imapMyTeam Blog

Conversational Intelligence

You just can’t put a three way prong plug directly into a two way outlet.  You can, however, if you add an adapter that modifies the socket to accept the plug. That is an import lesson that can be applied to conversation.

Last week our Tuesday Tip focused on the importance of EQ (Emotional Intelligence). Today we will explore the power of conversation and conversational intelligence.

Conversations are an essential interaction in business. Often, conversations occur daily with the same people and, if you’ve mastered that relationship, you ‘plug in’ to each other easily.  There are times though that conversations involve someone we don’t talk with often but with whom the communication is no less important – how well are you two really plugged in?

Conversation happens in real time and offers instant feedback to both parties. That feedback can serve as your guide to understanding if the conversation is going well or not. Conversational intelligence is the ability to recognize and effectively respond in real time to the person you are engaged with.

To promote conversational intelligence we need to learn how to frame the communication in ways that the receivers will be open to hearing our message. This is especially important when the conversation has the potential to be a difficult one.  It is vital for you to get those critical spoken messages right in order to avoid mis-communication and its consequences.  If I somehow force my three prong into that socket I risk overloading it and invite something negative to happen which, at its worst, could be a complete system failure.

You (and your counterpart in the conversation) are more vulnerable to reacting poorly when the conversation triggers your stress behavior and causes you to make ‘mistakes’ (Overload. Failure.) This could actually push you further away from what you really want – a solution to the issue that you are both satisfied with.

One of the most frequently run reports in imapMyTeam® is the How to Talk report. With good reason!

The How To Talk report is the adapter that allows my 3 plug cord to adapt to your 2 hole socket and properly connect us to power up for results.

That report is foundational to relationships and when its guidelines are followed sets you on the accurate path to have successful conversations of all types with others on your team and beyond.