05 Jul Assumptions Derail Communication

There is one in every conversation ……

As I was standing waiting with a team of people who were about to embark on a work trip to a foreign country, one man stepped forward and asked the organiser… “Will we have internet connection?”

A member of the group interrupted “you can use the flight tracker app”.

Another joined the conversation and said “there’s no social media allowed on this trip”.

Another piped up and said “The internet speed is higher than the Australian Governments “.

No one had answered the man’s question. Assumptions that he……

a) he needed flight information

b) he wanted to broadcast the trip on social media

c) he was assessing the effectiveness of the internet in the country they were visiting

In fact, his reasons were completely different.

All these assumptions wasted the time and energy of the group and more importantly frustrated the man who had originally asked the question.

He moved closer to me and whispered

“See we really do need you. We don’t communicate well as a team at all”.

How many assumptions are you and your team making in everyday communication?