Communication Constraints

Quick reference

• 00:00 Hello, I'm Ray Sheen.
• 00:04 We don't live in a perfect world or with perfect people.
• 00:08 Sometimes there will be constraints that limit a team's communication options.
• 00:12 The team leader must recognize and overcome these constraints.
• 00:19 Let's start with some core characteristic of team communication.
• 00:21 When these are inhibited or their importance is not recognized,
• 00:24 the team communication will suffer.
• 00:27 First, team communication is interpersonal.
• 00:30 It's not like writing for
• 00:32 a newspaper or a magazine where the author doesn't know who will read it.
• 00:36 Rather these are your team members you are communicating with.
• 00:38 They are individuals with whom there is a relationship.
• 00:41 The personal relationships can accelerate communication, but it also must be
• 00:45 managed as part of the communication so as not offend or break the relationship.
• 00:51 Communication on the team is inescapable.
• 00:54 You can't refuse to communicate and be an effective team member.
• 00:57 I've occasionally seen team members or business teams take the childish approach
• 01:01 of refusing to communicate with someone, because they're angry with them.
• 01:05 This destroys the effectiveness of the team.
• 01:08 Next, communication is irreversible.
• 01:10 A team member can't unhear a derogatory comment.
• 01:14 It's out there, and it will influence the relationship of the team members.
• 01:17 Many people have found out the hard way that electronic communication,
• 01:21 such as emails, tweets, or posts, will remain accessible forever.
• 01:26 Communication is also intricate.
• 01:28 There are several layers to many communications, such as the tone of voice,
• 01:32 body language, eye contact, and the specific words or pictures used.
• 01:36 In addition, the emotional state of the sender, receiver
• 01:39 can significantly impact the effectiveness and clarity of team communication.
• 01:43 All these should be considered when communicating.
• 01:46 The final core characteristic to be aware of is that communication is in the moment.
• 01:51 The interpretation and understanding of your communication is based upon
• 01:54 the experiences of the receiver, and
• 01:56 the most recent experiences are the most influential.
• 01:59 A comment provided to an individual when celebrating success
• 02:03 could be warmly received, and that same comment could be viewed as an insult,
• 02:07 if the team member had just experienced a failure on a team activity.
• 02:11 These core characteristics should influence the timing and
• 02:13 content of any communication.
• 02:17 There are other constraints that are a function of the team size and
• 02:20 organization.
• 02:21 First size matters, the number of possible communication
• 02:24 channels between team members grows with the size of the team.
• 02:28 If there are only two team members, there's only one communication channel.
• 02:31 If there are three team members,
• 02:33 the number of possible communication paths is now three.
• 02:36 With 14 members the number of paths grow to six.
• 02:40 By the time there are five team members,
• 02:42 there are 10 possible communication paths or channels.
• 02:45 As the team size doubles from 5 to 10,
• 02:48 the number of possible communication paths increases from 10 to 45.
• 02:53 With a team this size, the team leader cannot rely on ad hoc or
• 02:56 word of mouth communication.
• 02:59 The leader must be proactively managing the team communications
• 03:03 to avoid confusion.
• 03:05 Another factor that could constrain communication is if the work is being done
• 03:08 under contract for a customer or another organization.
• 03:12 There will often be required contractual communication,
• 03:15 both in terms of content and communication approach.
• 03:18 Finally there are several other factors that have created communication
• 03:21 challenges based upon my experience.
• 03:24 Extensive use of vendors or subcontractors can inhibit the communication,
• 03:27 because they may not be on the same systems.
• 03:30 Another constraint is when the subject matter of the team activities is
• 03:33 classified or contains personal and confidential information.
• 03:37 This creates limitations on access to systems, and what information is shared.
• 03:41 Finally, when a team is virtual, a number of communication options,
• 03:45 such as informal face to face meetings, are just not available.
• 03:49 The last point I wanted to discuss on this topic is the personal constraint, and
• 03:53 how our communication can impact the individual.
• 03:56 Bob Dilts's research has shown that team members react very differently based upon
• 04:01 what they perceive is the focus of the comments or questions.
• 04:04 Who created the hierarchy?
• 04:05 First, there are comments and questions that emphasize the identity of
• 04:08 the individual, their race or ethnicity, gender or religion.
• 04:12 The emphasize is on who.
• 04:14 Next are the questions and comments that focus on the morals, values, and
• 04:17 motivation of the individuals.
• 04:19 Comments like you're being greedy, or you don't care would fall onto this category.
• 04:25 Answering the question why.
• 04:28 The third level is comments or questions that focus on the strategy or
• 04:31 approach that an individual's following.
• 04:34 Questions like are you going to code in Python or Java?
• 04:37 These are addressing the how question.
• 04:39 The fourth level is focused on the skills or actions that the team member's using.
• 04:43 Some comments or questions might include the failure analysis you conducted should
• 04:48 include the materials analysis, or your Powerpoint charts look awesome.
• 04:53 The focus is on what has been done.
• 04:55 The final level is the business environment, in which the comments
• 04:59 the questions apply, such as the date or the location of the activity.
• 05:04 Dilts's research show that there's an important line of demarcation between
• 05:09 the why level and the how level.
• 05:12 Comments and questions above the line create an emotional response.
• 05:16 If the comments are positive and encouraging, this is good.
• 05:19 If the comments are negative the individual get angry and
• 05:22 questions are often viewed as accusatory in nature.
• 05:25 Below the line invokes different response.
• 05:28 The team members will be much more pragmatic,
• 05:30 the communication is viewed as explaining what happened not defending what happened.
• 05:35 So, why do we care?
• 05:37 Well, communication patterns will affect people's response, and
• 05:40 the ability of the team to make good decisions.
• 05:42 When you find that emotions are getting heated in a team meeting, watch out for
• 05:46 comments that are focusing on identity or morals and values.
• 05:50 Use comments and questions that emphasize the what, the when, and
• 05:54 the where of this issue.
• 05:56 This will help to diffuse the situation and lower the emotions.
• 06:01 Well there certainly are many things that can strain team communications.
• 06:06 But fortunately, most are manageable.

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