Needs-Based Communication (NVC)* is a potent process that can support us when we are having — or need to have — challenging conversations that matter to us ...
... like giving authentic feedback to a co-worker ... ... or listening to someone at work or at home when we disagree with what they are saying ... ... or how we respond when we perceive ourselves as being "attacked" in a conversation ... ... or expressing clearly our personal or professional boundaries when a colleague has stepped beyond them ... ... or what we do when we feel anger rising in ourselves and we know we will likely regret the words we are about to say ... ... or when we've just expressed something in a meeting that really matters to us, but no one seems to have heard it ... ... or when we're too scared to speak up at all. NVC guides us to move beyond blame.
Here are some of the skills and benefits of using Needs-Based Communication in the workplace ... or at home:
Needs-Based Communication invites us to expand our perception so that we see ways to bring connection amidst conflict. At the core of this expanded perception is the skill to focus our attention on the underlying human needs that are seeking to be nurtured in any moment, both within ourselves and within the people around us. Examples of human needs include such things as ...
These underlying human needs are the motivation for our actions and our words ... the "why" behind what we do or say. Because human needs are universal — they are common to all human beings — when we bring them into explicit focus, they tend to stimulate understanding and draw us closer together. The potency of Needs-Based Communication is in its pragmatic simplicity. In any moment, including a moment of conflict, there are two ways to enhance connection & understanding:
These are radically different choices than we are accustomed to experience when we are in conflict: namely, fight, freeze or flee. While simple, NVC is often challenging to embody because we are so deeply conditioned to perceive each other through judgments and blame. With practice, the process of NVC helps us navigate within ourselves to transform unconscious reactions into conscious responses. What Needs-Based Communication is not ...
Our workplaces and our homes will become more vibrant when there is greater trust and care, and less fear and blame; more conscious responses among us, and fewer unconscious reactions; more listening to understand, and less listening just to respond. Needs-Based Communication is a pathway to take us there. ———————————- If you're intrigued by Needs-Based Communication, I invite you to learn more:
———————————- *Needs-Based Communication is based on the work of Marshall Rosenberg, which he called "Nonviolent Communication™" or NVC. I have chosen to call the process Needs-Based Communication for two reasons:
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorGregg Kendrick supports leaders to activate the human potential of themselves, their teams and their organization. Archives
January 2020
Categories |
|
|