Have you ever said or heard statements like these?

“It’s not far now”
“We need it quickly”
“I’ll call you soon”
“Can you get it to me sometime soon?”
“That will cost a lot of money”
“We need to communicate better”

If you’ve said these things, you have a clear idea of what you mean. You know what ‘quickly’, ‘soon’, ‘a lot’ and ‘better’ mean, don’t you?

The obvious problem is, of course, that the other person may not be working to the same timetable as you, so don’t be surprised if it doesn’t happen as quickly or as soon as you had hoped!

These statements are known as generalisations, with parts of the message being distorted or deleted, so they are open to ambiguous understanding.

When you hear someone saying these types of expressions, and it will cause problems if the message is open to interpretation, it would be good to offer some clarifying statements or questions;

• So I can be clear, exactly when do you want the report?
• When you say ‘a lot’, how much do you mean, precisely?
• What’s your understanding of ‘better’ communication?

Of course, you wouldn’t ask these questions every time someone isn’t 100% clear; only when it is important that your understanding is vital. Pulling someone up whenever they delete some piece of information will only drive them to distraction, and is not a good communication technique.

Keep listening for when you might say something that could be misinterpreted. It will make you more aware of your communication skills and allow you to build greater rapport in your conversations.

Thanks again

Sean

Sean McPheat
Managing Director
MTD Management Course

Click below for a:
FREE email course “Improve Your Management Skills”

Balancing quality and efficiency isn’t easy these days. Demands from customers and bosses have never been greater and sometimes you feel like throwing your hands in the air and saying “No way!” (or words to that effect!)

What can you do if you know that meeting a specific deadline will result in poor quality or corners being cut?

It might help if you asked the stakeholder “Will you approve the steps needed to meet that delivery date?”

They will probably ask for clarification. This will then allow you to make the point you wanted to make. “Your deadline will not allow me/us/the company to achieve the level of quality you would insist on”.

If they ask what steps you would suggest, tell them that a shorter deadline would force you to deliver reduced quality or quantity, less precision or less formality. Get the stakeholder to recognise these results in advance. Then tell them what will have to happen in order to alleviate these outcomes, like more or better resources or a changed time limit.

If no change can be made, make a note of what happens along the journey, not with a view to casting blame for the poor quality of the job, but to help you reflect on how to handle similar situations in the future.

Also, highlight why this seems to be happening more and more. Is your time management poor, or do you need some project management coaching? Analyse what you can control and what is outside your control before casting blame or criticism in another’s direction.

You may be able to negotiate the deadline in some way. And note that we said ‘negotiate’, not ‘concede’. You have to have something of value that you can offer the other party in order for them to accept the deadline movement. You’re the only person who will be able to answer that in detail, but think about how the change in deadline might affect quality or performance or results.

Commit to achieving those results, and the stakeholder will realise that, if you are supported, the extra time given was worth the wait.

So, learn to determine what can be done, rather than what can’t, and that will help you to ascertain the direction you need to go. Rather than saying “there’s no way”, you may end up saying “there is a way…I just have to find it!”

Thanks again,
Sean

Sean McPheat
Managing Director
MTD Manager Training

Click below for a:
Free email course “Improve your Management Skills”