By Heather Campbell >>
We all have them – those irritating things that other people do or say during conversations that really ‘get our goat’. And once our goat gets got, we quickly find we’re less-than-effective communicators ourselves. We’re too busy fuming at the goat-getters!
Over the last few months we’ve been finding out which communication habits people find most irritating. And we’re pleased to announce the results are in. So here they are – the prize-winning goat-getters…
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The Professional Moaners – start every conversation with a negative comment and go downhill from there.
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The Assumption-makers – use jargon, acronyms and ‘in-crowd’ language without making sure their audience knows what they are talking about
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The Interrupters – we’ve all met these people, so rather than describing them I’ll share a joke I found on the internet recently. It would be a perfect – although possibly career-limiting/friendship-ending – riposte to individuals who habitually start before you finish: “Oh, I’m sorry… Did the middle of my sentence interrupt the beginning of yours?”
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Notice Me! – this particular award goes to all those individuals who make obvious statements or ask obvious questions just for the sake of making sure their voice is heard.
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The Forgetful Leaders – those business leaders and managers who make decisions and assume something will happen – oops! You need to communicate your decision too!
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The Obstinate – these goat-getters might be compared to a particular animal that is more commonly linked with stubbornness. They’re the people who have made up their mind before they ask for your opinion. If you are one of these individuals, please remember that a question is not simply a courtesy; it’s a request to share different viewpoints.
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The Over-promisers – often people who are too keen to please, Over-promisers will commit to all sorts during the conversation – and don’t take any action afterwards.
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The Credit-munchers – open their mouths with enthusiasm to accept the thanks/praise/recognition for a job well done, and shut them again before managing to acknowledge everyone else who contributed as well.
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The Mind-readers – the super-humans who are so sure they know what we are going to say that they agree/disagree with us before we’ve even finished speaking – and sometimes these telepaths are so extra-brilliant that they can even answer questions we’ve been asked without our ever having to speak for ourselves!
And out of all the different goat-getters – what was the number one irritant?
Although a relatively recent phenomenon, boy has this one taken off big time. The gong for the Number One goat-getter goes to all those people who simply must respond to that incoming text, phone call or email – even though they are right in the middle of a conversation with you. Yes… the top prize goes to…
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The Mobile-phone-answering Addicts – otherwise known as the “My Goodness, This Person Just Might Have Something So Much More Interesting To Say Than You That I Simply Must Respond RIGHT NOW!” people.
So there you have it. The Top Ten Goat-getters 2013. Is your top goat-getter in the list? And (be honest now) which are you guilty of yourself? Leave us a comment below or tweet us @CommsMasters.
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