Have you ever asked someone to complete a task, but it was not
done the way you expected? Or have you agreed to meet people at
a large event, but were unable to find them once you got there?
Do you have trouble managing staff or delegating responsibility
because no one ever does what you ask them to do?
Challenges with delegation, meeting locations, and the
completion of tasks usually indicate a communication problem.
There are two areas that cause a breakdown in communication:
being specific and quantifying. If you learn to how to be
effective in these areas, you will dramatically reduce your
communication problems.
Be Specific and Get What You Want
Unclear or ambiguous communication can lead to very ugly
problems. Terms or phrases such as “a few” or “some” or “later”
or “soon” can lead to misunderstanding and miscommunication.
You probably have your own “filler” or vague words you use to
stay non-specific. These words are great in situations where
being specific isn’t necessary, such as when you tell a
co-worker that you’re just finishing a project and will meet her
in the lunch room, “in a minute.” Of course everyone knows that
doesn’t mean exactly 60 seconds. It means soon. But what is
“soon”? For some people that may mean 15 minutes. To others
“soon” may mean only three minutes. Vague words often mean
different things to different people because the word is
relative to the listener’s personal paradigms.
If you tell an experienced speaker to expect “a lot of people”
in her audience, she may expect to see two thousand people
sitting in an auditorium. An inexperienced speaker may only
picture 35 people in the audience when told the same thing.
Tell a group of people to arrive “around five o’clock” and you
will have people showing up anywhere from 4:30 to 7:30. (I have
family members that believe they’re on time if they arrive on
the right day!)
A deadline is set to have a project finished “by the end of the
week.” Does that mean the project should be completed by 9 am on
Friday morning or 5 pm Friday evening?
Be specific with what you want and what you are talking about
and you will be more successful with your communications.
Quantify and Create Tangible Understanding
It is difficult to quantify everything, though many things can
be measured and/or given a number. Attempt to put everything you
can into quantifiable terms to create a “value,” especially when
discussing non-tangible items. Let’s look at some examples.
On a resume, a job applicant lists her past job responsibilities
as:
Handled bookkeeping Managed client accounts Created new filing
system To give more concrete value to these items, the applicant
needs to quantifying her successes and give them the attention
they deserve. A more effective listing on her resume would be:
Handled bookkeeping of accounts totaling $1.5 million Managed
125-140 client accounts annually Created system which saved 15
hours of manual work weekly Much better, right?
When you speak in quantifiable terms, people are more likely to
understand the value of the items you are discussing.
Quantifying is particularly effective when you are marketing a
business, asking for a raise, developing a job resume, or
debating an issue.
Quantifying is extremely effective in the sales and marketing
process. If you can quantify the gain of what the potential
client will get by buying your product or service or the loss by
not buying, you will be more successful.
If the prospect understands and quantifies the problem
specifically, he will be more likely to understand the scope of
the issue. Rather then just thinking there is a “problem with
employee morale,” help the client quantify the problem in real
numbers.
Guide the potential client into telling you that the average
length of time an employee stays with the company is 16 months.
Company statistics shows it costs an average of $3,500 per
employee for training classes, a uniform, and standard employee
supplies. During the training, an employee receives a paycheck
but is not yet productive. The average salary for an employee is
$2,500 a month and it takes two months to train a new employee;
costing the company $5,000 in salary during training. An average
of 25 new employees must be hired each year. Therefore, it
conservatively costs the company $212,500 a year just to train
new employees.
If your solution to employee turnover is less than the cost
($212,500) of the problem, then the client would be insane not
to hire you, right?
Let the numbers do the selling for you. Numbers are tangible.
Numbers are concrete. Numbers speak volumes.
So, by being specific and quantifying you will begin to get what
you want, when you want it, and how you want it more often. You
will be a better manager, leader, negotiator, and overall
communicator. Now go out there and have fun with your new
communication tools!