I worked with this extraction business in WA last year. Their team briefings were total failures. Staff would just stare, say nothing, then continue with doing what they’d been doing before.
The bosses kept blaming the team for “not listening.” But when I watched these briefings, the actual issue was obvious. The managers were talking at people, not having conversations with them.
There was this time when I was working with a local firm in South Australia that was falling apart. Revenue was dropping, customer complaints were up, and staff turnover was through the roof.
The breakthrough came when we completely changed the entire approach. Instead of one-way lectures, we started creating actual dialogue. Workers shared near misses they’d encountered. Supervisors paid attention and put forward more questions.
The change was instant. Safety incidents went down by nearly half within a quarter.
I learned a vital lesson – proper education isn’t about smooth talking. It’s about human connection.
Proper listening is likely the crucial thing you can develop in communication training. But most people think hearing means saying yes and giving agreeable comments.
That doesn’t work. Proper listening means keeping quiet and truly hearing what someone are telling you. It means asking questions that prove you’ve grasped the point.
The truth is – nearly all supervisors are hopeless at paying attention. They’re thinking about their response before the other person finishes talking.
I tested this with a mobile service in Victoria. Throughout their staff sessions, I monitored how many instances supervisors interrupted their team members. The average was every 45 seconds.
Of course their worker engagement numbers were terrible. Staff felt unheard and unappreciated. Interaction had developed into a monologue where supervisors spoke and workers pretended to listen.
Digital messaging is an additional problem area in most workplaces. People quickly write messages like they’re sending SMS to their colleagues, then wonder why misunderstandings happen.
Email tone is really challenging because you miss voice inflection. What appears clear to you might appear aggressive to the recipient.
I’ve observed numerous office disputes blow up over poorly written digital communication that would have been fixed with a two-minute phone call.
The terrible situation I encountered was at a government department in the capital. An email about spending decreases was composed so badly that numerous workers thought they were getting fired.
Panic spread through the office. People started updating their CVs and calling employment services. It took 72 hours and numerous clarification meetings to fix the mess.
All because an individual couldn’t structure a straightforward email. The irony? This was in the media division.
Conference skills is where many companies throw away massive volumes of time and money. Poor sessions are common, and nearly all are bad because no one understands how to run them properly.
Proper conferences must have specific objectives, structured plans, and a person who maintains conversations focused.
Cultural differences have a massive impact in workplace communication. Australia’s multicultural workforce means you’re interacting with individuals from many of diverse communities.
What’s viewed as direct communication in Australian culture might be interpreted as rude in other communities. I’ve witnessed many problems arise from these multicultural variations.
Training needs to cover these differences honestly and practically. Staff need practical tools to navigate multicultural communication well.
Quality communication training understands that interaction is a skill that improves with regular application. You cannot develop it from a manual. It needs constant application and input.
Organisations that commit resources in effective workplace education achieve measurable results in productivity, worker engagement, and service quality.
Key point is this: dialogue isn’t advanced mathematics, but it absolutely requires real commitment and good education to work well.
Investment in forward-thinking communication training forms a crucial opportunity that allows organisations to thrive in quickly evolving business environments.
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