Surface Ripples

Communicate in ‘Clear’

Working with people always one major problem – communication.  In the immortal words of Robert McKloskey, ‘I know that you believe you understand what you think I said, but I’m not sure you realise that what you heard is not what I meant.’  This is only compounded now due to the ‘global’ nature of world interactions which bring in technical, language, cultural and attitudinal barriers. 

A recent episode for me involved (in my opinion) 

• Technical jargon and expertise
• Language barriers

What happened was that I asked my bank account relationship officer a question about a payment received.  They duly reached out to the team that handled it, but when they reverted to me, all they did was ‘pass the buck’ – the message they had received from the team – without stopping to ask if the message as passed would be clear or not.  I then went out to another officer who was clearly more used to this sort of thing and was able to provide the answers I needed in a form that I could understand.

It made me think: how do I sound to others?  I may think I’m clear, but do they?  When I think I’m using simple language (for me), is it simple for them?  Have I conveyed the information they need in a way they can understand and pass on to others?  

The more globalised and internationalised our world becomes, the more we’re going to find ‘communication problems’ arising.  

How can we, as busines leaders, ensure that they really understand what we said and that what they hear is what we meant?  

I’ve spent more than half my life delivering change in different world markets from the most developed to “emerging” economies. With a wealth of international experience in international financial services around the world running different operations and lending businesses, I started my own Consultancy to provide solutions for improving performance, productivity and risk management.  I work with individuals, small businesses, charities, quoted companies and academic institutions across the world. An international speaker, trainer, author and fund-raiser, I can be contacted by email. My website provides a full picture of my portfolio of services.  For strategic questions that you should be asking yourself, follow me at @wkm610.

Labels: Career, Customer Care, Leadership, Productivity, Selling, Strategy, Teamwork

posted by William Martin @ 09:05