Last night three department heads and their assistants sat down together. As expected the conversation was wide ranging and jumped from topic to topic almost at random. The heads dominated the conversation, creating space for others to speak when additional detail was required. Multiple times the conversation was hijacked to the cause of an individual. People spoke their truth and the lack of questions suggested little apparent regard for others.
Sadly this wasn’t a boardroom meeting. It was a private social occassion with three families meeting for dinner. The pattern of conversation mirrored that we so often see at work. Those of us wishing to improve our communication need to look at all our interactions to see how we habitually behave. By doing so we can create richness at work and in our private lives as well.