Professional relationships often deteriorate due to poor team collaboration, leading to dissatisfaction and potential departures from jobs. According to David Baga, CEO of Mural, nearly 60% of employees have contemplated leaving their jobs due to poor team collaboration. Baga emphasizes the need to adapt our approach to engaging with colleagues. Poor communication among colleagues is a major barrier to teamwork, often resulting from five types of unrecognized communication barriers.
One common barrier, "verbal trespassing," occurs when individuals assert their own point of view without considering others' perspectives, often communicating their feelings as facts while disregarding the thoughts and feelings of others. Here are the five types of toxic 'verbal trespassing':
1. Mind Reading: Making assumptions and jumping to conclusions without evidence about what a manager or coworker is thinking, violating boundaries, and imposing thoughts on others without regard for their actual thoughts.
2. Emotion Reading: Concluding what a manager or colleague is feeling without evidence, disrespecting the other person, and disregarding their personal boundaries.
3. Labeling: Assigning negative attributes to a coworker, whether directly or behind their back, instead of using "I-messages" to express discomfort and suggest taking a break to calm down, promoting open dialogue professionally.
4. Put-downs: Constantly criticizing another's behaviors or habits, damages trust, whereas using "When you . . . I feel . . ." statements to express how certain actions make you feel can sustain trust and yield better results.
5. Commanding: Telling employees what to do, setting up a parent-child dynamic, undermining teamwork, and breaching coworkers' boundaries. Instead, express concerns or ask questions respectfully and non-judgmentally to foster open communication.
Addressing these forms of verbal trespassing is crucial for fostering healthy collaboration, respect, and productive teamwork. Baga's findings indicate that 66% of workers are unhappy with how their teams work together, emphasizing the importance of how people work together, beyond mere productivity, in influencing their satisfaction with their work and teams. Building a culture of healthy communication and collaborative teamwork is vital to engaging and productive employees.