Communication Mistakes
The Most Common Mistakes People Make When Communicating Expectations
- Barking out “marching orders” without making your directions clear enough that people fully understand and accept them.
- Assuming people need only one explanation in order to understand what you expect them to deliver.
- Failing to form an expectation clearly yourself before communicating it to others.
- Excluding any explanation about “why” you want something done within a specific time frame.
- Asking people to do something, but not clearly explaining when you need it done.
- Failing to describe the resources available to help people do what you want them to do.
- Issuing such specific instructions about what to do and how to do it, that people hesitate to “own it” themselves and think out of the box to ensure the result.
From the book How Did That Happen? by Roger Connors and Tom Smith
Have you seen any of these mistakes being made (by you or others)?
Posted by Tim Stevens | 6 comments
James
Setting expectations are critical to success in any endeavor. Execution of the expectation is critical as well. I learned that using why, what, who, when and how in my approach helped insure the proper message was sent. Great blog!
James
David
That's why we are all looking for the right people to work with. One out of fifty people is approximately what i find to be a close number to finding someone who connects with your mental pictures and is able to execute their responsibility without giving them all that much detail. Unfortunately that is the best case scenario. I had people that were good followers but, you have to test their abilities by letting them figure some tings out on their own otherwise you find out with all the effort you've put into the detail of instruction, you could have done the job yourself. In a sense I give them the basic tools like God gives us. We continue to confide in Him for direction and we'll do some things wrong along the way. The expectation is to have it done perfectly but the reality is we all make mistakes. It's hard to anticipate all of the questions individuals will ask. One key is to find someone that asks questions. One key for life is to ask God and be in prayer. This a Great blog. These are things I deal with everyday.
DLP
jesse phillilps
One thing I run into allllll the time is someone telling me they need something done, but not saying when they need it done. When I ask, they're almost offended that I ask when they need it by. It's impossible to do a list of 20 tasks all ASAP.
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