Misc. Ramblings

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March 21, 2003

Can You Hear Me Now?

Communications is a tricky process, I'm talking here about the interpersonal kind. Many of you have been part of school exercises in which students are lined up and then the person at the start of the line reads a short message to the next person in line. This next person then, without the aid of having the message written down, orally repeats the message to the next person in line. And so on down the line until the last person has heard the message. At that point, everyone gathers together and the last person tells the group the message he or she heard.

Everyone has a good laugh when what the last person says has very little relation to what the first person in line said. If you've been part of this exercise you know that I'm not kidding when I say the last message has very little in common with the original.

Likewise, one of the tricks in managing organizations is getting your message out to those who have to implement it. If it helps, think of it as the captain of a ship navigating though shallow waters and having to relay messages to a helmsman situated at the opposite end of the ship. If the captain says to turn in one direction, but the message relayed to the helmsman is to go full speed ahead, there will be problems. Such is the challenge to managers in organizations.

There are a couple of ways of communicating well. One way is to call a meeting of everyone who would need to hear the message and tell them all at once. Hence, there is no repeated tellings and no immediate way that your message could be altered. That does not mean different people will interpret what you said in different ways but it does mean everyone starts with the same message. The problem with this is it is very inefficient to gather your workforce every time you want to say something because the work comes to a stop while everyone gathers.

Another way is to use written communications. The written word does not change. You can copy it a hundred times and the last copy will be the same as the first. As above, how it is interpreted, if it is read at all, is greatly dependent on the reader. The problem is, many people won't even read it, much less remember what it said. And even if read, many people have problems interpreting and understanding written communications.

The bottom line is different people learn differently. So if you want to communicate effectively, you have to use multiple vectors to that end. Which vector to use will depend on what needs to be said and who it needs to be said to. Only you, as a good manager, can decide the best way to communicate what you need done. But you must remember to provide multiple opportunities for your message to get out and depending on how large an organization you have, you may have to repeat the message multiple times.

But don't be surprised if what you said and what is heard are two very different things!

Have a Great Weekend Everyone - Aloha!

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Comments

Posted by: sjon at March 24, 2003 01:47 AM