Clear communication: communicate clearly, or else…💥
A few months back, we bought a TV stand. When I saw the instructions (see picture), I couldn’t believe my eyes. Granted, I’m not the most technical person, but whoever I reached out to also scratched their head. 🤔 The guide was anything but clear communication.
It took me two days to assemble it. Through trial and error, I tried fitting all components that seemed compatible until I had a TV stand in front of me. In the end, I succeeded. But it took way more time than necessary. Not to mention my frustration.😖
The same can happen in companies when supervisors explain the task vaguely.
Real-life example:
Supervisor: “I need you to create a report on X.”
Colleague works hours on the report and then presents it to the supervisor.
Supervisor: “This is not the type of report I meant.”
🤦♀️
You can imagine what followed: redoing the report, extra work hours, tensions, etc. This could have been prevented, had the supervisor communicated more clearly. They could have specified what they required.
Often, we don’t articulate our needs clearly because we assume the other knows what we know/think/want.
Quite frequently, this is not the case. This is why we should think through the receiver’s mind. How much do they know? What information do they need to succeed? Etc.
Of course, the colleague could have asked for clarification if they weren’t sure. The reason for not asking could be that they also had an assumption and thought they knew what the supervisor wanted. Or it could also be the case that the specific company culture didn’t favor asking questions.
In the end, both lost. The supervisor had to wait for the correct report, while the colleague had to put in extra work.
The „TV-stand-gate” players also both lost. I lost a lot of time, and the company lost a future customer.
The furniture company could have prevented this. Just like the supervisor. Both through clear communication.
Bottom line:
Communicate clearly, or someone could suffer. And that someone could be you.
Need help in communicating clearly? Contact me.