While reacting and responding may seem similar, they are different at night and day. While reacting is easier, responding can bring you better long-term consequences. Your relationships with others might have positive outcomes once you learn to respond instead of reacting. This article will try to understand the difference between reacting vs responding and what makes it so crucial for your business.
Before entering the debate of reacting vs responding, let us look at their definitions. Reactions are spontaneous, instant, and purely emotional. The unconscious mind drives it, which is why one may react without thinking. It is often based entirely on the heat of the moment, and you hardly consider its long-term consequences.
In comparison, a response occurs when you have considered the desired outcome of any situation. Since you think about the long-term consequences of your actions, responses are usually aligned with your core values.
What Is the Difference Between Reacting and Responding
The first and foremost difference between reacting vs responding is time. The time duration between the event and our action determines whether you are reacting or responding.
Another difference is whether we consider other alternatives are not. If we are reacting to a situation, we say or do things that come first to our mind. In comparison, we tend to consider other possibilities while responding and select words or actions that are the most beneficial.
Our reaction may often come across as over-the-top or irrational to others. In retrospect, it may appear odd to us as well. On the other hand, your responses seem a lot more sensible. Therefore, if you wish to determine whether you reacted or responded to any situation, try to determine whether your action contributed to any positive outcome.
Reacting vs Responding – Which Is Better for Business
The success of your business depends mainly on your business communication skills. And since most business conversations are live these days, handling difficult people and topics becomes more challenging. If you find yourself on edge or ready to blow, the one thing you can do is wait. Let us put this in perspective and find out what happens if you wait and when you do not.
When You Do Not Wait to Reply
- You are likely to send an email with some silly mistakes. You write ‘your’ instead of ‘you’re.’ You may miss out on punctuation marks, and you look entirely unprofessional.
- You may say ‘yes’ when you mean ‘no.’ You may either agree to things beyond you or turn down good opportunities without thoroughly evaluating them.
- You may miss out on those points you knew were meaningful and could help the conversation.
- Your professional relationships can suffer. Or similarly, you may be too quick to ask for forgiveness. This might burden you with a relationship you did not want in the first place.
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When You Wait to Respond
- You might assert yourself in a manner that the other party will respect. This will help you get what you want, while the other party will clearly understand your boundaries.
- The issue is resolved, and no back-and-forth is needed.
- Either salvage a valued professional relationship or end one that has professionally run its course.
- Your response sets an example for the rest of the team members.
These points prove that you need to respond instead of reacting for business success when it comes to reacting vs responding. Let us look at a few business scenarios where choosing responding vs. reacting can help resolve the situation.
Blog Comments – Negative blog comments are standard these days. If you feel that commenters have not understood the article, you can easily ignore their remarks. However, someone who has read your article and has something negative to say about it may be correct in his position. Therefore, try to investigate the issue, post a response where you agree with their points, and assure them that you are taking proper steps to fix the problem.
Emails – Since emails are a bit more personal and one expects a quicker response, it can get tricky. You can ignore annoying emails or not react to them via mobile phones. Often mistakes tend to slip by on the smaller screens. Take some time to respond. Keep it professional and avoid errors.
Live Messaging – You cannot delete business messages without reading them in live messaging. You can either set your status to away and respond to the messages later or say, “I need to take some time to think this over.”
In-Person Conversation - Whether you are talking to someone on the phone or in person, you cannot always come up with the perfect response. Neither can you turn on your heels and walk away from the conversation. Therefore, take a few seconds to respond. You can also reply, “I need to take some time to think about that.” This way, you will not be pressured into accepting something you do not want to. You may also predict how the conversation will go and come prepared. Responding vs. reacting becomes a lot easier if you are prepared.
Whether you react or respond to any particular situation builds a habit and a solid go-to reaction. If you can train your mind to wait, you will always opt to delay your reactions in crucial situations. Over time, this cooling down period will transform into an involuntary reaction of yours. You do not want to come across as unpredictable as a business owner or manager. You will never find high-profile CEOs ranting on Twitter if they face setbacks or are fired. Sentences like - “I never know how he’s going to react” will not be associated with successful businessmen. Hence if you choose reacting vs responding, you might appear unprofessional to your clients, colleagues, and coworkers.
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