoid Them - Introvert Whisperer 6 Biggest Communication Failures and How to Avoid Them In the current age, communicating effectively is essential to be successful in your professional life. However, sometimes we can fail with our communication and this failure can cause consequences. Below we have listed common communication failures and tips on how to make sure you can avoid them. 1. Relying On Emails Since handheld technology has advanced in such a convenient and drastic fashion over the past two decades, relying on emails has become more of a hindrance for business communications rather than a revolution. The average person can receive upwards of 100 emails a day, so its very easy for emails to be overlooked, accidentally deleted, or misplaced in an electronic folder. Important notifications and communications between businesses should be handled by telephone, text message, or message via social media platforms. These methods are more direct, are less likely to be missed, and can achieve the same level of instant connection and sharing of information. 2. Poor Feedback Dealing with employees or business associates who fall short of your expectations or of the expectations of your company is a common occurrence in the realm of business. These shortcomings arent as big a problem as they seem. In business, like in life, it all depends on how you handle these unmet expectations. Communication is the best way to handle such an issue, but the communication you use must be effective and constructive. Approaching someone with a list of things theyve done wrong only accomplishes half of your objective to encourage improvement. The best way to communicate feedback to your employees and associates is to offer them examples of the things theyre doing that are below expectations. Once youve given them clear examples, offer them a few suggestions on how they could improve. This type of positive communication is better received and can help to create a sense of respect which will be beneficial to both parties moving into the future. 3. Proofread Your Work Written correspondence is a staple form of communication in business. The downside to written correspondence is that it has a greater likelihood of containing grammatical, spelling, and other errors associated with the written word. If you submit an important document to a business associate or colleague that contains errors, it makes you appear careless, lazy, or ignorant. In the world of business, reputation and perception are the cornerstones of success. You do not want to risk tarnishing your reputation by giving them grammatically incorrect and misspelled communications. Programs that check your spelling can often miss words that are correctly spelled, but are misused for their meaning or for the sentence structure. The best way to ensure that your written communications are correct is to proofread them. This will also allow you to catch any sentences or words that sound odd or are poorly expressed. 4. Control Bad News Businesses experience setbacks, failures, and scandals. This is an unfortunate reality of doing business in the real world. You can attempt to keep your business and your brand away from as many instances of bad press as possible, but it will eventually happen. When you do encounter a failure or a scandal, the worst thing that you can do is to not be upfront with your employees regarding such news. If you allow outside sources to break the news to your employees, it leaves the door wide open for rumors to begin spreading throughout your company. Even worse is the propensity for outside sources to incorrectly report these incidents. This creates the potential for misinformation to run rampant. You want to avoid misinformation and rumors from flourishing in your company, so being the first source to speak to your employees regarding some bad news thats about to become public is the wisest choice. 5. Not Setting The Example Ethics and integrity are two vital aspects of running a successful business. In order to receive optimal behavior and loyalty from your employees and business associates, you must first display these same exemplary behaviors yourself. It is not conducive to a healthy and successful company environment if those in management arent willing to set the example for the company. 6. Reacting Rather Than Responding Things cant always go your way. A colleague or a business associate will say or do something that upsets you or annoys you. Its human nature to want to lash out as a reaction to your strong emotions. This can lead to very tense situations and regretful things being said or done. When you encounter such a situation, take a few moments to breathe and think before you respond. Sometimes, a response isnt needed at all. Dont underestimate the value of simply remaining silent and walking away from a situation that is frustrating you. By being aware of the common failures and knowing how to prevent them, you can help assure your communication is clear and effective. Author Bio: Abby Drexler is a contributing writer and media specialist for  Presentation Training Institute. She regularly produces content for a variety of communication and management blogs. Go to top Bottom-line â€" I want to help you accelerate your career â€" to achieve what you want by connecting you with your Free Instant Access to my 4 Building Blocks to Relationships eBookâ€" the backbone to your Networking success and fantastic work relationships.  Grab yours by visiting here right now! Brought to you by Dorothy Tannahill-Moran â€" dedicated to unleashing your professional potential. Introvert Whisperer