Hi there,
Let’s talk about something that is remarkably uncommon, and that will set you apart from 90% of the professionals in your organization
Define what words mean.
Have you ever excitedly ordered the “El Diablo” burger at a new restaurant, and a bite or two in found that its name definitely over-promised? Or perhaps you modestly ordered that enchilada with just one “red chili” next to it on the menu, thinking yourself safe, but still ended up with a face-melting experience?
Yep. Me too.
This, and so many more challenges, occur because of the imprecise nature of language as a tool for communication.
Even if we share a native tongue, we often use high level abstractions to quickly encode many experiences, assumptions, and beliefs into a small package. If we fail to unpack those abstractions and test our assumptions, we often wind up with miscommunication no matter the fluency of the individuals.
Three Tactics to Promote Transparency
Here are three simple tactics you can use to avoid the business equivalent of a “face-melting” experience because – if you’ve ever had to measure the impact of an initiative or define the scope of a project or team, you know that this kind of problem is definitely not limited to entree selections.
- Ask
- Say it back
- Speak in examples
(I just realized that makes an apt acronym, so let’s pretend it was intentional, *goes back and highlights first letter of each word*);
That’s right, “Cover your A.S.S.!”
Ask:
As a species we are hard-wired to try and fit in. Because of that, when a colleague throws out a squishy term, our first reaction will typically be… to nod. But we can be agreeable while still being curious, these are two common ways to open the dialogue.
“When you say [squishy term], what do you mean?”
“I’ve seen folks use [squishy term] in a lot of different ways, and I want to make sure we’re on the same page, could you explain a bit more how you mean [squishy term]?”
Say it back:
A quick regurgitation or rephrase goes a long way,
“Gotcha, so by [squishy term], you mean [rephrased squishy term]?”
“Okay I think I get it, would you also say that [squishy term] and [rephrased squishy term] are about the same?”
Speak in Examples:
Lastly, my personal favorite, you can anchor the term to an external example that you both can relate to.
“K, so if by next week we saw our error-rate drop by 10%, that would mean we had achieved [rephrased squishy term]?
“What if we accomplished X but not Y, would that still be considered enough [squishy term] to be successful?”
At the end of the day we’re all trying to communicate clearly. Most of us simply haven’t really thought through what we mean by the terms we use. Add to that the ambiguity of a business with it’s own micro-cultures, lingo, and pressures to deliver – it’s no wonder we often fail to understand each other in the details.
It’s our job as process professionals to help guide everyone to a mutual understanding of the problem, as well as the nature and implementation of the solution.
And that all begins with defining the meaning of the terms we use.
Bonus Note:
If you’d like a real master-class in how to clarify unclear language, I HIGHLY recommend you check out “Let’s Get Real or Let’s Not Play”. It’s a quick read and is one of my all-time favorite books on the soft-skills of communication.
Thank you for the post !