One fairly straightforward rule in communication is in order to keep channels open, there has to be give and take. Like in a dance, one steps in, another out and so on. So when one person drops the dancer, the dancer no longer trusts the partner.
This is what happens when someone firmly asserts a NO!, or NOT!, or No, No, No! within a give and take conversation. It shuts the door. Immediately, your partner stops giving or taking. The conversation becomes one-sided.
Imagine this scenario. A manager is encouraging his employees to share creative ideas about how to improve productivity or increase teamwork. A brave employee steps forward to offer something he’d been thinking about for some time and is impassioned about, believing this is the safe format for releasing it. Immediately, the manager shuts him down with, “NO, that is NOT going to work.” Communication has stopped. No matter what happens now, the employee will keep his ideas to himself.
What if the manager had responded with, “That is certainly something to consider, let’s explore that in more detail later. Thank you so much.” You get the immediate picture of how lines of communication are still open? Whether you take him up on his idea or not is not the point. You as a manager have created open lines of communication from which hopefully will begin to flow creative and new ideas.
