Better Communication, Better Collaboration
communication, n. The imparting or exchanging of information by speaking, writing, or using some other medium. …The successful conveying or sharing of ideas and feelings.
Communication is a daily thing that happens in the workplace, yet, it is a constant challenge in every company. In the UX field, communication is also one of the most crucial skills. How can you convince others about your design/research/copywriting proposal if you have a hard time conveying it across? In this article, I would like to share a few tips that might help improving communication skills.
1. Know your communication style
In order to be able to effectively communicate with others, it’s good to know about communication styles to identify what’s yours and what’s the other person’s style. Wanna learn more about which bucket you fall in? Let’s look into each communication style to identify and how to deal with a particular communication style. The communication styles are categorized by the level of expressiveness and assertiveness, as seen in the diagram below:
Direct: Low expressiveness, high assertiveness
Cares the most about efficiency when communicating. They are good at controlling emotion and being straight forward about their requests. To deal with them let them be in charge, and get to the point immediately.
Systematic: Low expressiveness, low assertiveness
Discuss things step by step, very structured, and detail oriented. Doesn’t display emotion, focused more on structured communication. The best way to deal with this style is to provide lots of data, information, and detail.
Spirited: High expressiveness, high assertiveness.
Typical body language includes lots of hand movements. One of the strengths they have is making stories very interesting. They are very persuasive when talking and very expressive. The focus is always on the big picture, gets unexcited when talking about the step by step and nitty gritty details. To deal with them, get excited with them by showing emotion.
Considerate: High expressiveness, low assertiveness.
People with this communication style are very good listeners. They value personal relationship and care about feelings. They tend to talk less, which leads to opinions being unexpressed. To deal with them, express how that person can help with praise and gratitude.
What’s important to remember is communication style is not equal to personality. Personality is not interchangeable, whereas communication styles are. Each style can be learned and once you start mastering different communication styles it’s easier to switch styles depending on the person you’re talking to.
2. Practice active listening
“The ability to listen is as important as the ability to speak” — Sheryl Sandberg
Communication is a two way street, not just getting your point across but also understanding what the other person is trying to say. Stephen Covey, author of 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, says that most people do not listen with the intent to understand, they listen with the intent to reply. When we do this, we’re not actively listening to the person we are having a conversation with. To do active listening, first pay attention to the speaker and show that you’re listening. Defer judgement that you have. Try to repeat what you think you heard, to ensure that you’re understanding the other person fully. Lastly provide any appropriate feedback once the speaker is done talking.
3. Keep a positive attitude
To effectively communicate, we must realize that we are all different in the way we perceive the world and use this understanding as a guide to our communication with others. — Anthony Robbins
It’s normal to have different opinions when communicating with one another. The thing is sometimes things escalate quickly because the vibe becomes negative when criticizing someone else’s idea. Instead of using negative words like “That’s a stupid idea”, frame it positively “What about trying a different approach”. This shifts the framing from critical and complaining to supportive and doable, and ties into positive reinforcement strategies. Being positive decrease defensiveness, which leads to more open and honest communication.
TL;DR
To communicate better: understand communication styles, active listening instead of just trying to reply, and positive attitude to keep the communication flowing. Go ahead and put the tips into practice.
If you’re interested in applying for a full-time position or intern as an UX Designer or UX Researcher, Blibli.com is currently hiring! Send your resume to recruitment@blibli.com and get the chance to work with other UX Designers & Researchers with their own unique stories.
