Is Communication The Real Issue?

         

"What we have here is a failure to communicate"
               (Cool Hand Luke, 1967)

About 80% of the phone calls I receive from clients and prospective clients are described at the outset as "communications problems". That seems to be a catch-all for anything having to do with people. Here are three issues that come up quite often along with related solutions:

Issue: "People aren't making the changes I want them to make."

Solution: Go back and define the changes as goals, not philosophical visions. More often than not your people are willing to do what it takes if they understand the specific results you want.

Issue: "I can't get my boss to take my suggestions seriously."

Solution: Start by explaining how the the situation is affecting results. Then ask if that is also a concern to your boss. If it is, be prepared to show 2 or 3 solutions that have differing amounts of complexity, cost, resources, and likelihood of success. If you show up with just one suggestion you put your boss--and yourself--in a place where you can only get a yes or no answer. I don't like those odds. Do you?  Instead, offer a choice of "yeses."

Issue: "I'm planning a meeting and can't seem to get commitment replies from the emails I sent."

Solution: Do you invite friends to an intimate dinner party via emails? (If so, do you also give everyone a wifi-enabled PDA to order hors d'ouevres before having them play Charades using only programming code?) Commitments come from relationships. Relationships come from personal interaction--tone of voice, inflection, urgency...

Emails are terrific for announcements and sharing information. To gain commitment, pick up the phone or get face-to-face. Think about the goal, the situational variables, and the ultimate methodology. It really is all about relationships.

Comments

[Jo]

This is what you are so good at Steve.

I think people living on top of each other, as they do in today's corporates, get into a cycle of
a) dropping the communication ball (it happens)
b) getting frustrated
c) not wanting to be frustrated and begin to panic a little
d) shutting down a little more and getting more frustrated and panicky.

They want someone to haul them out of the mess by the scruff of their necks and get them back on secure ground I think it is showing some wisdom on their part that they give the lifeguard a call. They are just saying I am caught in a riptide and if I continue to struggle I will make it worse. Send out a ski boat!

They are luck to have you to call. I am sure you straighten them out very tactfully and I am sure they are very grateful!

[Wally Bock]

Congratulations! This post was selected as one of the five best business blog posts of the week in my Three Star Leadership Midweek Review of the Business Blogs.

http://blog.threestarleadership.com/2008/06/18/61808-a-midweek-look-at-the-business-blogs.aspx

Wally Bock