November's Topic: Effective Communication

In this blog, Charla Hobson, Training Facilitator- Formal Education, highlights why active listening can strengthen effective communication and why having all the answers is not always the answer. Discover how pausing before responding and resisting the urge to jump to conclusions can strengthen relationships, improve understanding, and lead to more effective outcomes in the workplace.

Active Listening: The Trouble with Having All the Answers

We all want to be helpful. But what might we miss when we are too ready with an answer?

What do we miss when we're already busy preparing our answer? I will admit, I have caught myself doing it. Someone begins explaining something, I recognise the issue, and my brain is already putting together a very helpful reply. I might even be right. Just one problem: they haven't finished talking. And on a busy day, with emails piling up and someone stopping by for a 'quick word', getting straight to the answer can feel efficient. Until it isn't.

When we fill in the blanks
Take something as ordinary as an update about a team briefing. A colleague begins, 'There has been a change to tomorrow's arrangements.' Earlier, there was talk of moving the start time, so someone jumps in: 'No problem, I will tell everyone we are starting later.' Off goes the message. Except the time hasn't changed. It's the location that is moved. Now a correction has to follow, and colleagues are checking which message to believe.

Nobody meant to cause confusion. The listener recognised a familiar issue and filled in the rest. But the colleague never got to explain the change, or why the new location would work better. We missed both the details and the thinking behind it