Communication is the foundation of all human relationships.
Communication is a process of interaction between the different people who are communicating. There can be no non-communication, as there can be no non-behavior. So there is no need for intentionality for communication.
He stressed that “neuroses, psychoses and in general forms of psychopathology do not arise in the isolated individual, but in the type of pathological interaction that takes place between individuals”, thus placing the emphasis on the importance of the interaction existing between the people who communicate and the influence exercised on them by culture, through the signs and symbols to which meanings are attributed.
Watzlawick bases his theoretical elaboration on five axioms, basic statements that reflect the mechanisms that are triggered in the interaction between signs and symbols and are:
1. one cannot not communicate;
2. each communication has a content aspect and a relationship aspect;
3. the nature of a relationship depends on the punctuation of the communication sequences between the communicants;
4. human beings communicate both with the verbal (numerical) and with the non-verbal (analogical) modules;
5. All communication exchanges are symmetric or complementary, depending on whether they are based on equality or difference.
The first axiom states that it is impossible not to communicate, even if one is silent.
For example, when we are in a railway compartment, someone can start talking to us.
We can not answer (refusal of the conversation), reply or send signs of impatience (yawn, answer in monosyllables etc.).
An important principle established by Watzlawick is that in a communication sequence, each exchange of messages restricts the number of possible subsequent moves.
In analogy with the game: in every interpersonal game a move changes, often irreversibly, the configuration of the game.
In this perspective, all our behavior, every human interaction becomes communication, which takes on different meanings within it.
The second axiom turns attention to the fact that communication has a content and a relationship aspect, where the second defines the first. Therefore, depending on how we express a content, this also defines the relationship: for example we can say “eat”, as an invitation, an order, a threat, based on the tone and volume of the voice.
Although in this case the content is the same, with reference to the act of eating, it is possible that a different relationship is expressed, implicit in the quality of the message itself.
An invitation implies a peer relationship, unlike the command aspect, typical of asymmetric relationships.
Usually the verbal channel conveys the content better, while the non-verbal one of which we will talk more in detail later, better conveys the relationship.
This could offer a reflection on the importance of paying attention to communicative feedback, since the relational nature contained in the message classifies the content and could determine the interlocutor’s reaction.
The perception we have of our interlocutor is transmitted through the relational aspect contained in communication.
The third axiom implies a circular process: every communicative action influences and in turn is influenced by the verbal and non-verbal behavior of the interlocutor.
“Punctuation is an arbitrary attempt to establish cause and effect connections sequentially” (Watzlawick, Beavin & Jackson, 1971).
“In reality, each communicative act simultaneously represents a stimulus, a response and a reinforcement” (Gattone, 2008).
In the fourth axiom, the reference to the numerical and analogical module takes up the aspect of content and relationship involved in communication and discussed in the second axiom .
Language, in particular verbal and written, places a “digital” connection and usually follows the content aspect. All non-verbal modalities, however, usually concern the relationship aspect of communication.
In the last axiom, the authors analyze communication based on the relational position of the interlocutors.
A symmetrical exchange takes place between people who have similar roles, while a complementary exchange takes place between people who are not on the same level in terms of power, communication role, social authority etc.
An exchange is symmetrical when it takes place between interlocutors who consider themselves on the same level, performing communicative functions and similar social roles; it is complementary when it brings together people who have a relationship, but are not on the same level for power, communicative role, social authority, interests.
It is good to underline that in few occasions the communication is symmetrical (often only in family or with the closest friends).
In interpersonal communication, symmetry and complementarity are not in themselves “good or bad”, “normal or abnormal”, both perform important functions and are necessary in “healthy” relationships, this if they alternate and operate in different sectors.
When in relationships one of the two ways of entering into relationship with the other stiffens, pathologies or communication failures are produced.
Regardless of the structural aspects of communication, it is of fundamental importance, in our opinion, to dwell on the relational aspect that they convey, as the person interprets through a subjective filter.
Of great importance, especially today, is the analysis of cultural factors related to language, because these vary a lot, for example depending on the place of origin and the culture of belonging.
It therefore becomes essential to take into account also the semantic – linguistic values that attribute values to words.
The scholar Bateson stated that: “there is nothing specifically like five in number five; there is nothing specifically similar to a table in the word -table- “, meaning by what we all know the meaning of the table object, but a positive attribution to that object, for example” this table is beautiful ” , may not be shared by others.
Functions and characteristics of communication
Communication has multiple functions.
The emotional or expressive function related to expressing feelings and thoughts; the information, data and information transmission function; the “contact” function that is used to get in touch, to keep it or to interrupt it (think of greetings, exclamations, for example). Finally, consider the poietic functions, that is, what makes the speech more harmonious and pleasant, metalinguistic, that is, the ability of the language to describe itself, to speak about itself, and the persuasive one used to convince others as advertisements and political speeches.
Communication also has four fundamental characteristics which we will discuss below.
It is, above all, a social activity that takes place within a group or between two people, in other cases it is called an internal monologue.
Communication is participation as it implies agreement on shared and negotiated meanings within a group or community, therefore it has a cultural matrix and a conventional nature.
We can then assert that it is a cognitive activity, because there is a close interdependence between thought and communication itself.
Finally, communication is connected to action, since the communicator has a purpose and acts to achieve his goal.
You can identify and appreciate all these nuances of communication, but it is in the relationship vis à vis where most of all the potential and communication richness are realized: on this occasion there is a passage of information (from-to) but, above all, there is a inference among those who communicate, since clues are offered and simultaneously accepted regarding what is not exclusively information.
The elements of communication
With the term “elements of communication” we refer to those parts that Bateson defines as constituting the communication sequences and which allow the transmission of the content.
We will now analyze the elements of a communicative sequence: they are manifold and we must consider them as interrelated with each other.
Initially these elements were theorized in the traditional model of Shannon and Weaver (1948), defined as “transmitter-message-receiver” and was composed of the elements present even now, except for the feedback. This important feature will be studied in the dialogic model, which will follow the old behaviorist theory which did not consider all the complexity and circularity of the communication process.
It starts with the definition of issuer and receiver, which are, respectively, the person who communicates the message and the recipient of the message itself; it should be noted that these two elements can be made up of a single person or several people.
The message is fundamental, that is, the content of what is communicated. It can be information, data, news or simply a sensation.
Then there is the code, which is the system of signs that is used when communicating and without which the transmission of the message does not take place.
It can be either a language, a gesture, a graphic or a drawing. This element is distinct from the channel which can be understood both as the technical means external to the subject with which the message arrives (telephone, fax, mail etc.) and as the sensory medium involved in communication (mainly hearing and sight).
The issuer carries out an important activity, called coding, in which he transforms ideas, concepts and mental images into a message communicable through the code. In parallel, the recipient carries out the decoding, that is the transformation of the message from code into ideas, concepts and mental images.
A further element is the feedback, that is the exchange that takes place between the receiver and the issuer; it is the return information that allows the issuer to perceive whether the message has been received and understood.
Finally there is the context or environment: it is the “place”, physical or social, where the communication exchange takes place; it can encourage or on the contrary discourage communication.
It is important to stress that not everything that is communicated arrives to the recipient.
Normally, in fact, by attributing to the message that a person wants to communicate a value of 100 units, he manages to communicate only 70% of them.
Due to disturbances in the exchange such as noise, distraction, barriers, in turn the recipient only comes into contact with 40% of this, he understands only 20%, finally remembering 10%.
To all that has just been said, we add the fact that only 15-20% of what you hear is remembered by the recipient (think of a frontal lesson for example), 30-35% of what you see, but the percentage of memory rises to 60-70% of what you hear, if combined with visual aids (let’s think of a frontal lesson with a visual presentation of the highlights).
This occurs as a result of the fact that it is taken for granted that all that was meant to be said has been communicated and that all that is communicated has been truly perceived by the recipient.
We must therefore pay attention to these aspects and not underestimate them.
The possible obstacles to communication, which we mentioned earlier, are the distraction, the limited capacity of the recipient (for cultural, physical, etc. reasons), the low interest, the tiredness, the emotional detachment or the excessive emotional involvement.
The possible remedies for all this, for the speaker, are to express one’s thought with semantic and syntactic precision, that is to be clear; underlining the fundamental concepts is important because, following the previous percentages, we can say that if a concept is repeated, there will be a higher probability that it will be received and remembered.
It is also useful to accompany words with gestures to help remember the former. Another remedy is to give priority to information regarding facts over opinions, thus avoiding confusion from one another.
Being objective is also important, identifying with the other (in order to understand what could be ambiguous and explaining it) and defining the objective of communication: if the listener knows what the purpose of communication is, he will also be able to grasp it the salient aspects.
For the listener, however, the tips for avoiding ineffective communication are:
being available for communication;
have or acquire listening skills;
understand and interpret the symbolic meanings of the messages;
identify with the issuer’s reference schemes (identify oneself, empathy);
ask questions so that the broadcaster makes his thoughts clear.
Non-verbal
communication All that complex of signals, gestures, body movements, postures, facial expressions, direction of gaze, proximity and spatial position, body contact, orientation, tone of voice and other non-verbal aspects of the speech, clothes and body ornaments.
Non-verbal communication is of enormous importance, in fact 70% of the value of communication is attributed to it.
The functions of non-verbal communication are those of expressing and communicating the emotional experience, for example through the expression of the face, posture, tone of voice; transmit messages of relationship with the expression of the face, the smile, regulate the interaction (look, gestures, movements, pauses); support or replace verbal communication with facial expression, posture and gestures. Through non-verbal communication, social rules, cultural differences and sexual differences can be expressed.
To all this we can add four other functions.
Non-verbal communication, if it agrees with verbal communication, can underline the expressed message, reinforcing it.
This can cause the message to be repeated through an easily memorized and more intuitive code.
Both codes do not always agree. Verbally, a message can be expressed in stark contrast to the non-verbal code.
An example can be represented by affirming that you feel relaxed and happy and tears come out.
A further case can occur when the non-verbal code replaces the verbal message; for example, a yawn or closing eyes communicate boredom or tiredness, in the absence of a verbal message we communicate to our interlocutor our emotional state.
The non-verbal code can also accentuate the message expressed by emphasizing and strengthening the verbal language; for example, it says “go outside” and indicates the door with the index.
Channels, systems and signals of non-verbal communication
The channels of non-verbal communication are numerous: interpersonal distance, spatial behavior (orientation, physical contacts, posture), motor-gestural behavior and mimic behavior of the face, for example the look ; the outward appearance as clothing and ornaments.
It is also interesting to analyze the four systems of non-verbal communication:
* kinesic which includes the movements of the body, eyes and face; our movements are not only instrumental to the execution of a task or an action, but imply the production and transmission of meanings;
* proxemic concerning the perception, organization and use of space, distance and territory towards others;
* haptic which is the set of actions of body contact with another person;
* chronemic, or the way of conceiving and organizing the subjective time of the discussion, for example the management of pauses, the rhythm, the alternation of shifts between the speaker and the listener.
Going deeper into the issue of signals, we highlight the presence of a particular class, composed of subliminal micro signals, that is, specific non-verbal, short and small signals that communicate something below the threshold of consciousness both of those who send them and those who receive them ; they implement communicative processes, even if we do not realize it, precisely because they act below the conscious level.
These signals start from the brain and end in places where the tension is discharged, namely the nose, mouth, right and left side of the face.
They can be of three types. The first type concerns the signs of satisfaction and are located in the mouth area, examples of this type are wetting the lips, having the fingers close to the lips, nibbling the lips, caressing, having the upper body forward, approaching.
Moving away from a person, putting your torso back or backing up, brushing, closing the jacket, crossing your legs and / or arms, passing your hands through the collar of your shirt (as a sense of suffocation) are all symptoms of refusal.
Modes for relieving tension are: redness, sweating, “scratching” (tip of the nose, mouth) and beating time.
Knowing these signals, they can be used as verbal tracing, to underline what is being said.
There are signs on which we normally do not pay our attention, but which however can express an emotional state, for example stomping the foot indicates impatience, drumming with the fingers expresses nervousness, instead giving a kick expresses anger.
There is a very evident signal, that is the posture, which expresses an emotional experience, but also the social position, we think of the professor standing and the students sitting.
What we have described so far, namely language, verbal and non-verbal, has the purpose of expressing and interpreting reality.
We communicate to make our point of view understood, to explain and understand.
However, we must ask ourselves if objective reality exists.
What each of us calls reality is always a subjective interpretation and this same reality is constructed through communication and experience. Communication therefore builds the reality and, ultimately, the lifestyles of each person in his context (for further details, see the publications that refer to socio-constructionist theories, for example Bateson, 1976)
In light of all this , it is clear that communication is both a complex and adaptive system.
E. Morin, a scholar of complexity, argues that if a simple answer is given to a complex problem, it is certainly wrong: normally, we care little about carefully analyzing all aspects of communication and, in doing so, we only give a simple answer to a problem that is actually complex.
It is also good to keep in mind that communication, given the asymmetry relationships in which it almost always takes place, is always surrounded by ambiguity.
Non-verbal skills Non-verbal
skills have a great relevance, in fact they manifest themselves as independent signs of communication and act as a support to the verbal expression of which they are a complement.
The first response to an embarrassing situation is, generally, non-verbal: the tremor of the voice, the disordered shaking of the hands and feet, the inability of verbal expression and some components of a neurovegetative nature such as redness and paleness are common.
These skills are:
observation – we are not only observed, but we are also observers, protagonists of what is happening around us;
eye contact – or the mutual glances that two people exchange during an interaction; the importance of this basic skill is linked to its being a double channel in communication; feelings and emotions are expressed with the gaze, the feelings and emotions of others are captured with the gaze. The exchange of this information is an essential tool to plan and adjust the way you communicate at any time;
facial mimic – includes any mimic variation, consistent with the feelings and emotions that you want to express. Technically it manifests itself with movements of the parts of the face: raising or lowering an eyebrow, the contraction of the pupils, the movement of the cheeks, the bending of the lips;
posture – the position of the body expresses what verbal language does not say or says only in part; the individual often speaks assuming a posture inconsistent with the words he communicates. If the body does not express participation, it will be difficult for our broadcaster to receive our sympathy, moreover a rigid posture can influence or be influenced by the content of the communication;
the bodily space – that is, the space within which the individual moves, interacting. Both the discrepancy that one body has on the other and the orientation that the body assumes constitute body space: both of these elements are influenced by social and cultural conditions;
body contact – in communication and in the relationship with others, the person manifests himself by coming into contact, also bodily, to express a variety of feelings and emotions: he shakes hands, embraces, puts his hand on one shoulder, caresses. The handshake, for example, can be too soft or elusive, at the tip of a finger, with the fingers pointing downwards, too vigorous, crushing or prolonged beyond the bearable, as a test of strength.
The voice
The voice is a phonic substance, composed of a series of vocal phenomena and processes.
It is necessary to analyze it because, despite being the vehicle of verbal communication (therefore of “what is said”), its variants and expressions produce effects on the methods of communication and on what goes beyond information, therefore on “how to say” (the variants can arise in modulating the voice, in accentuating syllables, in the intensity, in the tone, in the vibrations and all this produces effects in the relationship).
The voice is used in reflexes (sneezing, coughing etc.), in vocal characterizers (laughter, crying etc.) and in vocalizations (“full breaks”).
Then there are the extra-linguistic characteristics, permanent and exclusive anatomical characteristics of the individual, organic and phonetic.
The paralinguistic characteristics, that is the set of transitory acoustic properties that accompany the pronunciation of an utterance and that can vary from situation to situation, must be taken into particular consideration.
These latter characteristics are determined by:
* the tone, that is the fundamental frequency of the voice, generated by the tension of the vocal cords;
* the intensity, that is the volume of the voice and varies from a weak volume to a very loud one;
* time, which determines the succession of speech and pauses; includes duration (time needed to pronounce a sentence, including pauses), speaking speed (number of syllables per second including pauses), articulation speed (number of syllables per second excluding pauses), pause (suspension of speech: full pauses, that is, use of vocalizations and empty pauses, that is, periods of silence).
Verbal skills Verbal
skills, depending on the situation, consist of knowing how to use: closed, open, reflexed questions, free information, self-opening, change of topic.
Closed questions require a very short answer, typically a “yes” or “no” and are sometimes needed to start a conversation or hang up on the other party. They do not allow scrolling of the conversation, except with further questions; a new commitment on the part of the interrogator is therefore necessary. They force the interlocutor to keep silent, to ask another question or to answer with a minimum degree of participation and information, for example “Where are you going?” “At home”.
Their continued and insistent use compels the frantic search for new topics of conversation, creating an inquisitive atmosphere that determines an imbalance relationship in the transmission and exchange of information.
The open question, on the other hand, is structured so as to obtain a greater amount of information from the other.
It has the advantage of actively stimulating the recipient in providing more information, from which useful ideas can be drawn to continue the dialogue, for example: “What do you think of …?”.
Open questions can begin with who, what, when, where, how or why and elicit rather detailed explanations from the individual, provide the opportunity for more ideas to continue the conversation.
Finally, in the reflex question, the person can recognize within the final segments of the intervention of others some engaging stimuli around which to build information to be relaunched, for example: “Do you have a sister? Me too. Mine is much younger than me. Between us, for the difference in age, there is no great harmony. “
Turning to free information, we can say that it is information that somehow exceeds the question or is given without being solicited: the strategy consists in asking a question and at the same time offering one or more general or even personal information , to which the interlocutor can engage. Once the contact is established, the conversation started can continue through the use of dialogue techniques, of concatenation of closed, open and reflected questions.
Self-opening is free or solicited information that gives itself: it puts the interlocutor at ease and creates extremely hot communication. It is therefore appropriate to get involved, sometimes exposing oneself, but always calibrating the self-opening according to the situations.
Finally, the will to change the subject or to end the conversation must be expressed clearly and decisively: it is a good thing to precede the leave by a reassuring and gratifying statement about the meeting.
In the context of the verbal exchange, silence (moments of pause and absence of speech) is also a strategic way of communicating and its meaning varies with the situations, relationships and culture of reference: in general, the value communicative of silence is to be attributed to its ambiguity and can be the indication of an excellent relationship, an intense communication or the signal of a bad relationship and a deteriorated communication; in fact speaking must represent a necessity and a pleasure, not an obligation, listening and being silent are not necessarily passive skills.
Moments of pause or silence can be experienced anxiously by those who read the result of their inability to relate to them, even if in reality they are an integral part of the dialogue and have their own significance and semantic value.
Communication as protection
Communication can be used as a self-protection tool: we analyze here the different protection skills.
Persistence, which is also called “broken disk” because it consists in repeating what you want almost aggressively, without aggression or irritation, with peace of mind.
We should be careful not to lend ourselves to the game of those who want us to fall into a manipulative logical trap, not allowing other spaces to achieve what they desire.
It is therefore advisable not to ask open-ended questions, to answer the whys or guilts of others, with apologies, justifications or explanations.
The glamor is a way that allows the criticism of the other to be slightly clouded by our answers, like a stone thrown in the fog that cannot be taken up again to be relaunched.
It consists in agreeing in general or probability terms to some part of the other’s communication, without however changing one’s point of view or one’s decision.
It removes aggression from an opposition, and then somehow compels to listen at least to what the other says and therefore to respond on the basis of what the other has said.
Sometimes the only way to deal with a mistake is to admit it without anxiety and without diminishing our personal image, that is, the negative assertion.
By confirming a mistake and admitting guilt, you can demonstrate your displeasure and the unintentional nature of what happened, declaring your commitment to avoiding the recurrence of the event and the desire to remedy it.
The negative inquiry is to ask for information on the criticism. If a person makes a general, constructive or manipulative criticism, they can ask for more specific information on this.
In the case of constructive criticism, we will keep valuable elements to reprogram our behavior. If it is a manipulative criticism, on the other hand, it will be easier to tighten the amplitude, focusing it in specific behaviors.
In both cases, with the negative investigation the other is forced to follow a proposed path to express his hostility.
Selective discrimination consists in capturing, in a negative, critical message, only that part on which one is willing to discuss, to give justifications, to give explanations: this is the technique in which, especially in the public sphere, one must be enough experts.
The disarmament of aggression consists in opposing a criticism or a negative note towards our behavior, a behavior of extreme calm, conditioning our participation in communication to a decrease in the aggressiveness of the other.
This ability is very subtle, sometimes it could be irritating.
Listening skills
Listening is given by the ability to understand a different perspective from one’s own, to consider the characteristics of the other and his role attributes, to keep in mind the perspective during the interaction. There are many occasions when the interlocutor is not listened to: you only listen to what you want to hear (filter), you think about what you will say, not focusing on what the interlocutor is saying (evidence), it refers to everything one listens to one’s own experience (identification), snubs or dismisses what is said because it is considered of little importance (denigration), expresses agreement for everything is said (condescension), changes the subject too quickly by showing disinterest (deviation), judges or acts to manage anxiety due to the perception of “excessive closeness to the other”.
To acquire listening skills, it can be important to distinguish between listening and hearing, since they are not the same thing: while feeling is more tied to a perception of the sounds emitted by the interlocutor and can ignore the content of the message, listening implies be aware of what you hear, accurately understand the information that is presented and organize the information in such a way that it is useful.
To practice effective listening, it is useful to keep attentive and demonstrate it to the speaker, listen trying to understand the messages, encourage the interlocutor to continue, avoid judging while listening, then suspend prejudices, avoid thinking about what you are it means later, taking notes, asking questions.
Assertive, Anassertive and Aggressive Behaviors
“Assertive responses allow the person to express their needs and feelings without developing anxiety and enable them to acquire or restore appropriate emotional expressiveness” (Wolpe, 1958).
Assertiveness is a characteristic of human behavior which consists in the ability to express one’s emotions and opinions clearly and effectively.
According to the American psychologists Albert and Emmons, he defines himself as “a behavior that allows a person to act in his full interest, to defend his point of view without exaggerated anxiety, to express his feelings with sincerity and ease and to defend the his rights without ignoring those of others ».
Assertiveness can be understood as the ability to elaborate responses capable of inhibiting the development of states of anxiety.
These responses will have to be socially adequate, that is, able to favor or allow the positive and rewarding insertion of the individual in the community.
Assertiveness is also considered the ability able to satisfy one’s emotional, social, biological needs and to project one’s inner world outwards.
The assertive person is not ashamed of not giving explanations and excuses for his behavior, feels he has the right to change his opinion, to make mistakes, to declare that he does not know, to ignore the goodwill of others, to make illogical decisions, to say “I don’t understand”, “it doesn’t concern me”, “no”, without feeling guilty.
The passive anassertive person is the typical person who is used to surrender to the will of others and repress their desires.
The answer is inadequate because it is generated by frustration, insecurity, guilt or anxiety; often these people fail to make their own behavioral choices based on the principle of pleasing others and avoiding conflicts at all costs.
In this way they obtain the immediate advantage of avoiding potentially anxiety-provoking situations and acquiring approval and praise as a very welcome person.
In the long term, however, these people can progressively lose self-esteem, harboring resentment, feeling irritation, growing and continually repressed anger, often somatized with head pain, depressive symptoms, stomach upset.
Aggressive anti-assertive behavior is typical of the person who, in order to achieve his goals, asserts himself violently, minimizing, trampling or disregarding the value of others: the response is unpredictable, expressive, disproportionate to the stimulus, inadequate as a cause of guilt, expression of hostility or resentment, which occurs in the invasion of the living space of others, in humiliation or contempt.
In summary, here is the code of assertive rights:
you have the right not to give explanations and excuses for your behavior;
you have the right to judge whether it is up to you to find the solution to the problems of others;
you have the right to change your opinion;
you have the right to make mistakes;
you have the right to say “I don’t know”;
you have the right to ignore the goodwill of others when you are dealing with them;
you have the right to make illogical decisions;
you have the right to say “I don’t understand”;
you have the right to say “it doesn’t concern me”;
you have the right to say “no” without feeling guilty.
The autonomy of non-verbal systems and their semantic interdependence
In defining the meaning of a communicative act, it is necessary to think of an integrated concept between verbal and non-verbal aspects, despite the fact that each system has a relative autonomy, since it contributes in specific and distinct way to generate the final profile of meaning.
There is, therefore, semantic interdependence, thanks to which the person has the possibility of attributing different weights to the individual components of the communicative act.
He can accentuate the value of one component with respect to another by setting the conditions for a focalization of a specific communicative path and for a definition of communicative focus.
Being able to calibrate systems, i.e. producing the right message at the right time, is another fundamental peculiarity which, together with interdependence, harmony, and semantic focus, produces communicative efficacy, which is the ability to identify a communicative path that maximize opportunities and minimize the risks contained within an interaction. Therefore it is considered as a summary index of the communicative value of a message.
Conclusions In
conclusion, it is essential to underline the difference between the logic of language, linked to the literal meanings of what is said and the logic of the conversation which, instead, refers to the rules that people use to infer what the interlocutor intends to communicate and which underlie the conversational implications.
A suggestion for effective communication is to take a clarification action on the content level: it can resolve misunderstandings relating to the use and meaning attributed to certain words or phrases, but it is clear (the pathology offers a very wide range of examples) that disagreement and non-understanding are often based on the relationship between the interlocutors, on the definition of self that each one intends to propose, on the acceptance or otherwise of such a proposal by the other.
Another piece of advice concerning the world of work is that during meetings and meetings it would be good to respect some simple principles:
maximum quantity, that is to make a minimum effective contribution without exceeding;
maximum quality, that is to make a real contribution;
maximum relationship, or to be relevant;
maximum way, so be clear, avoiding ambiguous and obscure expressions.
The bad quality of communication within the workplace is often the real cause of problems that generate stress in workers, which are at the origin of bullying and the gradual deterioration of a good company climate.
Therefore, company managers should invest more time and resources in taking care of the internal communication aspects of the company:
Communication is essential in order to get our message clearly and live in an “assertive” way, thus reducing our stress levels.
