Isn’t it sad how some of the people who scoff at workplace communication training could be the ones who benefit from it?

One guy I know, we’ll call him James, has a chip on his shoulder toward some people he once worked with on a project. For whatever reason, James never communicated his displeasure about how these people treated him, and he carried around this resentment, letting it fester.

Recently, James was tasked with working with these same people again. At their very first meeting he fired off some half-truths and underhanded digs. Everyone was caught off guard. They had no idea James felt this way.

Unfortunately, James had taken the route of a turkey and chose to hold grudges, twist words, and play games. Needless to say, respect for James dropped immensely.

Granted, confrontation is not the most pleasurable thing in the world, but think how much more productive we can be if we’re open and honest when people are coming across to us in a sideways manner. In other words, if we’ve been offended, we should say so. Other people are not responsible for how we feel, but they may be unaware that their attitude or actions are not coming across as they intended.

It’s been said by more than one person that disagreements are part of life.   That ought to be a no-brainer. So here’s my question: Why is it that people think disagreements will ruin relationships? Even the most cooperative co-workers don’t see eye-to-eye on everything.

One cool phrase I came across is “remain unconditionally constructive.”  I think memorizing that phrase can focus us on building workplace communication!  What say you?

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Filed in Opinion, Motivation, Workplace, Meetings, Corporate Culture