The first step to improving workplace communication is understanding what it looks like when people aren’t communicating effectively and identifying the source of the miscommunication.

We are wired to assume that people are more similar to ourselves than they actually are. When you’re interacting with someone who has a pulse and speaks the same language, we often assume that everything you say or write is received just as you intended it to be every time. In fact, it’s very rarely the case.

With so many buzzwords in our workplaces and media, it’s easy to get sucked into thinking that everyone lives in your particular jargon jungle. The clever folks at Lucidchart can help you sense check your language in their ‘How to speak tech jargon’ mindmap.

Technical people are key to our survival. They have deep knowledge, specialist skills and ambitious visions that can move us forward across a range of fields and industries. Unlocking this potential often depends on who leads them and how.

Face-to-face communication is by far the most effective way to connect. When something is important, we often insist on meeting in person because it’s not just about what’s said - it’s also about how it’s said, and often about what’s not said. But for a technical expert like Tina, this form of communication is often fraught with challenges.