Research Podcast
For this week's blog post I've chosen to focus on the podcast that I found on Apple iTunes. This podcast is by Communication Guys and it is called Dealing with Conflicts Before they Become Conflicts. The podcast provides us with useful tips that can help you prevent your private and workplace relationships. The main focus of the podcast is to become aware of how you can deal with conflicts before they become conflicts.
Communication Guys mentioned that conflicts occur when one person walks away from problems within their relationship. People tend to avoid these issues until they all stuff together and explode. Once it has exploded, it is much harder to deal with it and it is likely that more and more problems from the past will come up to the surface.
There are 5 important tips included in this podcast that have positively impacted my understanding of communication and opened my eyes when it comes to dealing with issues in all different kinds of relationships whether that is with your partner, friend, colleague or someone else.
The first point of the podcast emphasizes how important it is to create a climate in which offenses are less likely to occur. You create this climate through little daily conversations. Active participation with no days off is vital for creating the climate that will define how your next conflict is going to look like or if there will be any conflict at all. Everyday kindness and little thoughtful conversations make the climate sunny with less clouds. This type of climate is the one we all want to form with the ones we love.
“Nonverbal communication is communication based on a person’s use of voice and body, rather than on the use of words.” (Green, 2022).
The next point is the importance of non verbals. They mentioned that emotions are shown through non verbal signals. Therefore, if you really wanna know what someone feels, you have to pay close attention to their face, but also their feet. The podcast included a great example of how some people are great at keeping a straight face and by doing that hiding their intentions. However, by doing this they are more likely to not be able to control their feet. So, paying attention to someone’s feet could also give you important messages and signals. The lack of non verbals in online communication is a cause of a lot of misunderstandings because we often don’t get the full real picture.
The third tip for prevention of conflicts is to listen to the silence, very often called the calm before the storm. Communication guys stated that a lot of anger and frustration is communicated through the silence and I totally agree with that statement. People regularly tend to shut down and not communicate when they have an issue with their partner. By doing this they assume they are saving the relationship because they are not the ones starting an argument. However, they are not aware that this is what causes problems within the relationship.
The next tip is to ask questions. This is the key for many problems we face throughout life. If we don’t ask about something we want, we won’t get it, it’s that simple. So, if you feel like there is misunderstanding within your relationship, ask and make sure before you change your mood. Don’t just assume and act like you know what the other person thought when they said something you didn’t like. Solve your problems by asking questions and any possible conflicts and arguments will decrease.
Lastly, apologize in advance. This means showing that you are aware of the mistake you've made. The podcast taught me that healthy relationships have both awareness and initiatives. Awareness means knowing when you’re the cause of an issue and initiatives means that you care enough about the person to take care of it. Awareness without initiatives means conflict (Communication Guys, 2019). In conclusion, sometimes saying sorry is the only thing the other person needs to hear, therefore, don’t be scared of it.
The link to the podcast:
Citations:
Downs T., & Beret T. (Hosts). (2019, December 1). Dealing with Conflicts Before they Become Conflicts (No. 11) [Audio podcast episode]. In Communication Guys. https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/dealing-with-conflicts-before-they-become-conflicts/id1150931432?i=1000458393643
Green, Julia. "Communicating Online." McGraw-Hill Create. [VitalSource Bookshelf]. 2022
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