What means something to me may be entirely different for you. And it can be surprising how many times this can lead to miscommunication and misunderstanding. On a good day and in a supported environment, we may learn from each other’s differences and open up our perspectives on any given subject.
We may be surprised or challenged if we see people act in a certain way due to a given word. We often view the world through our very own tinted specs and don’t always see the value in others’ interpretations. Perhaps there is a context we are unaware of or due to all manner of reasons, which we’ll touch on later, and the word has been interpreted differently.
Let’s delve into personal interpretation. During our lifetimes, we are bombarded with different experiences due to our circumstances and this understandably has a bearing on how we interpret language. If we take the word ‘love,’ for example, it has different meanings for different people and context will absolutely matter. If I say, ‘I love my ice cream,’ chances are what I really mean is that I’m enjoying this, it’s tasty. Whereas if I say ‘I love you,’ to my partner, it means romantic affection. But, what if ‘love’ to me means romantic affection, but for my partner it means companionship?
Before I open a can of worms here! Personal interpretation can vary among us all. So, it’s important that we try and understand what the words actually mean. In a workplace setting this can be difficult due to time considerations or other demands, so we need to create a culture where people feel comfortable enough to ask ‘what do you mean’ if the contextualisation isn’t clear.
Some words can have different meanings, which leads to different interpretations. Ambiguity in the workplace is an often-cited source of miscommunication. When words or instructions are unclear, we all may take a different course of action depending on our own interpretation and cultural, environmental, and social contexts. So, the message here is to watch your language if there is an important task that you need everyone to get on board with and confirm clarity amongst those involved.
Some words carry with them an often loaded and emotional response. For example, if you are in the workplace and say the word ‘feedback,’ some will take this literally and happily jump in with feedback, but others may see this as being set up for a fall, due to previous experiences and do just the opposite. It’s always very important to explain your language and context to go some way in alleviating this.
Our crucial conversation cards take advantage of the ambiguity of language and during the activity, we have some cards, that simply have one word on them, which is open to interpretation. The participant is asked to explain what the word means to them. Throughout our experience, we are surprised at just how many variations there can be. This demonstrates the importance of clarity and simply engaging with one another. By having a conversation, we begin to understand differences leading to better team spirit, boosted morale and an engaged workforce.
You may like to watch the organisation Healthwatch play our card game, to see the power of a conversation:
Healthwatch having a huunuu conversation
