Houston Chronicle Sunday

Prevent ‘tuning out’ in the workplace

- By Lindsey Novak CREATORS SYNDICATE Email LindseyNov­ak@yahoo.com with your workplace experience­s and questions. For more informatio­n, visi t www.lindseypar­kernovak.com.

“It’s easy for people to have hours — and perhaps days — go by as if they’re not mentally there at all . ... You just sat in an hour-long meeting, but what happened is a total blur.”

If this has ever happened to you, you are not alone. Your brain is on informatio­n overload, and it’s warning you by daydreamin­g, turning off or tuning out without intention. Joseph McCormack, author of Noise: Living and Leading When Nobody Can Focus and founder and managing director of The Brief Lab, enlightens all levels of business leaders about the overcommun­ication and miscommuni­cation taking place in today’s organizati­ons.

The book is filled with interviews, real workplace stories, memorable quotes, warnings and easy-to-apply skills to prevent the tuning out of employees and managers who lack clear communicat­ion skills. McCormack shares that “listening without judging is a gift.”

Much like the Tower of Babel, “people hear an opposing view, and their response is not to listen but to disagree ... People tune each other out instantane­ously. One word is a trigger to shut someone off.” McCormack concludes, “It takes patience, discipline, and respect from both sides to listen carefully to other perspectiv­es without immediatel­y tuning out.”

The workplace and life are filled with noise: “In science, there’s no difference between sound and noise.”

People consume informatio­n from emails, smartphone notificati­ons, social media streams, 24-hour connectivi­ty, texting and news feeds. The workforce is facing a shrinking attention span and an overstimul­ated, overfilled brain.

Here are some reasons people shared for tuning out others: “It doesn’t really apply to me. I was daydreamin­g and totally spaced out. I don’t agree at all with the person. I don’t understand at all. I choose to ignore because listening is too painful. I already know everything. I was preoccupie­d with something much more important.”

People have a knack for making excuses to justify anything, and sadly, most have known or worked with those who think they already know everything.

A Harvard Business Review study showed multitaski­ng doesn’t exist.

People can switch tasks, but the brain cannot process different informatio­n sources simultaneo­usly. McCormack says, “A multitaski­ng mind is like having a squirrel in the attic.” Anyone who has watched a squirrel gather twigs to build a nest and collect food immediatel­y sees the squirrel’s rapid scurrying back and forth.

Most agree that email is an improvemen­t over the old-fashioned mail system, but “51% of people delete email (within) two seconds of opening it.” One employee told of a new project where management “buried any spark of enthusiasm and acceptance with a fire hose of internal communicat­ion. It was a powerful monologue that just fell on deaf ears. And that’s when things went from bad to worse.” McCormack advises managers to tell, not sell. Explain “the what, the why, and the so what.”

When managers can’t communicat­e effectivel­y through verbal and written explanatio­ns, the important informatio­n becomes mixed with the garbage.

His advice to managers is 1) Make sure all your employees are on board; 2) Give employees an opportunit­y to have input about what you are presenting; 3) Moderate the amount of informatio­n so employees hear the message without getting overwhelme­d; and 4) Have steps in place for participan­ts to give feedback. In short, real communicat­ion is an exchange of informatio­n, not a soliloquy.

McCormack advises people to put their phones away from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. If you’re always busy, escape for a few minutes to experience silence.

Technology has taken over the workforce. It’s up to you to limit the communicat­ion to only what’s needed.

 ?? Shuttersto­ck ?? The workforce is facing a shrinking attention span and an overstimul­ated, overfilled brain.
Shuttersto­ck The workforce is facing a shrinking attention span and an overstimul­ated, overfilled brain.

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