avoiding miscommunication mistakes happen everyone makes mistakes even good communicators have trouble sometimes and a miscommunication happens miscommunication is when something goes wrong or gets in the way of communication so the listener doesn't understand what the communicator is saying this can happen for many reasons so to help you better understand how miscommunication can happen we're going to look at three of its main causes then we'll look at some strategies for making things better after miscommunication here are some potential causes of miscommunication environment people communicate with each other in all kinds of places on the bus at
home on a construction site and in the library different environments or places affect our communication in different ways for example how loud an environment is how many other people are there and how people normally act there all can change how you communicate loud places can cause miscommunication because it can be hard to hear what other people are saying you might want to tell a friend about something personal but you may not feel comfortable if you're in a crowded space or you might be somewhere that talking isn't allowed like a library emotion experiencing negative emotions makes
it harder for people to communicate effectively they might act differently than normal and react differently to a conversation those are some reasons that negative emotions can cause miscommunication if you're speaking with someone who is experiencing a negative emotion it's important to be aware of their body language and non-verbal communication it might even be best to give them some time and space and then talk to them when they're feeling better culture different cultures communicate differently so cultural differences can lead to miscommunication for example in some cultures finishing your full plate of food is a sign of
respect but in others it means that you are still hungry and need to be served more food being aware of cultural differences can help you avoid this type of miscommunication no matter how carefully you communicate miscommunication will happen sometimes here are some strategies that you can use to make things better after a miscommunication act fast act slow it can be uncomfortable when a miscommunication happens but it's important to take steps to fix the problem quickly especially if it's at work problems caused by miscommunication will usually get worse if you leave them for too long if
you don't understand what someone is saying you should act fast by asking them for more information as soon as possible when you disagree with someone and you're both feeling emotional it can sometimes be helpful to act slow instead if someone is angry with you you should try to give them the space so they can calm down it really depends on the situation but acting fast and acting slow can both help you fix problems caused by miscommunication apologizing if you've made a mistake that affects someone else apologizing is a great way to make things right the
key to a good apology is being sincere or really meaning what you say you can practice sincerity by explaining why you are sorry when you apologize let's look at a quick example kate and raza have just started working together kate finishes a report and emails it terazza she thinks she has done a good job and is excited to hear raz's feedback the next day kate sees razza in the break room raza doesn't make eye contact with kate and leaves the room kate assumes her report was not done well and razza is mad at her the
next day when kate sees razza she walks up to her and asks what was wrong with her work what do you mean razza asks yesterday when i saw you you didn't even look at me i know you didn't like it kate says kate i am so sorry yesterday i was having a really bad day and i didn't feel like talking your report is great i didn't mean to upset you raza says phew that's good news i understand no hard feelings says kate in this example body language was the main cause of the miscommunication kate felt
hurt because she thought raza's body language was aimed at her and she didn't consider that raza was having a bad day when kate and raza spoke raza realized her emotions communicated something to kate that she didn't mean to communicate then raza sincerely apologized for what had happened miscommunication happens to everyone but good communicators think about barriers to communication and how to make things better if a communication problem happens miscommunication can be caused by many factors like environment emotions and culture if you run into a miscommunication acting fast or slow and apologizing can help you fix
the problem being a good communicator is not about being perfect it's about having the tools and skills to say what you really mean you
