Overcoming Miscommunication at Work

I am sure that most of us happened to come across a point in time when everything was laid out perfectly — the plans were all set, the people involved were competent and committed, the timing was right, and there’s not a major flaw in sight. Everyone is positive about the tremendous amount of rewards to be reaped once this major project gets in motion. Everyone is hopeful. So, it has been decided for the team to move and take on their roles. Everything is going smoothly in your department. No flaws. No speed bumps. Just like what the plan had indicated.

After long and rigorous hours of work, it is time to look at the finished products the team has made. You look at what is supposed to be the company’s ground breaking achievement, but what do you see? An abomination? A mysterious object? You see something far off from what everyone initially conceptualized, and it is apparent that it won’t be of any use in the market.

What happened? Where did it all go wrong? You are very sure that you made everything right. You stuck with the rules. You followed every word your team leader had told you. You know for sure that you were spotless in your function. So you start wondering who could have made the mistake in the process. You start pinpointing inside your head. But here comes the team leader, tapping you on the shoulder, asking you to come with him. You follow him curiously, only to end up getting the message that it was actually you who failed — that it was you who erred in the process. This, dear readers, is a tale of miscommunication.

Miscommunication is a major problem in our lives, especially in a work-place where interdependence in roles is a major element for success. A small misheard or misunderstood message can make things go down south quickly. But what are the reasons behind miscommunication?

Sentence structure. Were you direct to the point, or were you giving too much out-of-the-box examples? You see, once you say too many unnecessary things in explaining an instruction (such as adding examples that may not even be directly related to it), the listener has a hard time in figuring which parts must be taken into account, and which can be done away. The tendency in this case is that the listener would only get a few important points, but would think he got the entire picture clearly.

Language barrier. This is quite com-mon for employees from foreign countries or provinces who have a different language or dialect, and are just getting accustomed to the language spoken in the company. When there is a language barrier, you must strive to always find out other ways in getting our message across. Perhaps you can stop with the jargons and idiomatic expressions and choose instead simpler set of words.

Short attention span. People today have short attention spans with all the technological advancements providing the luxury of multi-tasking. The problem is that, it also affects the listening ability of people. When someone has a short attention span, lengthy introduction of instructions would surely be a problem for them to understand the messages fully. Be concise in giving your instructions. If you really want to give examples to elaborate, do not exceed two examples. Think about whether they still need to know how you were able to conceptualize the task while you were doing your business in the toilet, or how the World War II has started which led you to your idea.

How do we prevent miscommunication? Ask other people to repeat the same message in the manner that they have understood it. Ask them what they are supposed to do, after having discussed with them your set of instructions. And from there, evaluate whether or not they were able to get the message clearly. If not, perhaps a demonstration would be a more direct to the point approach. Show them what is supposed to be done even just once so that they would know exactly how you want the job done.

Certain procedures are hard to describe in words. There are so many cases that are hard or impossible to describe in words. It may be better to understand, if feasible, if you just show them how to do it or having them see how others are able to do it well. In other instances, it may be possible to make a video of the procedure or task. It does not have to be of an award-winning production quality video but just enough to communicate clearly what you are trying to teach.

While the pieces of advice above are simple and easy to do, for long-term benefit, it must be practiced daily. Do not let miscommunication be a hindrance to your team or even your company. Get your message across clearly and success is far more likely to follow.

*Originally published by the Manila Bulletin. Manila Bulletin, C-6, Sunday, February 7, 2016. Written by Ruben Anlacan, Jr. (President, BusinessCoach, Inc.) All rights reserved. May not be reproduced or copied without express written permission of the copyright holders.