Your communication gap is costing you
How much is the communications gap between your intent and your impact costing you?
Financial Cost: $12,506 per employee per year
Opportunity Cost: Who knows?
Who knows if ineffective communication costs you a promotion, a big project, or a new client? Who knows if you could have 50 fewer emails in your inbox a day? Who knows if they could have hours back on their calendar each month?
Who knows? We know.
In Emergenetics, we talk about the Intent - Impact Gap** as the space we are working to close using the tools and insights we have about our unique thinking and behavioral preferences. We know that when we understand our natural communication styles, we can tailor our communication to be more effective.
Let's look at this in action.
Here is how each thinking preference might answer the question: Did Joe call?
Watch for the differences (it's so interesting)!
Did Joe call? (Analytical Response)
"Yes."
(Direct and to the point, if you want more info you will ask, right?)
Did Joe call? (Structural Response)
"Yes, Joe called today at 9:15. He wanted to schedule a meeting with you to discuss the budget proposals due by the end of business today. He was only open at 3:00 and you had a meeting scheduled at that time, so I checked to see if I could move that meeting. Sally said that would work, so I changed your calendar to 4:00 PM with Sally. Joe’s questions are highlighted in the email in your inbox."
(Complete answer, no detail left out!)
Did Joe call? (Social Response)
"Yes. Joe called and by the sound of his voice, I could tell he was totally stressed. I said, "Joe, you sound so stressed!" and he said, "I am – this budget proposal deadline is killing me! I have so many questions that need to be answered." I said, "Let me see if I can help you get into speak with Chris yet today – she is so good with all this stuff." So I checked calendars and got him right in to see you. Sally was fine moving her meeting with you, she knows what it’s like to be stressed."
(Totally tapped into the emotion and relationships here!)
Did Joe call? (Conceptual Response)
"Yes, Joe did call and when he told me what he wanted to meet with you about, I offered a few suggestions that he could try to see if they would work for him. After brainstorming for a bit on things, he said he was good to go for now and would check back later if our ideas don’t work as we think they will."
(Brainstorming alternative solutions!)
As human beings, we naturally communicate in the way we prefer to be communicated to. We're unconscious to it...until we aren't!
Can you think about a situation where someone might not be "hearing" you? It might look like a discussion about the same topic again and again, a chain of emails on the same topic, or an ongoing conflict. If you have any of those - you have a gap!Use your Emergenetics app to close the gap!
Is it time to brush off your Emergenetics skills and close your Intent - Impact Gap? If your team needs some support to do a reset around your communication skills and how you are working together, I can help. I offer a "reset" workshop where we review current communication sticking points and design solutions to close the gap!