Everyone Communicates–– How's Your Connection?

How much better does a team perform when there is sufficient communication? A lot better, right? No one questions the need for communication, so take the following as food for thought. The need for communication is common sense. But how about the need for connection?

What good is communication if the message doesn't get through? I don't think communication is as much a problem or concern as people make it out to be. Everyone has something to say. We all know how to get the ideas out there. Where we struggle is at the receiving end.

We've all had those lost-in-translation moments, where what they said and what you heard, or what you said and they understood got mixed up somewhere... it takes energy and time to figure out where we went wrong. Ultimately, we lay the misunderstanding at the foot of "poor communication." But is it really about what was said? Or could there be something deeper that's the matter.

Leaders can make great use of the power of connection. Just think about the people that you have the "best communication" with. These are your closest friends and confidants. You finish each other's sentences and can even guess what they would say when they're not there.

Connection is about relationships. It's about abolishing the obstacles that get in the way of communication in the first place. Connection is about having a team that is excited and committed to their leader's vision, and their individual role in that vision. It's about a team that isn't afraid to ask questions; a team that is eager to ask questions. Not just to clarify the communication of information, but to deepen their level of involvement on any given project or objective.

A team that connects well with each other and their leader performs in the peak state more often. That leads to better service, lower rates of attrition, and ultimately satisfied customers that refer business.

When the team feels connected, not just to each other, but the vision as well, the team will prosper. There's less of a need for micromanagement. There's a sense of purpose in everything each individual in the team does. There's personal accountability as well as group accountability. Connection can be part of your culture. That's when the work environment becomes a growth environment–– it's electric.