Communication is the process of transferring information from a sender to a receiver with the use
of some kind of medium in which the communication is understood to be the same by all parties
concerned.
Now this sounds like a fairly easy task, but countries have gone to war over bad communication,
friends have killed each other over poor communication, marriages breakdown daily because of poor
communication and people loose jobs because of it as well.
You may think we would take the time learn how to communicate effectively, but in reality we tend
to blunder along assuming what every one thinks and means.
There are many different types of communication. There is verbal, such as speaking even using the
tones of our voices. Animals grunt and communicate (and some humans I know too!). then there is the
non-verbal ways off communicating such as body language, sign language, touch, eye contact, writing,
Morse code, smoke signals and so on.
In fact the verbal part of communication is small compare to what we as humans say without
speaking. The way we stand, walk, look say much more about us than our voice. Actions speak louder
than words.
How can we communicate in a better way and get better results? Well communication starts with
receiving the communication correctly. We generally do not listen or read correctly. Even when we
write we need to take care:
Message A: Meeting Now. Cancelled Lunch Instead
Message B: Meeting Now Cancelled. Lunch Instead
They mean completely different things and the only difference is the full stop in the
sentence.
Taking care to send the correct message and to receive the correct message is essential. We are
generally far too busy to listen properly, but we need to take the time to do so as it leads to
fewer problems.
How will communicating properly aid our success?
Well in business there are generally two teams; a client and the supplier.
The client should know what they want before they approach the suppliers. They should have
thought out the whole project before presenting it. I have sat through many meeting where clients
haven’t researched their project and ended up wasting everyone’s time adjusting and
adjusting everything. So clients should understand their project constraints and outlines before
moving ahead. With the help of the internet, we have no reason not to be able to find out
information about everything before the two parties are put together. This also helps the client to
know that they are not being taken for a ride. Clear communication from the client will give the
suppliers the ability to know all the requirements and avoid nasty surprises later. How many times
have you heard “But you didn’t inform us about this part” during meetings? I have
heard it far too many times.
The supplier should be able to take the incoming material and read it carefully before replying.
Any questions or topics not clear should be addressed. Always find out who is your point person from
the clients end and insist on only one point of command as it is impossible normally to please 10
different people making decisions. Everything should go through one coordinating person. If there is
something unclear, do not assume. The saying “If it can go wrong, it will go wrong” pops
up too many times to make second guessing a habit.
Assuming is a habit that kills communication and leads to disaster. We assume when we do not know
the answer of something. As humans, we need to have answers to everything immediately and we cannot
take the time to find out the truth and so we fill in the blanks based on previous experience and
decide what will happen next based on expected behavior.
It will save a lot of brain drain, hassle and arguments if we stop assuming and communicate with
the other party. Even if it takes a while to get the correct information do not make decisions until
you have the correct information required.
