The best way to ensure mutual understanding is to get feedback from the receiver. Feedback is the process of verifying messages. Questioning, paraphrasing, and allowing comments and suggestions are all forms of feedback.

Feedback facilitates job performance. The most common approach to getting feedback is to send the entire message, followed by asking, “Do you have any questions?” Feedback usually does not follow because people have a tendency not to ask questions.

After sending messages and asking if there are questions, we often proceed to make another common error. We assume that no questions means communication is complete and that there is mutual understanding of the message. In reality, the message is often misunderstood. When a message does not result in communication, the most common cause is the sender’s lack of getting feedback to ensure mutual understanding. The proper use of questioning and paraphrasing can help ensure that our messages are communicated successfully.