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In 1993 Fran and I prepared material for a workshop on Communication—Why are we still talking about it? Our goal was to raise the attention of everyone that even with all that has been written and discussed regarding communication there are many times we don’t understand how to communicate effectively in a given situation. This year as we created the brochure, Communication: Still the number ONE challenge!, we find poor communication is the number one problem blocking productivity and customer relations. So ask yourself Why and are you prepared to do anything about it? How often are you involved in dissatisfying communication? What is the impact on business relations and performance results? Is the communication energizing or draining? Do you feel built-up or knocked-down. Do you want to buy from this company? Do you want to work for this company?

What we find is poor communication costs money and time to repair. We communicate in such a way that we either enhance or hinder change. If we hinder change we have created a future problem. For companies to get what they want (meaningful change, profits, high productivity, good employee relations and satisfied customers) they must communicate appropriately with employees, prospects, customers and stakeholders. So what is appropriate? For management and employees to balance the effectiveness and efficiency of their message the questions are What do we want to communicate? When is the best time? How do we communicate to get our message across and understood? Are we receptive to feedback? and Do we really understand if the communication process worked (message sent was message received)? Failure to do so increases resistance to achieving productive results.

When referring to communication in this article, please think in terms of conveying something important and meaningful, not just Hi, how are you doing? Think in terms of saying something that needs to be said to enhance, inform, or change a problem situation.

Communicating may not be easy, but we make it more difficult then it has to be. We seldom take enough time to plan our communication—instead we wing it. After all speaking is something most of us can do, almost anytime we want—just do it. Then we walk way believing since you said it they got it. Who takes the time to assess if it was effective—they heard it. We often take communicating for granted when it is actually hard work. As with most crucial tasks just winging it is a poor substitute for planning what we want to accomplish and developing a strategy to implement the plan and achieve results. The next challenge is to assess how effective we were. This is where our listening skills become an asset, Are we getting feedback and a clear picture of understanding? How can we be sure? Well stop talking and telling start listening and asking. Somehow we have labeled people who ask questions as a pain. Satisfying questions is an important segment of understanding and developing social skills. Please don’t shutoff someone who asks questions. How many times have you heard The only dumb question is the one you don’t ask? However, we often show annoyance or judge the questioner. Don’t fall into this trap! Questioning is an important part of communication, be more concerned if you don’t get questions. Make sure you’re asking meaningful questions to clarify understanding—the goal is to listen and respond with empathy and build understanding. Once you’re satisfied (message sent and received) reinforce your communication to enhance the relationship and the results of your communication.

The rules for enhancing communication:

• Plan your comments—use them to convey complementary or constructive messages.

• Implement your plan for delivery, the right place and the right time.

• Assess and get feedback to ensure understanding.

• Reinforce to enhance the relationship and the results of your communication.

"What we find is
poor communication costs money and time to repair".