How to clean up the communication chaos
Just like mystery messes left for others to clean up in the communal kitchen,
lazy communication creates chaos that others have to sort out…often with a large serve of resentment.
What if, along with your other goals for 2025, you added one about making your communication habits more hygienic?
Here are 5 ideas for where to start:
1. Respond to Unanswered Emails and Messages
Like an overflowing sink of dirty dishes, these neglected communications create a backlog, force others to pick up the slack, and can lead to missed deadlines and important information falling through the cracks. It disrupts workflow and the lack of consideration doesn’t encourage others to want to work with you.
2. Learn Splatter-Proof Writing Techniques
Just as nobody likes to clean up someone else’s microwave mess, no one wants to piece together your “all-over-the-place” message so they can understand your point. Or make urgent, apologetic phone calls to mop up your mistakes. A poorly written or formatted email, for example, is messy, unprofessional, and leaves a bad impression.
3. Complete Shared Documents, Forms and Files
Empty containers and spills left on the counter make others wonder what was there and what happened. So does forgetting to fill in key details or providing only the briefest of bullet points. This allows assumptions and suspicions to affect decisions, sometimes with undesirable consequences. Guessing wastes time and diminishes trust.
4. Cool Your Head Before You Lob a Salvo (not the tambourine-tapping kind!)
Loud, aggressive or disrespectful communication is like a food fight – it’s chaotic and leaves a huge (and sometimes expensive) mess. It can make bystanders feel endangered or uncomfortable. Yelling, interrupting, and using inflammatory language are food-fight equivalents at work. Short-term relief from pent-up frustration, often disguised as friendly crossfire, does little to slacken underlying tensions and a lot more to erode psychological safety.
5. Speak Up When Something’s Broken
If the dishwasher stopped working, you’d tell the person who knows how to get it fixed. If the coffee caddy was empty, you’d tell the person responsible for ordering more. Don’t allow communication blunders to pile up or missing information to cause headaches. Be alert to signs that something’s wrong and let the right people know before the grumbles get any louder.
Just as maintaining a clean communal kitchen requires effort and cooperation, so too does effective workplace communication.
If you’d like to avoid communication chaos, book a complimentary and unconditional Communication Coaching Clarity Call.