Communication is key to success in workplace Published Feb. 15, 2011 By Airman 1st Class Bryan Swink Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst Public Affairs JOINT BASE MCGUIRE-DIX-LAKEHURST, N.J. -- My wife and I signed up for the Sweetheart Seminar hosted by the Joint Base Warfighter and Family Readiness Center this weekend to learn about effective communication skills and practices that could help strengthen our relationship. Not only did I learn skills to help on the home front, but learned ways to effectively communicate with anyone regardless of the situation. Often times, co-workers have an issue to work out, but the problem never gets resolved due to weak communication skills. Being aware of communication danger signs is important in order to have a successful conversation and find common ground when dealing with an issue. These danger signs include: escalation, invalidation and withdrawal. Escalation of conversations usually ends up with both parties in a heated argument and both responding back and forth negatively. Invalidation means one person putting down the thoughts, opinions or character of the other. When one person invalidates or shuts down the others opinion, many times the invalidated person gets defensive which could lead to escalation or withdrawal. Withdrawal is where one person has a complete unwillingness to get into or stay in the conversation when dealing with an issue or trying to find a resolution to a problem. Understanding these communication danger signs is critical to the success of a conversation. In the workplace, there are many instances where decisions need to be made but multiple people seem to always have input to come up with the solution. In the seminar we learned about the Speaker Listener technique, which allows one person to control the speaking floor, while the other listens and actually processes what is being said. In every real life example and video that was shown using this technique, both parties spoke at an even tone and felt their thoughts were being understood and respected. If everyone took the time to listen to others instead of insisting their way is the best, both could come to a compromise and figure out a solution to actually fix the problem. Having two brains work out a situation is better than having two stubborn heads clashing. Keep in mind, the mission is always first and not every personality in the office will blend well together. But, if everyone opens their mind, slows down their reaction response and listens to different opinions, issues will be dealt with quicker and in a more peaceful manner. The lesson here is to quit being so quick to speak and listen more.