Photo by Paul Kucharczyk

Today’s communication comes in 40 characters or less and news stories last no more than 2 minutes. The technological revolution has allowed us to do more  faster than ever before;  we can save fifteen minutes or more watching TV by fast forwarding through commercials. Websites redirect if they take more than 5 seconds to load and the popularity of texting has given us a whole new language designed around brevity.  But at what cost?  Today’s world wants information fast and frequently. The writing is on the wall – if you can’t keep up, move over.

I consider myself to be a very good communicator because I choose words carefully to make sure the meaning is clear. I am educated and have always had a rather extensive vocabulary, even as a child. Well earlier this month, I learned a valuable (and rather painful) lesson. None of that really matters when you’re trying to communicate if you don’t understand your audience.

Lesson one: Don’t assume

I emailed family and friends to announce a combined birthday party. Realizing that people were busy and often swamped with email, I sent the message to only one member of each household. At the bottom, (with a special “NOTE :”) I explained my rationale.

During the party I noticed that everyone was there except my nephew so I texted him to find out why. The next day he phoned and said that his wife never told him about the party and he didn’t find out until she got home from work.  He had been asleep the whole time and she just assumed that I emailed everyone individually. 

Lesson Two: Keep up with what’s current

The next week at a different party, I teased him about it and pulled out the email to show him my note. As soon as I said it was at the bottom of the email (so it would stand out) several people started laughing. “At the bottom! Nobody has time to read entire emails; we just scan the subject and the first few words. If it’s not important we move on”. This was news to me. The weird thing is, I do the very same thing (talk about being short-sighted). Of course, I’d be the first person to tell you that I only include vital information so my readers won’t be confused (look for a future post on delusion and denial). Clearly, something had to change and it wasn’t going to be my readers. I made a quick note to self; better communication means shorter emails.

Here’s the thing; I still believe that sacrificing information for the sake of brevity is not a good thing to do. Here’s the problem with that.  If no one sticks around to hear the message, it doesn’t matter what I say.  This is where a good manager and a mediocre manager part ways. Good managers develop flexibility;  the mediocre ones retain the status quo even when it doesn’t work.

Lesson three: Change is constant; get comfortable with it

Part of growing as manager is realizing that you may have to change, even if you’re right. It means checking your ego at the door and putting the organization before yourself. Face it, a great plan to get things done in the least amount of time with the fewest resources will only work if people stick around to hear it. Your job is to see that they do. How? Learn to see the big picture, assess the pros and cons of compromise and proceed accordingly. It means the boss must take the time to learn how others learn and then adjust his style to meet their needs. Not the other way around.