Habits of Effective Communicators

Lifehacker has a post from Lea McLeod, M.A that talks about five habits of great communication.  Well worth reading.  Our favorite, look at this example of avoiding "position defending":

...let's say that two co-workers, Megan and Jason, are discussing a project. Megan says, "This project is overwhelming the team; we need more help." Jason says, "We'll be able to handle it. Everyone will just have to put in some extra hours."

That's not communication. That's position defending.

Great communicators, on the other hand, ask questions and strive to understand all sides of the issue—instead of constantly repeating their side of the story.

For example, Jason might say, "What parts of the project are overwhelming to you?" or, "Tell me more about what you're seeing as the bottlenecks."