what this means is that both left and right side of the headphones as well as mic will share the ground wire (common) which would be the 3rd ring in from the tip. while the left will get wired to the tip and right to the 2nd from tip. the microphone will go to the 4th ring.
basically this
you may have tested wrong. i would suggest touching the contacts on the inside of the headphone (or looking at the wiring colors used there).
at least that is the common setup for most headphones and headsets. there is such a thing as balanced headphone TRRS jacks but that applies to high end audio only and unless you're a member of the audiophile club, its very doubtful you're using such things