29 Oct 2019

I had a conversation today with my son about context and the use of words. We talked about the same word meaning more than one thing, and how important it is to consider how words are used and received. How a conversation can have such an impact and circumstances, perspectives, backgrounds are all so important to consider. 

From my own perspective, I usually consider how I frame conversations. If I have a purpose or an outcome I want to achieve, I think about this beforehand, so that time is used productively. On the other hand, I have often been asked, ‘have you got a minute?’ and you know you are about to walk into one of those unknown conversations, especially in HR when literally anything could be thrown at you. The outcome of these meetings relies on my knowledge, experience and the relationship I have with that person to help navigate. 

It got me thinking, can you train someone to understand how context works, you can give tools to help ask the right questions, techniques to help listen and processes to consider. You can coach people through situations, be it work or personal to be able to frame difficult conversations but you can’t teach instinct. The gut feeling you get in a particular context, where does that come from? 

#challenge #100days #HR