The JuvoHub Podcast

The JuvoHub Podcast


Steps for Better Communication

March 02, 2022
Episode 53

What are three common barriers to effective communication in the workplace? Is it all leadership’s fault, or should everyone share the responsibility? Join us as we discuss steps that everyone should take for better communication.



Host(s): Jonathan Saar from Market Me Social and Mark Howell from Howl Creative Concepts



Show Highlights

“I hate my job!” “I hear you, but I am not listening.” “I have trust issues.” These are the three common barriers that erode effective communication. This article will consider what these look like in the workplace and how we can overcome them.



Key Questions/Topics Covered

I hate my job! – Job dissatisfaction and communication 

We all know that there is no such thing as a perfect work environment, but what should you do if you find yourself actually hating your job? Job dissatisfaction can affect our mental health, our personal lives, and of course, how we interact at work. What does this have to do with communication? Quite often, lack of effective communication is the leading reason people become dissatisfied with their job. 



Effective communication can remove many pain points and help develop problem-solving skills. But as the saying goes, communication is a two-way street. You need to identify what the barrier is and talk to your team or manager about it. Be honest about what you struggle with and ask for help. If you still find yourself needing to move on in your career path, take time to reflect on the good aspects of your current position so you can move on with a positive headspace and continue using your communication skills.



I hear you, but I am not listening – What is active listening?

One of the most significant communication barriers today is the overuse of electronic devices. They are constantly in our face, on our wrist beeping and vibrating away, vying for our attention.  But can we say we are genuinely listening to another person if we are simultaneously checking a text message or an email? 



Active listening is when your mind is clear and focused on the conversation. In order to have a meaningful discussion, we should ensure that we are ready to concentrate and be device-free. Even then, we should ask questions to ensure understanding.



Trust issues erode effective communication

When people don’t trust you, they will not listen to you. You bring 50% of the trust to any given relationship. Ask yourself, what am I showing my organization? Am I being sincere and authentic? What about the little things, like answering messages in a timely manner or being punctual for meetings?



How we carry out these actions will determine whether we are building trust or eroding it. Being genuine and dependable will aid us in building trust within our workplace and encourage effective communication. 



Communication is crucially important for us to be able to do our jobs effectively and enjoyably. By breaking down the barriers we discussed here and following the steps provided, you can harness the skill of better communication.



Class dismissed!



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Jonathan (00:15): Hello, everyone. Welcome to Episode 53 of the Juvohub podcast. I am your host Jonathan Saar, and having fun alongside Mark Howell from Howl Creative Concepts. And so we appreciate your support of this complimentary training. We have a YouTube channel, so if you haven't subscribed to that, look us up on YouTube Juvohub. We appreciate hearing the feedback that you're using the video type of this show for training your team. So that's very, very cool and awesome to hear. And for those of you who like podcast, you can go to any of your podcast station search for Juvohub, and you can follow us there. We're also on socials. So connect with us on Instagram. We're putting out a whole bunch of cool little tips and tricks on our Juvohub, Instagram account, so at Juvohub, you can connect with us there. So let's get into our show for today. Today, Mark and I are talking about three common barriers to effective communication. And this is gonna be from the perspective as the employee, not from the leadership level, you know, so often it can be very easy just to kind of pass the buck and blame leadership for issues. We really just wanna focus on this episode on the barriers to effective communication from an employee perspective. So, Mark, what are our topics? What are our objectives for today?


Mark (01:37): Yeah, so we've got some good ones. The first one is I hate my job. Topic, number one, just kind of dealing with, what is, what does that look like? And what does it look like to others? What is your body language saying when you hate your job? Sometimes you don't actually have to say those words. We all can see it. We all know it. The second one is I hear you, but I'm not listening to you. Why is active listening so important and what is active listening? Third is just a simple lack of trust. Maybe it's the organizational barriers. Maybe it is a lack of trust that you feel from the organization or what you are not willing to give back to the organization. So trust works both ways.


Jonathan (02:22): Right? Right. Very good. And I love where we're gonna go with this today. You know, from that perspective, it's like, there is no such thing as a perfect work environment. There's always gonna be issues. And you know, even some of the best companies that have won awards, there's still daily issues. It's just part of being in the workforce. So this is really critical to see like what can can you do as an employee make a difference. So let's take on the first one, Mark, when someone has just got an attitude about where they work, they hate their job. That's a very big barrier to effective communication. What are your thoughts on that? What should be done about it?


Mark (03:03): Well, you know, Jonathan, look, this is such a deep topic. And one that is a little crazy right now in the world that we're in because people have many people have become complacent in their jobs. And for different reasons, there are so many variables right now, out there in the workplace. But first my advice is this. If you hate your job, go find you a job that you love. Because again, if you're not passionate about what you're doing every day, then that is no way to live your life. And no one will fault you for wanting to go and find something that you're truly passionate about. Second though, my thing is this. If you've chosen to accept a job in any industry, obviously we're talking to people in property management, there was something about property management that you liked, that you loved, that you wanted, you want this job.


Mark (03:53): And so that's what I want us to focus on from the employee perspective. If you know that you could gonna, you're gonna stay in property management then, and you hate your job every day you walk in, you never have to say those words. We know it, we can see it, we can smell it on you. And this is a perfect example. I've actually been working with the team out on site this past week. And I know that there are two people that absolutely hate their jobs, and I don't have to hear it. I see it. I see it in your work. I see it in your attitude. I see it in the way that you respond to questions about where we are with certain issues. So my advice to any employee that if you want a healthier work environment for your, so you don't have to hate your job anymore.


Mark (04:43): Ask for better communication. I truly believe that communication is most likely some reason the barrier that you are hating your job, because there's a lack of communication. And by that, I mean, whatever it is that you're hating about your job, you should probably go to your, your manager, your boss, and say, I'd like to have more weekly meetings with you or more meetings in general. So we can discuss how I could maybe get involved in other things. If there's something about your job that you hate, then what is it that would make it better. So you have to decide what that barrier is and how you're going to make it better. Only you can do. And I actually did tell an employee just this week that I said, you are responsible for your success. I can teach you ways to help make you responsible off.


Mark (05:30): I'm sorry, so for the success. But if you don't want to take the tools that I'm teaching you or offering to you, then that's on you. Yeah. So I love this, that there are so many ways that you actually can go and want to create a better open line of communication. Be honest for me, the honesty would be, Hey, I'm not really passionate about this part of my job. Can you help me find maybe a way to that? We could make you a little more fun. That is my first advice, like go to your bosses and just tell them these are the things that I do struggle with. And, and if you see me wavering a little bit I might need a pick me up. I always suggested you should have a buddy in the office, like a pick me up buddy, that when they see you wavering, when they see that you are not on your best, they can say, Hey, what's going on? Do you need, do you need me to help you? What that tells the team is that, you know what, there are certain aspects of our jobs that we don't like, but if I'm not communicating that to you, then you don't know when to pick me up. I can't distinguish between your bad attitude is about something personal or it's about the actual job itself. So I am a huge believer in great open and honest communication.


Jonathan (06:45): Yeah. Yes. Beautiful dude. Spot on. I look at this from the perspective of just overall mental health, you know, there's still may be some things that you can do. You made some amazing points on practical steps that you can do, but there still may be situations where there really isn't anything you can do, but for your own mental health, it's like the illustration of someone who's had a really, really, really bad day and they come home and ask their partner for a divorce, or they kick their dog. Like you're gonna take that home with you, that attitude. So for your own mental health, you have to watch how you feel about things, because it's slowly over time. It's just gonna embitter you, and it's gonna affect other things in your life. You need to be able to isolate and understand there are problems maybe at your place of employment and put them into that bucket.


Jonathan (07:50): Here is the problem. The problem is this, or it's this, instead of making that kind of statement, you know, I just hate where I work. You know, and generalizing it because of that damage it's going to have. And we know that's a big topic, mental health. So that's my perspective too is just, you know, making that statement. It's going to, it's gonna hurt you in the long run. And I love what you said too Mark. You do need to find some place that is going to make you happy, but make that a positive journey. You know, if you do have to leave your current place of employment, because things aren't working out well, leave in a positive way, you know, reflect on all the good things that were there, the good people that you worked with, the good times that you had, and be able to walk away into that new part of your career path in a very positive, positive way, you know?


Mark (08:53): Absolutely.


Jonathan (08:55): Okay. So let's talk about our next section, our next objective here rather something we all need to work on. Multitasking is terrible, but we all do it. There's, you be lying to yourself if, you know, text Mark or I, or say on our, or post a comment on one of the social channels that you never multitask. And so that becomes a barrier to communication. So I hear you, but I'm not listening to you. Why is this a problem, Mark? And what are your thoughts on ways to kind of overcome that personally?


Mark (09:32): Well, you know, I mean, you hit the nail on the head in our industry and maybe many others multitasking, and just being unavailable mentally or emotionally is a huge issue. But the multitasking, having too many devices in front of us, I find to be a huge distraction back in the days when we weren't so attached to the cell phones and didn't have all these devices readily available to us. We had to sit down and just stare into the face of our employee or our boss and talk about the issue. But today we're hearing dings on our watches and I constantly see people looking down at their watch in the middle of a conversation. And sometimes at first, I wonder, are you checking the time or, oh, you got an email or you got a text and right. This multitasking world is it's very confusing.


Mark (10:25): It's kind of like that old statement of, you know, the tone and an email is sort of always misunderstood. It's the same thing when you're looking at someone and you almost believe that they're not listening to you. You, I know you hear my voice, but you're not listening to things that I'm saying, because you are not answering correctly or you're not making the change that I'm asking for. To me, that's a huge indicator that, oh, I get it. When I'm talking to you hear what I'm saying, but you're not really listening to what I'm asking for. I find that the best way for even myself, when I am dealing with, with people and it can be friends, family, clients, coworkers, I always try to stop and ask myself, you know, Mark, are you available for this conversation? And I think as you know, if we're talking from the perspective of the employee here, then you have to ask yourself, are you truly available for the conversation as well?


Mark (11:26): If you've initiated it, then you certainly, you should be, but make sure that you're asking for the conversation in a time where you are clean and clear, your mind is available to hear what needs to be said in ask that of the person that is receiving your message. Like, hey, can we go somewhere away from our devices? So I could really talk to you because I actually need some answers about some issues that I have and get the answers. If you feel like someone isn't listening to you, then force them to and just say yes, but what, what will we do moving forward? How will we change that? I do it in reverse when I know that I have become distracted by something. And I could tell that I might have missed something important in the conversation. I will always go back to it.


Mark (12:10): And I'll say, I'm sorry, let me just make sure I understand exactly what you need from me and what I'm hearing and believe it or not. There have been times when I have been listening and I still use this method to make sure that the person that I'm talking to understands I'm in this conversation. And I'll say, let me make sure that I understand what you need from me. This is what I heard you, you say, right? And sometimes I get it wrong. They're like, well, not exactly. And so then I realize, oh, well then somewhere in our communication, it was lost in translation. So it's not necessarily always that maybe I'm not being an active listener, but it could be just a communication style. But honestly, active listening is huge. We have become so consumed with everything else going on that if you know that you have employees or that you are the employee, you really should ask for private one-on-one time away from devices. And that's how I usually say something to some of my friends or colleagues, Hey, could we have some one on one time away from devices? And they're like, what does that mean? And then I, it kind of gives me an opportunity to say, I don't want you checking your phone. I don't want you looking at your watch. Like, I need you to be in this conversation. They're like, okay. So I just find that to be helpful.


Jonathan (13:29): Yeah. Yeah. That's, that's cool, man. Like, there's some funny TikTok videos out there about, they're in Reels too, of you know, families that are at home and they're all on the couch, all on their devices. They're trying to talk to each other, but the way they communicate is by sending each other videos, you know, it's so crazy. The way things have changed over the years because of these devices, right? You know, you made some amazing valid points on how technology has just become such a destructive to being able to listen to one another. And it's an ongoing exercise. It is a discipline. I love your point about being able to take a moment and recap, you know, and I found myself too, cause you know, my brain is sure, like everybody's, it's just, there's so many things you're trying to deal with at one time, you're processing those 10 emails that came in three people, just text message.


Jonathan (14:23): You got an appointment in 10 minutes, you know, your brain is just all over the place with general life and work related items. And I've had to apologize like, you know, that was rude of me. I did pick up my phone while you were talking to me because someone texted me, someone sent me something and there was really no need for me to look at it at that moment. So I apologize for that. So being aware of that and perhaps putting that into your conversation will help with that discipline so that you don't you don't miss out on that conversation and you stay engaged to the individual. Yeah. Nice points. All right. So our last one today on our third common barrier to effective communication and this, again, this is from our own per our personal perspective is our lack of trust. So when people don't trust us, they don't trust me. They don't trust you. Why is that a barrier? Like why is that obviously an absolute no-no when it comes to a being a good communicator and what can be done to overcome that item Mark?


Mark (15:33): You know, it's funny. I go back to the two things that we were just talking about and it's a style of communication and are you actively listening? These are two of the fundamentals for me that will break the barrier of trust. And unfortunately in organizations today, there are many variables that break trust or lack of trust. But when your employees don't feel that they trust your line of communication or feel like you are really more showboating than you are to actually come up with solutions, that's when your employees don't trust you. As if we're looking at this from an employee perspective, though, I wanna make sure I stay focused on that. That a lack of trust is both ways. If your employer isn't giving you what you need, then you should ask yourself, are you honestly doing the top two things we talked about?


Mark (16:29): Have you assessed your own communication, your attitude when you walk in, are you showing the organization that they can trust you? And so it goes both ways and I'm sure we'll talk about maybe from a leadership perspective on another, another show, but if I'm focusing on me as the employee, I do have to take accountability for why there's lack of trust. I believe that that always comes from my attitude is my attitude sincere. Am I being truly authentic that I am, I'm admitting my strengths. I'm admitting my weaknesses. I'm here to do better. But when I don't believe that that is happening, that is when trust breaks down for me. If I'm talking to someone no matter who you are, an employee or the leader of the organization. And I sense that you are not listening, that you are not being genuine, that automatically sort of puts up a barrier for me that I don't trust you. And I don't trust what the intentions are here. Now, you know, granted we take jobs because we need to work for a living. And so we have to work around this. Sometimes we're going to work for people or organizations that we don't 100% trust all the time, but you have to find a positive in whatever you can about what you are bringing to the table, but you bring 50% of this trust to the relationship, I guess, is what I would wanna say.


Jonathan (18:00): Absolutely. Yeah. You, you bring about some, some nice you know, the bigger picture of our own individual roles in building trust. And it's hard. Like if, when a teammate, when they lose trust in us, it's really hard to get that back. So it's a lot of work to build that trust that can be completely done away with just one, you know, one wrong action. And Benjamin Franklin said something like that. I don't remember the exact quote, but you know, I think of it too, Mark, even in such little things, you know, like for instance, being at a meeting on time, like, do our fellow team members trust that we're gonna be on time? Did we come to work on time? Did we an answer emails or other forms of communication in an acceptable frame of time?


Jonathan (18:59): You know, those are all those little things that help build that trust when you're, when we understand that we have our own response ability to building the team while the team needs to be able to trust that we're gonna fulfill what we're required to do. And it's all those other little things that, that add to our overall reputation of being a trustworthy individual. So, you know, sometimes we can get into the big picture where, yeah, it's like a, there's just a complete degradation over a very unfortunate act on our part, but don't forget the little things, all the little things are really, really important too, so that our team, you know, feels good about us being a member of that team and feel that there's good communication along those lines. So very good. So just to recap, three common barriers to effective communication, one, our attitude about our job, two hearing, but not listening, so, so important to listen. And three, are we trustworthy? You know, have we lost trust in our, from our team, or for leadership, what are we doing to build that trust so that we can have good, effective communication? So, awesome thoughts today, Mark. So how can people find you just as a reminder for our awesome listeners?


Mark (20:27): Yes, absolutely. So it's Howl Creative Concepts dot com. So Howl is spelled H O W - sorry, just H O W L. Woo. Wow. That got stuck in there guys. Sorry. H O W L Creative Concepts dot com is how they can reach me. And please let us know if you have comments about some things that we're discussing or a topic that you might like, let us know that too.


Jonathan (20:51): Yeah. We would love the feedback. We appreciate so much our community. So please give us a thumbs up. If you're watching this on YouTube, give us a review. If you're on your favorite podcast station, we appreciate those as well. And like Mark said, we want your feedback, reach out to us on LinkedIn, DM us on any of our social channels. So this has been episode 53, talking about communication barriers. So thank you for tuning in this means now that we can dismiss our class and we will see you all next time. Thank you, everyone. Take care.









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