Over the last 
few weeks I've run into several situations where so much confusion has occurred and time wasted due to a lack of listening. And by listening, I mean wholey listening; completely reading; paying 100% attention to what's being said. In most cases this occurs in email communication. Email is a communication tool that makes it difficult to express emotion and too easy to respond to what we think we read. It's super important when using email communication (or any written form) to pay attention to what we say and how we say it.
When I get an email, I read it. I read the whole thing and try to take in what's being said or asked. Then I respond.
This takes effort and work.
It's much easier to react quickly, get things done and off your plate. Speed doesn't always equal efficient. For me to truly be efficient means that I have to spend some time reading and trying to understand every sentence, every word that I'm receiving. This doesn't mean to try and read between the lines but to simply make sure I understand the whole message before zipping out a response that only answers half of what was asked or addresses half of what needs to be done.
When we work Without Walls it's super important to listen.
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