My daughter and I recently had a conversation about her plans after graduating from high school.
She referred to the Class of 2022 being the last graduating class of its kind.
Naturally, I wanted to know what this meant.
She described the freshmen and sophomores in her school as being a “different breed” and gave examples of their lack of maturity.
I found this to be quite amusing in consideration of my parenting struggles.
We’ve been working towards limiting the use of generalizations and words such as:
😬 Everyone
😬 Always
😬 Never
It is not uncommon to encounter similar generalizations made in the workplace.
Imagine someone from your team stating that “everyone is upset with the recent change.”
👉 What is the risk of making hasty decisions with insufficient information?
The best approach is to ask questions such as:
❍ Who is everyone?
❍ How many people does that include?
❍ Why did they choose you as a messenger?
❍ What is the reason they are upset?
Exercising caution before respeonding can be the difference between success or failure in your communication.
Gathering more information will also help you discover the best course of action.
👉 What are some of your experiences with generalizations?
Ramona Mills 