A few weeks ago, I was lucky enough to talk about the impact of listening in leadership on the Manage with Meaning podcast.
Manage with Meaning is hosted by Courtney Schultz and Susie Taylor, two women who I've known for 14 years and who have built a company to support first-time managers with insights, content and tools at this incredibly important transition point in their career. (And, one that is rarely supported formally in all but the largest organizations).
There was an element of the conversation that exploded with energy: the role of the environment in a listening interaction.
While we may believe that a listening interaction occurs between two people -- there is a third entity in every interaction.
That third participant is the space.
Space has a voice. It sends a message.
It's not simply a backdrop, but rather a speaker itself.
Simply look at the illustrations below. Take note of the space in which these interactions are occurring.
Are they communicating formal/informal, important/casual, and would any of them present a distraction that would cause interference?
After our conversation, I did more research. Turns out that researcher, Edward T. Hall, was also interested in how space influences interpersonal communication. In 1963, he gave this phenomenon a term, "Proxemics", and it is specific to human's use of personal space.
The word “communication” comes from the Latin communicare, which means to share, or to make common (Weekley, 1967). Communication is defined as the process of understanding and sharing meaning (Pearson & Nelson, 2000). (Source: https://open.lib.umn.edu/businesscommunication/chapter/1-2-what-is-communication/#:~:text=%E2%80%9CThe%20environment%20is%20the%20atmosphere,day%20of%20the%20actual%20presentation.)
According to the book, Business Communication for Success (will be unpublished Dec. 31, 2024...no idea why because it looks fantastic), there are eight elements of communication.
- Source
- Message
- Channel
- Receiver
- Feedback
- Environment
- Context
- Interference
Environment sends a signal.
Choosing to have a conversation in a manager's office sitting across a desk from each other tells the other person that this is serious and that there is a power dynamic that will be emphasized.
Holding a one-on-one conversation on a walk implies that the conversation holds partnership, egalitarianism, and an element of informality.
Attending a virtual call by Zoom or Teams dressed up adds formality and seriousness to the topic.
And, taking a call from a noisy room creates distraction for both participants, indicating the conversation does not carry enough importance to commit to being focused.
If we are serious about leadership, we need to get serious about the environment and its signal.
In communication, all eight elements matter, and the environment is consistently overlooked as the powerful player it is when it comes to relationship, effectiveness of message, and leadership.
