Communicating In Teams

As dangerous as the illusion of communication taking place, is the assumption that getting people together to communicate will solve problems. Often it just creates more!

"The single biggest problem in communication is the illusion that it has taken place" - George Bernard Shaw

George Bernard Shaw's words are a reminder to us that simply pushing out information at  people does not mean we have communicated with them.

"Information" does not equal "communication". We are deluged with information: email, intranets, the internet, TV, radio, sms, advertising ... we're drowning in the stuff. In fact, much of our effort around communication these days is about filtering it out - preventing it from reaching us.

One of the seductive misconceptions of communication is that if we are talking (or writing) to someone then we are communicating with them. In fact, our listener or reader may or may not even attend to our message (hearing isn't the same as listening). And even if they do receive the message it doesn't mean they will remember it; if they remember it they won't necessarily understand it - or understand it the way we intended; and even if they understand the message they may not accept it; and even if your message makes it all the way through that processing, the reader or listener may or may not act on the message as you've intended.

These challenges are only magnified when we think about team communication. Because now we move from a one-to-one interaction to a many-to-many environment. Team communication demands an even more disciplined approach to communication because even when there is (apparently) one message being sent, that one message is now being interpreted by people with different perspectives, interests, concerns, personalities, and agendas.

What can we do to improve team communication?

Here are some basic but nevertheless challenging suggestions to get started:

1. Establish a shared sense of purpose - The essence of a team's work is its shared goal or purpose. That shared purpose serves as the focus and context for the team's communication. In meetings it's important for the team's broad purpose to be focused even further on the purpose of the meeting.
   
   
2. Ask questions - Questions of inquiry, not advocacy. This shows respect and humility, but also helps clarify shared understandings and corrects wrong assumptions. It also celebrates learning and reinforces the practices of accountability and feedback.
   
   
3. Listen to understand - That means allowing people time to think before speaking, not finishing their sentences, not "topping their story" and building on what they've said. It's a discipline.
   
   
4. Respect different communication styles - We generally communicate in ways that feel right for us (assertive or responsive, dominant or submissive, direct or indirect, etc.). But those ways don't make sense for everyone and their ways don't always feel natural to us. Different isn't wrong. Difference offers insight.
   
   
5. Expect contributions from everyone - That means providing a safe and accepting environment in which challenges to ideas are seen as building up, not tearing down contributions. (See the first four points as a guide to building a safe environment.) Not everyone will contribute equally in the number of words or ideas, but everyone needs to contribute.

Aubrey Warren is an executive coach with Australian Growth Coaching and a Situational Leadership® Master Trainer with the Australasian Centre for Leadership Studies. Contact him at aub.warren@pacific.qld.edu.au
First published: 22 September 2008.
Last updated: 22 September 2008.