Communication – What You Don’t “Say”
September 4, 2007 – 5:21 am
Its not what he said, its how he said it. Almost any sergeant will tell you that he has spoken with more than one citizen who used these very words to describe an interaction with an officer. Of course, when questioned about the incident, the officer in question will normally respond, “Honest Sergeant, all I said was “Have a nice day.” So who is being untruthful? The chances are neither of them. Although we know plenty of officers who can say “Have a nice day” and it just cries for “asshole” to be added to the end of the comment.
Studies indicate that communication consists of three elements: spoken words; tone of voice and inflections; and body language. Although we normally think of communication as a verbal exchange, the spoken words only make up 7% of communication. The other 93% of the message that is communicated comes from your tone of voice and inflection (38%) and your body language (55%). So it is quite possible to “say” one thing and yet communicate an entirely different message depending upon your tone of voice and your body language. As a result, assuming that the sender was intentionally trying to convey a particular message, it is entirely possible for the receiver to misinterpret the message that was intended. This is where good supervision becomes important. When a pattern of complaints are received on a particular officer, an effective supervisor should begin his intervention by encouraging the officer to make sure that his words and his body language are congruent. In other words the messages conveyed should “match”.
If you are a supervisor, make sure you keep this in mind during your interactions with your subordinates and the public. For instance, although multi-tasking is great for productivity, it is not good for effective communication. If you want to communicate effectively with someone, stop multi-tasking, look into their eyes and give them your undivided attention. These simple gestures tell the person that you are talking with that you are truly interested in communicating with them.
Other articles in this series:
Communication – Do You Habla Inglese