Loved talking with Tzofnat (Zoe) Peleg-Baker, a Conflict Management & Negotiation expert this week about the impact of Covid-19 on the quality of our connections and communication.
People have different perspectives and communication styles that may clash when working face to face. In our new virtual world, these clashes likely do not disappear, and are sometimes exacerbated due to the limited online medium.
Focusing on people’s different perspectives or communication styles, rather than personalities may be helpful for us to connect, and overcome our differences. When we view things in terms of personality, it is fixed, harder to change. Focusing on perspectives and styles brings hope. We can change them. When thinking in terms of personality, it is easy to say: “that’s the way I am” or “that’s the way they are”. If we think of perspective instead, it is way more malleable, we can shift it. It can also remind us to do a bit of a self-check. There is always more than one way to see a situation. If we embrace this attitude, we can ask what can we change in our perspective?