|
“I TOLD HIM I NEEDED some of
his staff to cover things so we could have our meeting,”
Ann said, “but did he volunteer anyone? No. And then today
at the meeting, the supervisor asked him when he was going to
have his meeting and he had the gall to say, ‘As
soon as Ann loans me the staff to cover it.’ I don’t
get it!”
She doesn’t get it. A lot of people
don’t get it. That’s why I will urge you — for
the sake of your sanity and effectiveness — to be overly
clear when you talk to people because they tend to assume
they understand when they don’t. It is in your best interest
to be too thorough when communicating to people. It makes
you more effective.
“Don’t use the one on the right,”
you say. “It’s being repaired. Only use the one on
the left.”
“Sure. No problem.”
Later...
“That machine didn’t work,”
he tells you.
“Which one did you use?” you
ask.
“The one on the right.”
“I told you to use the one on the
left!”
“No you didn’t. Remember? You
said I should only use the one on the right. That’s
what you said, I swear!”
People sometimes aren’t listening
very well. Sometimes they have other things on their minds. Sometimes
they think they know what you’re going to say already, so
they don’t really listen. And then there is the memory factor;
human memory is certainly not the most reliable thing in the
world.
You can save yourself a lot of trouble
by simply repeating yourself and then questioning people to make
sure they know what you said.
Be overly clear with your communication
and you will experience less resentment and you’ll have
fewer problems to deal with later.
How can you be overly clear? By using two
simple techniques: 1) repeat yourself, and 2) ask questions to
make sure people understand exactly what you’re saying.
Be more clear than you think is necessary and you’ll experience
less stress and more success.
Be overly clear with people.
 |