This is possibly the most common mistake in communication,
- How often have you though you have told someone something, but either they forgot or you only meant to tell them but never got around to doing it. You never actually said it.
- How often have you told someone about something, but actually you told someone else. You assumed the message would be passed on.
- How often have you told someone something, but they were busy doing something else. It didn’t sink in. You were talking, not communicating.
- How often have you told someone something, but they didn’t get it. Perhaps you were telling them something else, and the the significance of another part of the communication did not register. They heard it, but did not realise its significance, to you.
- How often have you said something, but forgot to say it again in a different way, with a different emphasise? Have you only mentioned it once?
- How often have you failed to explain the consequences of the message?
- How often have you summarised a days thinking into a short sentence. You assumed they would get it, even though it took you and your team a whole day to come up with it.
Perhaps I have not mentioned this sort of problem enough times.
The solution. Don’t think you have communicated, check that you have communicated. Check what you communicated: that means checking what the other person understood by the communication.
If this makes sense, post a comment, drop me a line, or subscribe to the newsletter. I want to check it was understood ;-)
Phil
