Real-Life Communication -- Solution
Here's what we wrote:
Complete vs. Finished
When
someone is finished, they've done their best given the resources they had,
but the project may still be incomplete. To be complete means that it's so
finished that nothing will come back to bite them due to the depth and quality
of work.
One does complete work when they anticipate what might happen
to unravel the project. Jane knew she was doing complete work when she set
up an automatic watering system for her front yard rather than just watering
the plants once.
Note: You know it's complete when you have virtually
no thought about it or any degree of concern.
Create vs. Design
This
is a very subtle distinction. To design means that you use the elements available
to you that you know, whether it's pen and paper, language and conversation,
sofas and colors, or architectural drawings and a site.
Create, however,
can include design but also includes the unknown, the unproved and elements
from other sources. One creates a possibility and one designs a future. Creating
is three-dimensional and designing is two-dimensional.
Effective
vs. Efficient
To be effective means you're able to accomplish
a worthwhile goal that's been chosen. To be efficient means you're quick and
able at the task or even at accomplishing a goal, but it may not be the most
effective goal to have set.
Better to be less efficient and more effective
than more efficient and less effective. The hamster running around the cage
is efficient at living his life, but is that hamster effective?
Hear
vs. Listen
Listen refers to the practice of perceiving what the
person is saying. Yet to hear means that you're hearing what they're saying
and the meaning behind what they're saying. Hearing is more comprehensive
than simply listening.
Good work! Your language skills help you relate
to your clients. They tell their friends, and your consulting business is
richly successful. Well done, well said!
"Communication skills are extremely
important," says high school career advisor and independent career consultant
Karen Girard.
Girard says employment counselors use their communication
skills to do the following:
* Listening, without judgment,
looking for details and inflection
* Observing and
interpreting body language - is someone telling you the truth, or what they
think you want to hear?
* Explaining clearly, and
being able to communicate at all levels
* Appearing
patient, tactful and understanding
* Coming across
as personable and trusting, and gaining confidence
"Cultural
awareness is also important, as you will be working with people from many
different languages and cultures," says Girard. "It is important for them
to make decisions that are right for them, not to please you."
Another
important skill is being able to speak in public with confidence, especially
in facilitating workshops, says Girard.