Corporate culture. Communication

Communication

What we say and how we say it is a reflection of our thoughts and feelings. Often this is our reaction to what is happening to us expressed in the form of spoken or written words. Sometimes words fly out of our mouths unchecked and inflict unpleasant wounds on those with whom we are speaking. I have always been interested in the issue of how to speak concisely and to the point and communicate just the right amount of emotion for a specific situation. Through self-observation and an enormous number of bumps and bruises incurred in my ever-continuing quest, I have managed to formulate a few principles of communication. I purposefully avoid separating business communication from social/personal communication as I believe that ultimately they both come down to the same principles. 

Should I react? 

Opening one’s mouth and saying something is one of the most simple and widespread reactions in human communication. It is a means to express emotions such as excitement, happiness, annoyance, anger etc. 

More often than not, a reaction occurs instantaneously. Slightly less often, people keep their impressions about an event to themselves and talk about it sometime later. Even less often, an event excites a person to such an extent that he/she continues to speak about it for several days, weeks or months. In this regard, I find instantaneous reactions the most troubling. At times, we regret such reactions, and, afterwards, we realize that they were ineffectual, excessive, hasty, and influenced by our emotions. 

I have formulated the following principle for myself: do not react right now. 

This does not mean setting an issue aside and reacting later. Storing up emotions inside (especially negative ones) is a pointless and tiresome exercise. You simply have to give your brain an opportunity to process new information. As a rule, people base their reactions on impressions formed through sensory information (sight, hearing, smell, touch and taste). It might also be noted that so-called “first impressions” sometimes differ greatly from second or third impressions. Moreover, they can contrast even more sharply with your intuitional perception of a situation by simply not giving it time to be “heard.” 

A simple example of this is a situation in which someone steps on your toe. Reactions vary: some people become quite indignant knitting their brows in discontent. They try to smile graciously and say, “don’t worry about it,” but if you step on their toe a second time, every trace of their gracious smiles will disappear. 

If you are attentive and remain aware of what is happening with and around you: 

a) you may avoid being bumped into. 

b) you will know the reason why a person may have simply lost his/her balance and stepped on your toe without meaning to do so. 

c) you will understand that you are the only person responsible for your reactions and the consequences that follow. 

This principle works the same way in more complex situations such as problem resolution in the workplace, personnel management, or negotiations. A response to an issue, emotion, or a particular objection, whether in regard to form or substance, may be substituted for a reaction. This will give your intellect, cognition and intuition an opportunity to coalesce and, only then, either verbalize a response or simply conclude that there is really no need to say anything in a given situation. 

A response will be entirely different from an automatic reaction to an irritating factor. 

Additionally, any reaction wastes time that could be better spent, in part, observing and collecting more information about a situation. 

Remember your goal. 

Any task that I undertake has an goal, and communication is only one of the tools I use to reach this goal. The goal always remains paramount and cannot be compromised because communication issues or reactions. Therefore, the next principle is understanding the goal. When we react, we often forget why we began a discussion on a project or problem in the first place. What value does this goal have if we forget it so easily? Isn’t there at least some small element of personal responsibility in this? 

Hear and listen. 

Hearing is simply a physiological function and capability, whereas the ability to listen is an important skill which is extraordinarily beneficial in communication. If you truly listen to your partner in conversation, in that moment, you will have no outside thoughts in your head as you are directing your attention to what that person is saying. Hearing is a momentary phenomenon whereas listening is a process involving your intellect, emotions and feelings. This is a different level of reading your interlocutor which allows you to gain much more information and give accurate responses. The inability to listen is a global communication problem. Listening becomes impossible, in part, because of split-second emotional or spoken reactions. 

Simply try to differentiate between each sound a person is saying in conversation, and you will hear and remember many more important “trivial matters” which will, in turn, form your understanding of a situation.

Error Correction

If something goes wrong...

Everyone knows that mistakes occur during the execution phase of practically any project due to incorrect task descriptions, failure to understand the goal or desired outcomes, lack of attention to details etc. It is all very well if errors are caught and corrected before project completion. However, in some cases, the product that clients receive is quite different than expected. They become angry, rightly so, and still want to receive the promised result. 

How to remedy a situation by turning it in a positive direction? 

Rule number one: do not make new mistakes. 

Despite the fact that any overdue project is stressful for both the client and the service provider, you must try to say “Stop!” and evaluate the situation carefully. 

There is no sense in wasting time on a detailed analysis of the project as a whole. If a deadline has been broken, the client is on edge and time is ticking. 

- It is essential to identify the key points which require immediate action. 

- Compile a short basic to-do list with a clear description of your objective and follow the steps identified. 

- Do not jump from task to task. Divide the problem up into several parts and complete each task step-by-step. You may start a new step if the previous step requires time to process, but under no circumstances should you jumble everything together at one time. Time overlaps are permissible, but there should always be a clear delineation between tasks in your head. 

- If a problem cannot be resolved immediately or within a day, be prepared to make adjustments and offer your client flexible solutions. A “flexible solution” is a solution designed to fit a situation at a particular moment in time. If changes arise in an emergency situation, the solution may change as well. 

- If necessary, find an assistant to carry out simple tasks which do not require your personal involvement, but never give full responsibility for a project to your assistant. As a manager, you must be in charge of any emergency situation and rectifying any mistakes. 

- Try to turn off all emotions. This may be difficult, but it is often the only way to overcome a situation in which a step-by-step process must be executed with precision and accuracy. 

- Remember your intuition. The most correct and expeditious solution is almost always in plain sight. You can hear your intuition when you are level-headed and calm. 

Rule number two: keep the client informed. 

Uncertainty is more upsetting than anything else. If a mistake has been made which cannot be corrected within five minutes, call the client. Talk to him/her. Explain the situation and show him/her that you are not indifferent to what has happened. 

What if you have absolutely no time to call? In this case, simply write a short email to show that you are working on the problem. It is important that your email reflect your personal attitude toward the problem and your personal interest in its resolution. Standard phrases such as, “Thank you, we have received your message and are working on the problem,” are nothing more than a formal and impersonal version of the run-around and can only reassure the client for a very short time, if at all. 

Error correction 

Do not even attempt to address the issue of error correction if you do not care about applying it in the future. It would be better for you to look for a more interesting pursuit in life. 

However, if you do find it interesting, then it would be a good idea to do the following after you have successfully corrected the errors in your current project: 

- It is very useful to sit down and “rewind,” remembering the entire history of the project from the present back to the beginning. Ninety-nine percent of all errors are in plain sight and are caused by very simple factors. 

- Play out a logical project development scenario along with possible risks and tentative solutions in your head or write them down on paper. This will give you a birds-eye view of the many possible alternatives for the progression of events and provide valuable experience for future projects. 

- Speak with the vendors and service providers. Figure out what caused setbacks on their end. It is possible that these negotiations will lead you to understand that you need to replace a vendor. Do not be afraid to do this if you have no other option. Otherwise, you will face the problem again. 

- Review the tasks that you complete during the course of a project. You might be able to free up some time for important matters by finding tasks that could be delegated to assistants without relinquishing supervisory control over the project. 

- Use your mistakes for self-improvement. You should not linger in one place for long if your work becomes routine. This destroys your individuality and decreases opportunities for you to achieve your potential. Constantly search for new challenges. This will also provide a reprieve from the inherent routines of management.

Understanding of Goal

There are lots of varying definitions and perceptions about what is a Goal. I wanted to share my understanding not so much about the perception of the word itself, but of my feeling for it. Experience has demonstrated that this feeling has shaped my life a great deal. 

 

A goal is a conscious definition of the subject or state that I’m striving to achieve. For me, the most useful example to draw is as the horizon (the border between earth and sky), to which you’re going along the road. It’s there constantly in the field of vision, distinct objects peel off it and constantly approach me. If I don’t see something beyond the horizon then the visualisation of this object or idea plays a major role here. In this manner the goal possesses properties that are defined and complemented by details by moving towards it. More often than not one goal creates another as a result of received experience or feelings. 

In daily work the goal always determines the result. The quality of the result depends on how precisely I define the desired object or actions. Consequently the first question that I ask myself at the beginning of any new project is: “What do you think the result will look like?” or “What does my client expect?” Subsequently I started to delve more deeply in the details and visualise all the key process and points which await along the road. It has been known that I sometimes lose the thread. Completely “unforeseen” things then happen, the reason for which in actual fact can be attributed to a lack of understanding and visualisation at one stage or another. It is very similar to a dream state – when I’m asleep I am not aware of what is happening. 

The understanding of goals is similar to creating a to-do list. It’s impossible to create something without a foundation, basis and starting point from which everything begins. This point is man himself, as the total sum of skills, knowledge and faculties. In order to formulate the goal correctly all one needs is to simply think about it. A person’s thoughts are extremely flighty and are easily replaced by others suddenly. This formulization also includes emotional sensations and visualisation. For example, you can think about a beautiful sunset – this is simply a thought, but you can really feel it and have a real impression. 

If reaching a goal requires a significant amount of time it makes sense to record and utter it. Sound and vision provide the brain with a lot of useful information and is a very good form of support which is worth making use of. Bearing the horizon in mind I always try to start acting on formulization, transforming it into a living process. Even results and their flavour that are insignificant in comparison with the goal as a whole are capable of really helping you to see the next steps. 

Accordingly when understanding goals one should rely on real opportunities and features not restricted just to mental perceptions, including feelings, as well as not forgetting that formulization is like the goal itself a process in time, and not a statistical image in your head.