19 What is Communication?
Conversation: the heart of
communication
Conversation is the main way we communicate. Through
conversation we build relationships,
share information and
promote our ideas. All the other ways we communicate –
interviews, presentations, networking meetings,
even written
documents – are conversations of some kind. Organisations are
networks of conversations.
Conversations are the way we create shared meaning. If we
want to improve
our communication skills, we could begin by
improving our conversations.
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Conversation is our primary management tool.
We converse to
build relationships with colleagues and customers. We influence
others by holding conversations with them. We converse to solve
problems, to co-operate and find new opportunities for action.
Conversation is our way of imagining the future.
It
may be good to talk, but conversations at work are often
difficult. A manager summed up the problem to me recently. ‘If
we don’t re-learn how to talk with each other,’ he said, ‘frequently
and
on a meaningful level, this organisation won’t survive.’
What is a conversation?
Conversations are verbal dances. The word derives from the
Latin, ‘to move around with’. Like any dance,
a conversation has
rules, and standard moves. These allow people to move more
harmoniously together, without stepping on each other’s
toes or
getting out of step. Different kinds of conversation have different
conventions. Some are implicitly understood; others, for
2
How conversations work
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