Many people have similar struggles and some of these can be alleviated with improved communication styles. A few examples of these struggles include
- Social anxiety
- Sense of isolation
- Dealing with conflict and/or difficult people
- Feeling overwhelmed
- Family expectations or problems; homesickness
- Relationship difficulties (emotional and/or physical)
- Misunderstandings about what someone said/meant
- Responding to gender identity questions and/or failure to use preferred pronoun
Taking time to reflect about something someone said can often help us not lash out with a harmful retort or a damaging label that can hurt their reputation or your relationship with them. Perhaps the statement was within the context of something else and needs to be understood. Possibly the person intended something entirely different. Often they never intended the impact that it had on us. It helps to try to have a conversation about it so that you both can understand what just happened.
Managing our emotions is something we can all work on. Working to improve our emotional skills is crucial in our daily and working lives. One thing we can do is create our environment in a positive way that optimizes our learning and working outcomes.
Improving our communication skills is also a necessary undertaking. This allows us to effectively, respectfully and assertively give and receive messages.
I’ve talked a lot about the three main types of communication styles: passive, assertive and aggressive, and firmly believe that we should all strive for the assertive style, where we stand up for ourselves in a respectful and kind manner.
Please feel free to contact the Ombuds Office anytime for any concerns, including a desire to improve your communication style. We can talk about ways to talk with others that will leave you feeling good about yourself as well as feeling good about how you treated the other person. The office is both a sounding board (if you just want to vent) as well as a place to explore all of the options for how to address a difficult situation. It is confidential and we can meet in person, on the phone or via zoom.
