we all use words and language every day to interact with people at work but do we really communicate effectively effective communication can be broken down into three parts listening understanding and responding let's look at these one by one listening involves hearing the words that are being said taking in non-verbal cues such as body language and facial expressions plus paying attention to voice modulation we then move on to the next stage understanding or giving meaning to what we have heard most communication breakdowns happen at this stage because we often misunderstand or misinterpret what is being said when we make errors in interpretation we are likely to respond incorrectly as well for example your boss asks you if the task that he assigned to you has been completed if you interpret that as the boss blaming you for not completing the task you are likely to respond with anger however if you interpret that as your boss wanting to just know the status of the task you are likely to feel less angry and defensive how we interpret what we hear is affected by the thoughts that pop up in our minds when we are listening at Way Forward we help you catch these automatic thoughts so you can reduce communication errors and be more productive at work for more information reach out at www.we forward. c.in