Yeah … so ….
Some things just tend to grate on the ears. A professional news reporter who responds to an interviewee’s statement with “yeah.” Someone who starts virtually every sentence with “So….”
Maybe it’s just me. I know it’s not, though, since I’ve heard from other people with similar experiences of irritation and annoyance.
Change is good but sometimes you just want the other person to use what they were taught. Or maybe that’s part of the problem, that those important business communication skills were never actually taught and just don’t exist.
At a recent LinkedIn conference on the Talent Intelligence Experience, experts related that the skills that employers globally are finding most lacking are the soft skills, notably:
- Communication
- Critical thinking or problem-solving
- Adaptability and flexibility
- Leadership
- Innovation and creativity
An even more recent article in Inc magazine points out that “Bad communication can cost a company that has over 100,000 employees to lose $62 million a year.” Smaller companies can also take a serious hit from poor communication skills, including:
- A loss of productivity and low morale
- Team members spinning their wheels
- A failure to accomplish the company’s mission
- A loss of sales, employees, and clients.
Yeah … so … are your workplace communications working for you and your business?
