Bernhard Schieber

Interpersonal Communication Satisfaction Inventory: Measure the Experience, Not the Outcome

Communication · Executive Insight Brief · 205

A satisfying debrief can still fail

Assess how satisfying a specific conversation felt while keeping competence, accuracy, relationship quality, and task success separate

Premise

Organizations often call a conversation successful without specifying whether they mean satisfying, accurate, candid, persuasive, safe, or productive. Michael L. Hecht’s Interpersonal Communication Satisfaction Inventory measures how rewarding or fulfilling a specific interpersonal communication encounter feels to the respondent. It captures the experienced flow, engagement, opportunity for expression, and felt quality of the exchange.

For executives, this isolates one important outcome without allowing it to become a master verdict. Satisfaction is not proof that a decision was sound or a message understood. A comfortable exchange can omit material risk, while a necessary accountability conversation can be experienced as difficult.

Interpersonal Communication Satisfaction Inventory — A satisfying debrief can still fail. Executive Insight Brief 136 by Bernhard Schieber.

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