Honesty in communication is the secret to great relationships.

The key to open and honest communication is offering transparency and vulnerability to take ownership in your thoughts or feelings to help achieve your goal in the conversation and to acknowledge your faults. The more open and connected your dialogue, the healthier your relationships will become. Communicating this way is an obvious for having effective conversations, but it is sometimes easier said than done.

How to Achieve Honest Communication at Work

Individuals seeking substance in their conversations naturally crave open communication. The ability to speak freely among friends and family helps you build a stronger bond between you and those individuals. You are expecting that your friends and family know you well enough to not become offended or think too far into what

you are wanting to say, whereas in the work environment you have to censor yourself.

Censoring or rephrasing your thoughts before speaking helps those around you feel more comfortable to have conversation with you. While understanding it is difficult to be your authentic self in the workplace, you must remember that it is necessary to learn the dialogue needed with your peers.

Remember, being too open and honest in a work environment leads to the risk of being taken advantage of while not being open and honest will have your peers wary of you. Find a healthy balance and it will result in you finding resolutions to conflict, avoiding confrontation and building relationships with your peers. It just also may help with justifying the promotion you deserve.

When you make mistakes, take responsibility for them and allow yourself to learn from that feedback. Say how you feel, but respectfully and tactfully. For example, if you have a concern about the work, you are doing provide feedback and also provide a suggestion. Make a conscious effort to bring as many good intentions as possible into your conversations with peers and bosses and you will be well on your way to earning your respect in the workplace while being able to have that open and honest communication with those around you.

Achieving Honesty in Your Relationships

For friends, family or your significant other, you have to remain open and honest at all times during communication. This communication will bring you closer together with those individuals. In arguments, heat of the moment comments always feel right, but they result in more pain or anger than good feelings.

Important conversations with your significant other, for example, should be timely. You do not want to wait until a later time to discuss topics of concern. Even if it appears they do not want to talk about it, you should be able to be open and honest about your feelings. Deep, personal conversations rarely go

smoothly, so be mindful of the timing you bring those up, too. Be in the moment with dialogue, respond to what you feel and know that you are able to share what you need to but in a different way than you anticipated (be flexible in discussion). Being open and honest is difficult for some. Therefore, be patient with your loved ones as they will speak when they are ready.

Understanding how your words may impact and how receptive you are to others’ words are important for effective communication. Looking for something deeper than what is said, or if conversations are misunderstood, can lead to more damage than good. Be patient, be mindful and remain honest in all aspects of the conversation.