Communicating effectively is important. We communicate to express ideas, arrive at truth, persuade others, and establish trust. To communicate effectively one must be mindful, alert, open, and responsive.
Communication breakdowns inevitably lead to conflict; sometimes even legal conflict. Solving these kinds of conflicts quickly and effectively is critical for saving our relationships, but many of us are out of practice. It is important to practice recognizing where you are at any given moment, choosing new approaches when needed, collaborating with others, taking risks, and learning from failure.
This may surprise you, but it turns out that many of the skills that help make people laugh are transferable to problem solving. Good comedy improvisers are attuned to their ensemble. They are adaptive, flexible, creative, and responsive. Second City Works, the business-to-business arm of the iconic comedy theatre, has researched what makes good comedy improvisation and has some advice you can use to become a good improviser and communicator:
Second City Works is teaching these strategies to businesses, law firms, and individuals with the goal of reducing conflict. These strategies work and we apply them in our own practice. Try implementing them to prevent a conflict, and a trip to your lawyer. Remember: communicating effectively helps avoid problems before they happen and solve them when they do.
Kenneth Taylor joined Pritchard & Co. as a Student-at-Law in 2017. Having grown up in Medicine Hat, Ken is excited to start his practice in our community. Seeking legal advice doesn’t need to be stressful. Thoughtful and adaptive approaches lead to successful outcomes and Ken is excited to innovate, create and collaborate with the Pritchard & Co. LLP team to attain them.