How to prevent miscommunication at work

As a team leader in your department at work, one of the most important things to get right is getting a message across clearly because despite getting the messages across clearly as best as you could do, unable to listen to understand and defaulting to over-communicating, like almost all humans do, are the factors that caused moments of crossed wires and misunderstandings.

In all aspect of human life, communication is what matters most. It helps build relationships from scratch and helps maintain it. As important as communication is, it’s also one of the things that can easily be messed up with just one word.

How to improve your communication skills

1. Listen better and listen carefully

In a book titled “Supercommunicators: How to unlock the secret language of connection,” Charles Duhigg, the author of the book, researched some people are so much better at communicating and connecting than other people.

He called those people (better in communicating) “Super Communicators.” He says that they consider who they are speaking to just as much as what they want to communicate.

Chatles Duhigg’s idea here is that "super communicators," don't just focus on what they want to say. They also put a lot of thought into who they are talking to. Instead of just pushing their own message, they spend time listening and trying to understand the other person's perspective.

It's not just about talking—it's about connecting and making sure both sides are understood. This makes them more effective because they're not just delivering information, but also making the conversation meaningful for everyone involved.

Charles Duhigg outlines a process called “looping for understanding.” Here’s how it works:

• Ask a good question about what you heard.
• Understand what you heard in your own words.
• Ask if you got it right.

2. Over-communicate

Overcommunicate means providing more information than might seem necessary to ensure that a message is clear and understood. It can be more productive and can save you hours of writing lengthy updates or attending status report meetings.

However, to spend a few minutes overcommunicating in order to save much more time on follow-ups;

• Let people know you got their messages.
• Clarify a time frame.
• Clearly communicate about your expectations.

Another important thing to take not of when communicating or listening to others is paying attention to your body language (most especially facial expression) and staying present. This can make a huge difference in your colleagues trusting you when you’re giving speech at work.

The last but not the least is that don’t try to impress people with your vocabulary. This is a rule of Journalism that you too should try to implement in every of your dat communication.

For example, using big words/grammars when a simple one makes the same point. It’s a mistake many people make in workplace settings to try to appear smarter. This could actually ends up with a lot of miscommunication and confusion.