Guidelines for Communication

 

1. There are many slips between the other person's ears and your lips.  The message you want to convey may be garbled, distorted, camouflaged or completely lost by more dominant messages.  This happens because the recipient interprets your message by his or her brain, not by your brain.  To avoid this, think about the possible ways in which your message can be misunderstood or distorted by a recipient who is not on the same wavelength or of the same orientation that you are.  

2. People are not mind readers.  They can't read your mind.  They don't know what is really bothering you or what you really want from them.  Ask clearly and precisely what you want.

3. Feel a genuinely liking for the people with whom you are communicating.  Remember the saying, "Nobody cares how much you know, unless they know how much you care."  When they feel you really like them, they make an extra effort to understand what you want. 

4. The rule of listening.  There are two ears and one tongue, spend twice more time in listening than in speaking.  The more closely you listen to others, the more effective you would be in communicating your ideas to them according to their frame of reference.  It is by listening close to them, that you will know how they think, what their favorite expressions are and how you can arouse their interest.      

5. The spoken word is but a small component of communication.  The spoken word constitutes of only 7 percent of the message, the other 93% is non-verbal.  If you say the words, "You are fine," but your face, body and your voice is conveying, "I can't stand you," which one do you think will get conveyed?  Match your body language, voice tone, and other non-verbal behavior with your words.

6. Keep your communication pure and simple.  Do not contaminate it with sarcasm, witticisms, or put-downs.  When you do that, people stop listening to what you say and get flooded with emotions and thoughts regarding how you are treating them. 

7. The rule of repetition.  Tell them first what you are going to tell them, then tell them, and then tell them what you just told them.

8. Check.  Ensure the accuracy and comprehension of your message.  For example, when you leave a message for someone, ask the person who has taken your message to repeat it so you can check it for its accuracy and comprehension.    

9. Review.  We will record what decisions have been taken so we could review what has been discussed and evaluate at our next meeting.

10. Walk your talk.  Match your actions with your words.  If you say something and then do another, your action will be received as the real message and not your spoken words.

11. We are discussing problems or challenges that has arisen from our thought process. Our decisions arise from knowledge and based on the current knowledge we make our decisions and these decisions can be right or wrong and they cause challenges. The effect is the challenge and the cause is the thought. We need to change our thinking by gathering more knowledge and information to solve the current challenge. Focus on the challenge and not the person and we will have a very good productive meeting.

12. Remember to focus on the facts not on opinions or assumptions. Do take notes for clarity.

Source Unknown

Leonardo da Vinci Quotes

"Learning never exhausts the mind."

+ Leonardo da Vinci: 

Was an Italian artist, writer, and scientist +

Voltaire Quotes

"Man is free at the moment he wishes to be."

+ Voltaire: 

Was a French writer, historian, and philosopher +

What Story Will You Write?

Between your Birth Date  and your Death Date there is a DASH ( ----- ). 

What's the story are you going to write in that DASH?

This could be your story! Courtesy of one of my team leaders Yeo Hong Ming. Tks !

Click on this link   

<http://www.this-is-my-story.com/v/O0KJ82D936K1> 

Earl Nightingale Quotes

+ Earl Nightingale: 

Was a motivational author and speaker +

"The biggest mistake that you can make is to believe that you are working for somebody else. Job security is gone. The driving force of a career must come from the individual. Remember: Jobs are owned by the company, you own your career!"
_________________

"The biggest mistake that you can make is
to believe that you are working for somebody else.
Job security is gone. The driving force of a career
must come from the individual. Remember: Jobs are owned by the company, you own your career!"

_________________

"We can let circumstances rule us, or we can take charge and rule our lives from within."
_________________


"One hour per day of study will put you at the top of your field within three years. Within five years you'll be a national authority. In seven years, you can be one of the best people in the world at what you do."
_________________

"Whatever we plant in our subconscious mind
and nourish with repetition and emotion
will one day become a reality."

William Anthony Quotes

Be Disciplined 

or 

Be Disciplined

______________________

I control the circumstances of my life and not someone else who controls the circumstances of my life. 

________________________________

We prefer the opinion of others 

rather than the experience or wisdom of those who have gone before us.

________________________________

Out of every adversity or challenge 

lies the seed that defines your character.

________________________________

The fear of not changing should be greater then the fear of what you need to do to change.

__________________________ 

What a foolish man does in the end, is what a wise man does in the beginning.

_______________________  

When you change the way you look at things, the things change.

________________________  

What you don't like to hear,
is what you need to hear
That's the TRUTH. 

________________________________ 

Live to a PROMISE not to the PAST

___________________________ 

We cannot reap where we 
have not sown first
____________________________

Success is not a destination but 
rather the journey

___________________________

  

New knowledge changes 

our beliefs and paradigms 

________________________________ 

Expertise is not an opinion of the majority but rather facts and skills of the minority

________________________

 

Settle the past engage the present 
and belief in the future

_______________________________ 

An Individual's Network 

Defines his Networth 

______________________________ 

The greatest sin of mankind is his ignorance of not recognising his fullest potential and 

using it for the benefit of mankind.

________________________________

We must do the things that others are not willing to do,
to have the things others will never have.
 

+ William Anthony: 

Education and Business Development +

Alvin Toffler Quotes

"The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those
who cannot read and write, but those who
cannot learn, unlearn, and relearn."

+ Alvin Toffler: 

Author and futurist +

Winston Churchill Quotes

I like things to happen

and if they don't happen 
I like to make things happen !

+ Winston Churchill +

Shivaram Kumar Quotes

If you do the things that count,

you don't have to stop to count them !

+ Shivaram Kumar +

Critical Thinking

I have this statement in my phone under a note application where I review it constantly when I encounter with mediocre and negative thinking.

" I will not identify with the content of any belief. I will identify only with the way I come to my beliefs. I am a critical thinker and, as such, am ready to abandon any belief that cannot be supported by evidence and rational considerations. I am ready to follow evidence and reason wherever they lead. My true identity is that of being a critical thinker, a lifelong learner, and a person always looking to improve my thinking by becoming more reasonable in my beliefs. "

Socratic Questioning - Process to Clarify Thinking

In my recent training session with my team I covered the importance of questioning to clarify thinking. When your thinking becomes clear it gives you power and you will be able to help others to clarify their thinking. All challenges stems from your thinking. The cause is our thinking and the effect is the challenge and or outcome. So get your thinking clear by asking QUESTIONS? The quality of your QUESTION determines the quality of the RESPONSE!

 Use Socratic Questioning to Clarify Thinking

Conceptual clarification questions

Get them to think more about what exactly they are asking or thinking about.  Prove the concepts behind their argument.  Basic 'tell me more' questions that get them to go deeper.

·      Why are you saying that?

·      What exactly does this mean?

·      How does this relate to what we have been talking about?

·      What is the nature of ...?

·      What do we already know about this?

·      Can you give me an example?

·      Are you saying ... or ... ?

·      Can you rephrase that, please?

Probing assumptions

Probing of assumptions makes them think about the presuppositions and  unquestioned beliefs on which they are founding their argument. This is shaking  the bedrock and should get them really going!

·      What else could we assume?

·      You seem to be assuming ... ?

·      How did you choose those assumptions?

·      Please explain why/how ... ?

·      How can you verify or disprove that assumption?

·      What would happen if ... ?

·      Do you agree or disagree with  ... ?

Probing rationale, reasons and evidence

When they give a rationale for their arguments, dig into that reasoning  rather than assuming it is a given. People often use un-thought-through or  weakly understood supports for their arguments.

·      Why is that happening?

·      How do you know this?

·      Show me ... ?

·      Can you give me an example of that?

·      What do you think causes ... ?

·      What is the nature of this?

·      Are these reasons good enough?

·      Would it stand up in court?

·      How might it be refuted?

·      How can I be sure of what you are saying?

·      Why is ... happening?

·      Why? (keep asking it -- you'll never get past a few times)

·      What evidence is there to support what you are saying?

·      On what authority are you basing your argument?

Questioning viewpoints and perspectives

Most arguments are given from a particular position. So attack the position.  Show that there are other, equally valid, viewpoints.

Another way of looking at this is ..., does this seem reasonable?

·      What  alternative ways of looking at this are there?

·      Why it is ... necessary?

·      Who benefits from this?

·      What is the difference between... and...?

·      Why is it better than ...?

·      What are the strengths and weaknesses of...?

·      How are ... and ... similar?

·      What would ... say about it?

·      What if you compared ... and ... ?

·      How could you look another way at this?

Probe implications and consequences

The argument that they give may have logical implications that can be  forecast. Do these make sense? Are they desirable?

·      Then what would happen?

·      What are the consequences of that assumption?

·      How could ... be used to ... ?

·      What are the implications of ... ?

·      How does ... affect ... ?

·      How does ... fit with what we learned before?

·      Why is ... important?

·      What is the best ... ? Why?

Questions about the question

And you can also get reflexive about the whole thing, turning the question in  on itself. Use their attack against themselves. Bounce the ball back into their  court. Etc.

·      What was the point of asking that question?

·      Why do you think I asked this question?

·      What does that mean?

Source: http://www.criticalthinking.org/