Manuel* has been ill at ease with his supervisor Robert* for several months, but is having difficulty instigating a calm and constructive conversation about it. “Every time I try to start a discussion, I get flustered and feel like he’s manipulating me.

In an oriental fable, six blind men decide to meet an elephant in order to broaden their horizons.

Paul* came to see me because he’s not getting along with his colleague: “Ben* is the coordinator of the project I’m working on, but he’s doing it without really consulting any other members of the working group.

It’s not uncommon in communication for a hidden message to take on more importance than what’s actually said.

In conflict situations, there is a tendency to want to have the last word and be proven ‘right’ and yet, that may actually be the ‘wrong’ way to go about resolving an argument, whether it is face to face or through an exchange of e-mails.

Labelling colleagues – either in negative (“horns”) or positive (“halos”) terms – is like looking at them through a lens that colours all our perceptions, as well as those of others around us.

Do you have a tendency to switch off at meetings every time a particular colleague starts to speak? Is it obvious to you that your colleagues will never accept a peer as a project leader? And doesn’t that candidate from your own alma mater clearly have a definite edge over the others?

Have you ever been surprised by a negative reaction to an e-mail that you believed to have been efficient, helpful and to-the-point? This happens more often than you may realise, as communication is about what they hear, not what you say.

CERNese is the language spoken here: based on English and French, it’s a mixture of accents, pronunciations and body languages that go well together. CERNese is also an attitude: we make an effort to understand others and to ensure that other people understand wha

Very often, misunderstandings originate from the assumptions we make about people’s intentions, even where in fact there are no actual differences in thinking. Sometimes, speaking up is enough to resolve these misunderstandings… provided this is what both parties want.