Why Communication Fails and How to Fix it: The Perception Gap, Part 2

Sometimes merely focusing on communicating with your team isn’t enough. Why? Because the intention you set forth is often misunderstood by your audience. The gap between what you mean to communicate and what is actually communicated is known as the Perception Gap.

In Part One of this series about communication failure, I covered what Perception Gaps are, why they happen, and how they negatively impact productivity and relationships. Now, let’s discuss how Perception Gaps can be avoided, and how a manager should deal with one, should it arise.

How to deal with a Perception Gap

When it comes to a Perception Gap, clarity is the best defense. So make it a habit to reach out to people in the moment, or soon after the fact and ask, “Here’s how I intended that message to be understood…how did you receive it?” This requires strong self-management, so be sure that you’re open and ready for the answer to your question, whatever it may be. For example, your intention may have been to effectively get through the agenda in 45 minutes, so that  everybody can leave work on time. Yet the feedback suggested you were curt and abrupt. While this feedback may have triggered an emotional response in you, a powerful leader will thank the person for her feedback, accept the feedback, ask some clarifying questions and aim to minimize the gap in future meetings. Here are some specific tips for preventing Perception Gaps.

Tips for preventing a Perception Gaps

 Managers can take the following steps BEFORE they start communicating in order to lessen the likelihood of a potential Perception Gap.

1. At the beginning of a call or meeting, state: “My intention for this meeting/call is X.” That way, the team or team member can frame the meeting content within the stated intentions.
2. At the end of the meeting or call, ask for feedback by saying “My intention for this meeting/call was X. How did I do?” This reiterates your intention to the team, and creates a welcoming environment for clarifying questions.
3. Listen carefully to the reply to see if there is a Perception Gap.

It is a good idea to get in the habit of taking the above three steps before any communication takes place with your team. Unfortunately, communication may fail anyway. If that happens, here is how to deal with a Perception Gap.

Tips for managing an actual Perception Gap

Here are the two steps for managing actual Perception Gap.

1. Ask yourself four questions:

• What communication method was used? There are seven different forms of human communication: spatial, linguistic, intrapersonal, interpersonal, musical, bodily-kinesthetic, and logical-mathematic. Identify the communication style that was used in this situation and consider if that communication style was appropriate for those being communicated to.
• How was my communication received and perceived? The feedback received from stating, “My intention for this meeting/call was X. How did I do?” will provide helpful insight into how others have received and perceived the intended communication.
• What might the other party’s story be? With the seven forms of human communication in mind, managers can use feedback to understand the perspective of the other party.
  What could happen if I don’t address the gap? Asking this question will help you look to the future and importance of the current relationship.

2. Clarify the Perception Gap in a compassionate, non-threatening way.

It’s easy to make the other person “wrong”, saying something like “What’s wrong with you? Why don’t you understand what I’m saying?”  Yet it’s important to remember that the person is a human being with worries that extend outside of work. So approach them with openness and find out where the communication gap occurred by saying something like “It seems I wasn’t clear. Let’s start again. What did you understand so I can fill in the blanks for you?” Then listen carefully and address the situation as quickly as possible. It is important to be compassionate, and actively non-threatening. Read more about the damaging outcome of Perception Gaps on productivity and relationships here.

Do you have your own tricks for mitigating Perception Gaps? What has been your experience in managing Perception Gaps? Let’s communicate about it. Please send me a tweet, leave a comment below, or write me an email.

Image by Joana Pereira.