If A Tree Falls In A Forest And No One Is Around To Hear It, Does It Make A Sound?
The philosophical question "If a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?", is a question that I'm sure we've all heard before... it is the idea of whether or not something can exist without being perceived. However, for today's entry, I would like to put my own spin on this age old question, and ask "If a person communicates and no one is around to see it, did the communication really occur?"
This entry isn't about the importance of communication or best practices on how to communicate (to find out more about communication read What We Have Hear Is A Failure To Communicate) ...but rather it is assuming that you already know this and our practicing the art of communication on a daily basis. No, today's entry is about how to "appear" to be communicating.
Frankly speaking, one of my greatest struggles both personally and professionally has always been communication. In working on trying to improve my ability to communicate, I have found that perception is often as important as reality (if not more so). That being said, the following are a few tips on how to create the "perception" of communication:
- Document, Document, Document ~ I cannot emphasize enough, how important documentation is. Without documentation of communication you are left with an endless battle of He Said She Said. What did you agree to? When did you say it would be delivered? Who is responsible for delivering it?...There's a famous quote which says that "a verbal contract isn't worth the paper it's written on", meaning that words are just words, without documentation you have nothing. That being said, the practice that I've taken on lately is to send a follow-up email after a call or a meeting, in which I always start with the following words "As discussed...", this not only provides physical documentation about what you communicated about, but also establishes that there was both an oral and documented form of communication.
- The Loop Is A Good Place To Be ~ I know that when I first started working, I worked on a very "need to know" basis. If I thought you needed to know something or be involved, I would tell you, otherwise, I would handle everything on my own. I thought that cc'ing people on emails or doing daily status reports, showed a lack of trust or ability. But I've come to learn that keeping people in the loop is a result of working in a team, it doesn't mean that you can't succeed on your own, it means that people want to be involved and share in your experiences. That being said, I've taken on a new outlook, which is to share everything! If people don't want to be cc'd on something they can delete your email. If they don't want to come to a meeting, they can decline your request. Basically, put the onus of being involved on someone else, plus by keeping everyone in the loop, they can see when, how, and with whom your communicating, so really it's a Win Win situation.
- Get Physical ~ This tactic of creating the perception of communication, is by far my favourite, and is one that I have just recently adapted into my own personal practice. It is the idea of creating a physical appearance of communication. For example, it is very easy when you have a question to pick up a phone, send an email, shoot over an instant message...but what does this do? It gets you your answer, it fulfills your need of communicating, but it is very private. It is a practice of communication only apparent to yourself and the other party involved. But what happens, when you physically get up and go sit at someones desk? All of a sudden, everyone around you sees that you're communicating and after all, that is the key focus of today's entry.
