Communication has so many obstacles.\u00a0 Think about it.\u00a0 Even simple communication takes so many steps.\u00a0 You have to develop the message in your mind then define how you are going to communicate it (written, verbal, etc.) then deliver the message.\u00a0 The person receiving it has to hear, see or read it (or even feel it if it has physical characteristics).\u00a0 After that they have to interpret it, process it, understand it and then begin defining their reaction.\u00a0 So even a simple message or question like \u201cWhat\u2019s for dinner?\u201d has to pass through three steps of delivery and four steps of reception before the other party even starting thinking of a response.<\/p>\n
Now think about how easy it is to have someone state something incorrectly or to vaguely for others to grasp, or for the other party to misinterpreted the statement.<\/p>\n
Let\u2019s take the delivery side first.\u00a0 Is it a hop, skip or jump?<\/p>\n
When things need rapid communication, you just blurt them out, like yelling \u201cFire\u201d or \u201cLook out\u201d.\u00a0 Delaying the communication could cause or allow more damage than overstating the concern.\u00a0 Just get it out there.\u00a0 But other messages need more refinement.\u00a0 Let\u2019s take a look at what problems I have seen in defining and delivering the message.<\/p>\n
Defining the Message<\/p>\n
Don\u2019t start talking until you have most of it figured out:\u00a0<\/strong> Try to think through the entire communication prior to starting.\u00a0 Do you have all the info needed?\u00a0 Do you know what questions might be asked from what you are stating?\u00a0 Not having it all wrapped up is okay if you state that up front.\u00a0 Bringing someone in to assist with defining the initiative is okay as long as they know you are not finished with the entire process.<\/p>\n Not enough detail:\u00a0<\/strong> I have gotten so many messages from others that have been calls to action (asking me to do something) in which there is not enough detail to make it happen.\u00a0 It makes me think they have not fully thought out the idea or initiative.\u00a0 They leave out critical who, what, when, where and expect me to define the How.\u00a0 When asking someone for someone\u2019s help \u2013 you need to include the reason for needing it and then provide them with the exact information you need and when you need it.<\/p>\n Too much detail:<\/strong>\u00a0 The flip side of not enough is too much.\u00a0 Some emails I get (and some that I write) have way too much info and people just don\u2019t read them all the way through.\u00a0 When I find myself typing too much in an email I usually try to add a summary of critical items or highlight in bold some data the needs to be transferred.\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0In conversation, look for body language that you are talking too long.\u00a0 Keep messages short and to the point.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Communication has so many obstacles.\u00a0 Think about it.\u00a0 Even simple communication takes so many steps.\u00a0 You have to develop the message in your mind then define how you are going to communicate it (written, verbal, etc.) then deliver the message.\u00a0 The person receiving it has to hear, see or read it (or even feel it […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[],"series":[],"class_list":["post-2669","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-cad-management"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.caddmanager.com\/CMB\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2669","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.caddmanager.com\/CMB\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.caddmanager.com\/CMB\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.caddmanager.com\/CMB\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.caddmanager.com\/CMB\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2669"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.caddmanager.com\/CMB\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2669\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2672,"href":"https:\/\/www.caddmanager.com\/CMB\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2669\/revisions\/2672"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.caddmanager.com\/CMB\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2669"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.caddmanager.com\/CMB\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2669"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.caddmanager.com\/CMB\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2669"},{"taxonomy":"series","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.caddmanager.com\/CMB\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/series?post=2669"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}