Ivy Sea Online: What are the benefits of conscious communication?

In some organizations, sending out important memos, posting content to an intranet site, or publishing a monthly employee newsletter might be considered good communication. However, if these vehicles aren’t consciously crafted, intentionally produced, and purposely tied to the organizations goals and culture — and the information needs of the organization's citizens — they could be useless, or even harmful.

Getting back to basics, let’s remember that effective communication is much more than distributing a lot of information or producing a publication that wins design awards. Good, meaningful communication starts with an awareness of its purpose, desired outcome, audience and relevant issues.

Take notice of these potential benefits of advocating for, creating and being more conscious in organizational communication — and a few of the costs of being less conscious (or unconsicous):

Stay on point: When a group is conscious of what it’s doing and why, the products and counsel it provides reflect this understanding and clarity. Communications are skillful and consistent, which means the recipients of the communications aren’t confused.

Get the message: Conscious communication not only provides information that organization members need, but shares that information in a way that enables the audience to quickly and easily understand the "who, what, where, when, why and how’s" of the situation. What's more, the information they receive does one of two things: it answers key questions, or it allows the recipients of the information take more aware action (or both).

Eliminate gossip: Making sure that you are aware of what you’re presenting — and how — can help reduce or eliminate the gossip or sense of unease that ultimately fills the voids created by poor or nonexistent communication. (This is particularly important during times of change or ramped-up productivity, when hostilities and confusion are more likely to erupt, or when morale and sources of motivation have been drained.)

Prevent problems: Poor communication leads to a slew of problems, from unclear goals and unhappy employees, to legal issues and union rumblings, or to sapped morale and lowered effectiveness. By consciously communicating in your organization, you’ll help to avoid these issues.

Reinforce healthy culture: Whether through interpersonal communication skill, careful word choice or the level and types of information you share with employees, communication style and approach helps define a culture. Being conscious of this, and your resulting communication, allows you to avoid an unwanted culture and to nurture a desired one. Similarly, unconscious or unskillful communication can establish dysfunctional communication norms, such as leaders or project managers referring to employees as units or talking about retooling people — examples from real-world scenarios where unconscious communication abounded.

Why wait to reap (and share) the rewards of these and other areas of skillfulness? Learn more, and become more skillful, with our "Workplace Communication Essentials" or "Skillful Listening" PDF guides — they're great resources for self-study or group dialogue and skill-building. You'll find these, and other very affordable skill-building PDF kits, in our Ivy Sea Resource Store.

This information provides food for thought rather than counsel specifically designed to meet the needs of your organization or situation. Please use it mindfully. The most effective approaches are those that are tailored to your unique needs, Have questions? We welcome your inquiry.