In any business, communication is a key factor to success. What if how you’ve always thought communication should be like or look like, can actually be something even greater?
Everyone you work with in any way contributes to the growth and success of your business. When you are creating the quality of engagement, that invites people to be more, your business and everyone involved benefits.
To create something greater with every interaction you have, follow these simple tips for better communication:
Ask questions and listen.
As obvious as it sounds, simply asking questions and listening to what people have to say can open communication in dynamic ways.
It’s about being curious. Even something as simple as, “Hey what’s up?” can give people the invitation they may require to tell you what’s going on or what they’re aware of. Everyone has different communication styles, and not everyone is apt to speak up without prompting. Your curiosity and willingness to listen can lead to all different possibilities you hadn’t considered before you asked.
Engagement creates the space for people to both share what’s going on, and to contribute more for the creation of the business.
Don’t let your relationships blind you.
When you’re communicating with anyone involved in your business, look at what they’re actually being and choosing, rather than seeing them through the lens of the relationship you have.
Relationships of all kinds can easily distract you from following your knowing. Be willing to see what is truly going on with someone beyond your relationship with them. This isn’t about judging anyone or trying to control. It’s acknowledging what your business requires and how the people you work with contribute to that–or don’t–without being hooked into your points of view about them.
Rather than hoping you can trust someone to be everything you want them to be, trust them to be who they are. It’s not about there being a problem. Your willingness to see what’s actually going on gives you the freedom to make choices that will truly work for you and the business.
Clear the projections, expectations and judgments
Whether engaging with someone you’ve worked with for years, or a new client who just walked through the door, the projections, expectations, and judgments you have limit what you can actually create together.
This is the opposite of how most people function in business. There is a common belief that you should have specific expectations for your business and the people you work with in order to be successful. However, expectations are based on the judgments of how something or someone should or shouldn’t be, which eliminates everything they can be and can contribute. It actually limits the success that you could be experiencing.
When you’re looking for a specific result or response based on the judgments you have about what’s right and wrong or how things have to be, the communication you have with everyone is based on your projections and not on possibilities.
Clearing projections, expectations, and judgments gives you the freedom of choice. When you choose to ask questions and be curious about what can show up, you allow your business and everyone you work with to be greater. Some great questions to ask are:
What else is possible here that I haven’t considered?
What’s right about this that I’m not getting?
What is this person contributing that I haven’t acknowledged?
What invitation can I be to create more ease in communication for everyone?
Ask the questions without seeking an answer. Just be with them and see what shows up!
Be interested rather than interesting
Open and generative communication is especially useful when building new relationships in business. Again, ask questions and be curious. What can you ask that will give you more information of this person’s values, and what working with them will be like?
This isn’t about leading someone to tell you what you’ve decided is the right information. It’s creating the space for them to share who they are and what they know so that you can look at the ways that do or don’t fit for the business.
When you truly listen and receive what people have to say, they’ll tell you more. You may also want to note if they’re showing interest as well. There’s no right or wrong with how anyone communicates, just information for what you choose next.
Be willing to be wrong.
To create better communication–and an overall more successful business–give up having to be right. It’s not that you’re automatically wrong, but you want to be willing to be.
When you’re unwilling to be wrong, you have to fight for your rightness. This creates separation, and you won’t be able to hear others’ ideas. You limit what you can create and how those around you can contribute.
Being willing to be wrong and never having to be right allows you to continue seeing what else is possible. You become the invitation for something different and greater to show up. And, it creates the space for everyone to communicate more freely.
Better communication in business isn’t difficult. It simply requires you to look at what you’ve decided business dynamics should be like, and then take actions from the space of what will create a different possibility. What can you create with your business by choosing different, to change what’s available for everyone?
