Clear communication does not always prevent conflict, but unclear communication can certainly incite it. Beyond the implications for conflict prevention, communicating effectively can influence and inspire. It can help shape outcomes and produce results.
J.D. Schramm, the Class of 1978 Lecturer in Organizational Behavior at Stanford’s Graduate School of Business, recently provided three powerful communications insights in “How Leaders Communicate Effectively.” A brief synopsis of Professor Schramm’s advice is below.
The Framework
Schramm outlines a simple framework for preparing for communications of all kinds – emails, speeches, presentations, text message, telephone conversations; etc. The framework, known as AIM, poses three broad questions, “Who is my audience? What is my intent? And what is my message?”
This reflective exercise is a great way to pause and consider what you really want to say. By defining what you would like to accomplish across the domains of audience, intention, and message, you will be in a much better position for your communication to be understood as it was intended.
Understanding Your Audience
Many times we have the option to communicate with others face-to-face, but at other times we may be limited to a phone call or email. As we move further away from face-to-face communication, we lose two critical elements of the communication – body language and tone of voice – which constitute a much higher percentage of how communications are understood than the actual content of a message (i.e. the words).
This dilemma creates the need for us to understand our audience as fully as possible to craft a message that really connects with them and their interests. By understanding our audience more deeply, we can speak to them in a powerful, personal way in spite of an impersonal communication medium. As you prepare you message, answer questions like –
- “What inspires them to action?”
- “Where do they gather?”
- “What resources do they rely on?”
- “What sources of news do they read?”
- “What are their peer groups of influence?”
Consider All Three Elements of Communication
As previously noted, there are three elements to communications – body language, tone of voice, and words. Schramm describes these elements as visual, vocal, and verbal, and emphasizes how important the visual or body language element is for effective communication.
All three of the aspects of communication can work in harmony or discord. The more synchronized the elements are in communicating the same thing, the more harmonious and effective you communicate. But if your body language conflicts with the words you are communicating (i.e. you a saying how interested you are but you have your arms crossed), you create dissonance in your listener’s experience.
The key is to be mindful of how well you are synchronizing the three elements of communication to deliver a clear message. The higher the stakes of the communication, the more important this becomes.
Using the AIM framework, considering your audience, and synchronizing the elements of communication will go a long way to prevent unnecessary conflict that arises from ineffective communication and will also serve to make you a more powerful and persuasive communicator across a variety of communication mediums.
Source
J.D. Schramm, “J.D. Schramm: How to Communicate with Your Audience,” Insights by Stanford Business from Stanford Graduate School of Business, Posted January 6, 2015, http://www.gsb.stanford.edu/insights/jd-schramm-how-leaders-communicate-effectively
VIACONFLICT 