Armed with an understanding of communication's subtleties, you'll be able to avoid misunderstandings, prevent conflict and enhance your working relationships. Just Ask Reduce the guessing games. It's that simple. This may sound overly simplistic, but it's amazing how often people don't go directly to the source. People will talk to everyone but the person they should be talking to, causing unnecessary tension, anxiety and frustration.
People find it hard to raise difficult issues, but the alternative can be much worse.
Ask Yourself What Is Not Being Said Put yourself in the other person's shoes. Avoid the common trap of automatically attributing negative motivations to someone else. Instead, try to really see the situation from the other person's perspective and put aside your own bias. In addition to listening to the words, look for indicators of emotion. Sometimes a person's words and emotional state can be contradictory, yet one might get caught relying solely on the words' literal meaning.