Mindfulness Communication: How it can Help the Workplace

Mindfulness meditation is extremely popular in these days, at yoga centers, weekend retreats or even at Corporate Mindfulness workshops in the office. But Mindfulness at work doesn’t have to be associated only to taking some time off to sit down, relax and meditate. In fact, Mindfulness principles can be applied to every interaction we have every day to make office communication more effective.

So what can Mindfulness offer to office communication? What are the possible challenges of daily communication that Mindfulness can improve? This is what we are going to explain in this article. Mindfulness communication is based on the principles of awareness, compassion and respect.

Awareness Of Others & Ourselves

Why is it important to be aware? Few people are good listeners. Most are usually busy thinking of what they want to answer next or just say what they want to say instead of considering the other person’s message. Another aspect and the most important is that we all sort information according to our conscious or unconscious beliefs. Beliefs are a filter that changes the way we receive or respond to a message. By knowing what we think in our mind we are able to see our filters, prejudices and better understand the message that other people communicate.

Empathy

As we become better listeners and able to see our filters, we understand that all perceptions are subjective. We are able to see other people perspectives, put ourselves in other people’s shoes. We learn to respect their view more and become Less self-centred. In return when other people feel empathy to what they are communicating they open up, being able to exchange information more easily, so facilitating the overall communication in the office.

Clarity & Authenticity Boosts Cooperation

Mindfulness communication at work teaches us to be authentic, communicate genuinely who we are and what we want to say. We learn to ask if others have understood, or if we haven’t understood ourselves ask others to repeat and clarify. In this perspective a person working in a team will start considering what they can contribute with their unique intelligence and approach instead of looking for what they can get or try to push their point above the others. Competition leaves the way to cooperation. By being authentic respect is obtained and team dynamics improve.

Choose Your Reactions

This is one of the most important points of Mindfulness Communication. Understanding that perceptions are subjective and listening to other people is even more relevant when we don’t like the other person or we have a conflict. Between stimulus and reaction there is time for awareness and choice. We can choose our reaction, choose our message carefully, because a word badly said or bad feeling can affect the ability to work together in the office in future. It’s easy to see how this favours better team dynamics, problem solving ability and team productivity.

Learning Mindfulness Communication At Work

The benefits of embracing Mindfulness communication are evident. Its practice relaxes the mind, reduces anxiety and enhances employees’ emotional stability. Mindfulness looks for the solution inside, rather than outside, which normally generates stress and anxiety when something cannot be controlled.

Learning to communicate mindfully It’s about training the mind, like any other training. Corporate Mindfulness workshops teach the techniques to make this process smooth and stable. Through practice all the steps are understood and the reaction becomes more natural. Promoting Mindfulness at work simply is life changing for an office, changing office communication and dynamics altogether and improving the office atmosphere and productivity. Mindfulness at work is the way forward.