It’s interesting to see the things that companies have done over the last few years to indicate to us that they are indeed creative and collaborative and care about their employees- barista coffee- free fruit- swanky breakout areas-casual dress and so on. These things are nice and if firms can offer them then great, but these won’t, in and of themselves, make people any more collaborative or creative.
But let’s not overlook the obvious and though this may sound simplistic, my view is that the foundation of great working environments is good relationships. At the core of strong, robust relationships is the ability to communicate with each other in a way that opens a world of possibilities.
Communicating is like driving- most of us can do it. And like driving some of us don’t do it all that well- especially under pressure. How many times have you walked away from a meeting not sure about what just happened, or maybe you were quite certain about what you were meant to do only to find out later that you’d misunderstood? How often have you not said something to someone because you’re scared of the reaction that it will elicit?
Racing car drivers understand the mechanics of their cars, that’s how they get the best out of them and make adjustments to get better performance. Great communicators understand the mechanics of communication- and just like a high-performance car, there’s a lot under the bonnet. Skilled drivers make for safe roads, skilled communicators open the door for collaborative and creative, safe working environments.
Fortunately for us, decades of research has given us a fantastic understanding of the mechanics of communication. It’s not all about words and how we string them together. Communication is a “whole of person” (I just made that up) experience, and the more of yourself that you artfully bring to it, the more powerful your communication will be.
Understanding the mechanics of communication supports great conversations. The sort of conversations that get problems solved, that maintain and strengthen relationships, and send a message to everyone that ideas and thoughts are welcome.
To build a collaborative and creative work environment look to the quality of your communication, it’s the platform that relationship and organisations are built on.
