One can get a college degree in “Communications” and still have problems communicating in the workplace. Here are a few things I have observed and learned that may help you. These are my Communication Nuggets.
1. Be responsible for what you say and what they hear. Just because you send the message, do not assume the message was received. It won’t help to say “well, I told you,” if they say, “well, I heard this.”
2. What I heard you say is this________. This is the easiest way to check on the sender’s message.
3. Self-review everything. If you are communicating with a customer, prospect or your boss, take a deep breath and read it over one more time. Nearly everyday, I catch things that should have been caught earlier—spelling or punctuation mistakes, wrong tenses, glaring mistakes, etc. I understand that we all mistakes, just realize that one mistake causes your boss to wonder “what else is wrong?”
4. Pay attention to phone manners. State your name clearly, including your last name. Say the purpose of your call. Leave your number, twice.
5. Use the appropriate media. Nowadays, we have all sorts of potential media and each one is important when used correctly. Try to develop a skill in every media because some people are more comfortable with one media over another. Learn how to use Email, Instant messaging or smoke signals if your audience demands it. Following up with a clarifying email to a phone conversation makes sense to me.
6. In a series of emails, if the topic changes, change the subject line. You know how this happens. You have hit reply and answered a question, then the original sender hits reply with another question, but the original subject never changes. Change it when the topic changes.
7. Avoid political, religious and sexual absolutes. At work, be Switzerland.
8. Repeat, followup. Repeat, followup. Just because you sent the email or made the call, has not transferred the communication responsibility to the other party. People forget to call back, lose the message, get busy and emails fall down on the page and they just didn’t get to yours. Don’t pester, but be persistent.
9. Tell bad news quickly, honestly without manipulation. Think of any PR nightmare that has happened in the last decade and usually it could have been remedied by getting the news out early. Same thing in a company. Don’t think your bad news can be hidden or that it will go away over time.
10. Be a real truth teller. Here is the thing about lies. If you tell me one, I will forgive you. But I will check your work. I know a guy who says he works out every day and does 5,000 situps. BS. Why lie about something like that, especially when it defies logic.
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