How well we communicate is determined not by how well we say things but by how well we are understood.
Andrew Grove, CEO Intel
LinkedIn said that ‘communications’ is the #1 top skill you need in your professional profile. Good communications are a vital element to all RBPS and RBDM. Communications problems can impact senior executives to low-level VUCANs. One challenge is you may remember as little as 25% of what you heard in the last two days.
Think of the last dinner you had in a pre-COVID restaurant where couples were using smart phones to keep current, contact friends, and text their date 2 feet away. It’s worse when digital natives communicate exclusively through Zoom, smart phones and wear masks.
Good communications start with good listening. The problem is VUCANs (VUCA iNhabitants) are texting and listening less. No wonder Zoom communication or the lack of it, hampers remote work effectiveness and even relationship happiness. Poor listening can result in the wrong coffee order, poor quality instructions, and even incorrect medical procedures. Can you imagine having scheduled through telemed an appendix removal and lose your lung instead? That would make for a bad lung day. Strange things happen through daily Zooming which could result in massive medical liability awards!
Story: There are lots of risk examples. Physicians don’t communicate well with patients or as commonly heard, the doc’s bedside manner could be improved. Accountants (CPAs) in Big 4 firms rise up the technical track to become partners, but can’t handle the VUCAN side or the selling side. Lawyers, who make partner through great litigation, but can’t shake the money tree to get new clients. Engineer founders, who are so introverted and introspective, can’t work as part of the development team. All of these are career killers.
For example, take GE, which was in tough shape before Covid. Poor Risk Based Decision Making. They were in disruptee mode. The CEO needed to be consistent and transparent in all communications. He recently said the turnaround will take years and “I don’t want to sugar coat that in any way, shape or form. There’s a lot of work. It’s a game of inches.” They have been working on it for 4 years and just now are seeing success.
Work Lesson Earned: Poor communications is a huge problem with VUCANs and digital natives. Big problem for them at work and in life. If your personal vision, mission, values, culture, goals, plans, policies, and procedures are not communicated, then they will be misunderstood and not followed. It comes down to understandable communications. It’s that simple. Poor decisions are made. Processes won’t work. Projects aren’t completed. Deficient products are produced. And, ultimately unhappy customers won’t purchase your products or services.