Out of the Mouths of Babes

One morning recently during a school holiday, I was getting ready to go to work, when my 7-year-old son asked me "Why can't you stay at home with us?" "I'd love to", I replied, "but I'm meeting people today to teach them some important things." "What?" he enquired. "Well, I'm teaching them how to phone their customers, and make sure that they're happy, and find out if they could do anything more for them." (Considering that it was before 8am, I was quite proud of my explanation) "That's easy!" answered my son, and added confidently "I can do that already!" "Go on!" He picked up my phone, and said "Hello? Hi, it's me. How are you? Are you happy? Would you like me to do anything more for you?" He hung up on his imaginary call partner and said "See? It's easy!" For the rest of the day, I tried to explain what mistakes he had made, and the point is, I still can't see anything wrong in it! Of course, there are questions regarding how quickly and to the point the main issues are brought up, and style is also a factor in conversation. However, my son asked the questions he wanted to, and still showed that he was listening. In fact, there is a very strong argument that his directness would show that he is more honest in his communication. I am surprised at the number of times people go into meetigns with clearly defined questions which they either never ask, or ask in such a vague way that they don't get answers. It may be that you don't know what your client is able to pay because you haven't asked, or you may not know if your staff like a new policy because you never said "Hey guys, do you like this new policy?" Again, I would like to repeat that everything should be in moderation, and there is a very real, and very good, reason why diplomatic language exists. However, there are some very good reasons for using simple, straightforward language too!

It Wouldn't Hurt to Say it Once in a While!

Recently, I recommended a group of accountants in an outsourcing project to start making nice calls. They didn't understandwhat I meant, as they were too busy writing e-mails to remind clients to pay outstanding invoices, and reminding the sales depatment to finally send missing documents. One exasperated soul told me "It's difficult to talk nice to someone when I have to phone him later and complain that he still hasn't paid 11 thousand pounds from last quarter. I don't even know if he's read my e-mails!" This last sentence made me suspicious. "Have you ever spoken to this guy on the phone?" I asked. "No", was the reply. Whether he liked it or not, my accountant friend already had a relationship with this indebted client. It turned out that the client, although late by three months with a five-figure amount, was on time in other ways, returning statements, documents, and answering other questions and queries the accountant had. In other words, the first ever time he would hear his colleague's voice was to be berated about a late payment. I agree that money is important, and I agree that the accountant should call the client about the outstanding sum. I do not agree that it should be the first phone call between the two. I checked with some of the others. Nobody ever picked up the telephone to just say "Thanks for that". Few of them regularly sent an e-mail longer than two words to say it, and yet it is one of the strongest tools in relationship-building. It is difficult to imagine asking a child to give you something, and not to say "Thank You." When a stranger opens a door for us, we say "Thank You". When our dog brings us back a muddy stick we have thrown away, we praise the dog for doing what we wanted. The result is that Fido wants to do something to please us again. Here, people are not so different from our four-leggeed friends. How much would it mean for you if you answered a call at work and were told "Hi, it's Steve from the Marketing Department, here. I'm just calling to let you know I got the files I asked for. Thanks a lot, it'll really help me prepare a great report. Keep up the good work!" As corny as this example sounds, we would all appreciate it if our efforts were acknowledged more often. The next time you get something you asked for, pick up the phone and say "Thanks". You -ans someone else- will be glad you did!

How To Write

I have recently coma across the website Letters of Note, a wonderful and well-curated website that "gathers and sorts fascinating letter, postcards, telegrams, faxes, and memos". It really is worth bookmarking or subscribing to it, as it rewards quickly and often, with such presents as a young David Bowie's letter to an American fan, a "Jerry Maguire" memo from Jeffrey Katzenberg, and Stephen Hawking's tongue-in-cheek answer to a request for a Time-travel equation ("If I had (one), I would win the National Lottery every week.")

The website's sister-site is Lists of Note, which aims to do the same thing with lists written and sent (or not) by well-known people, or on well-known themes. It was here that I came across this fantastic memo written by advertising guru David Ogilvy to all employees of his advertising agency, reminding them that writing is a skill, and should be treated as such.

The better you write, the higher you go in Ogilvy & Mather. People who think well, write well.

Woolly minded people write woolly memos, woolly letters and woolly speeches.

Good writing is not a natural gift. You have to learn to write well. Here are 10 hints:

1. Read the Roman-Raphaelson book on writing*. Read it three times.

2. Write the way you talk. Naturally.

3. Use short words, short sentences and short paragraphs.

4. Never use jargon words like reconceptualize, demassification,attitudinally, judgmentally. They are hallmarks of a pretentious ass.

5. Never write more than two pages on any subject.

6. Check your quotations.

7. Never send a letter or a memo on the day you write it. Read it aloud the next morning—and then edit it.

8. If it is something important, get a colleague to improve it.

9. Before you send your letter or your memo, make sure it is crystal clear what you want the recipient to do.

10. If you want ACTION, don't write. Go and tell the guy what you want.

*Writing That Works, by Kenneth Roman and Joel Raphaelson

I can quite easily count how many times I've given the same -or similar- advice to people looking to write more effectively in business; every time I am asked!

Of course, there is nothing in the list above, or in George Orwell's famous Rules for Effective Writing, which in itself requires study. However, it is definitely worth putting in front of you beside your monitor for daily reflection.

As I have said before, I have yet to receive a complaint regarding my own work, or the work of my colleagues, that it was too easy to understand! It is very difficult to suggest that you are not happy with someone's communication because you know exactly what he means!

Making things short, simple, and well-structured means that you are sure you're getting your idea across. And if you're getting your idea across, there's a bigger chance that people will agree with you.

Face to Face

I recently found that an old acquaintance had found a new job in a company which is setting up a location in Krakow. We met to discuss training needs for the company, and she told me all about her new job. She explained to me that the top management of the company flew in almost weekly to meet the new hires and see how the team were progressing with the new office. Each time they arrived in Krakow, they met everybody who had started work since they had last been in town, and got to know them. They were able to have regular progress meetings with their managers in person while they were in Krakow, too, and were on site to give advice, support, or help adjust targets when needed.

This reminded me of a contrasting e-mail I once received from a friend of mine who works in a Shared Services Centre in Dublin. She said that she didn't know if she was doing a good job, as she hadn't seen her direct supervisor in weeks, but because of that, she presumed her work was satisfactory. In the same conversation., she told me she was looking for a new job. She didn't say if the two facts were connected, but I am pretty sure they are.

Human beings are social animals. We need to interact (despite what we might tell others!). Besides, there is so much more that we can convey with a facial expression, tone of voice, a light gesture of the hand, that it's no surprise that we generally prefer to talk to people face-to-face than on the phone or by e-mail.

If you have a message to give, try to consider delivering it face-to-face, in person, wherever possible. I like talking to people. I'm sure you do, too, and so probably do your colleagues!

Don’t Try to Help!

Try this with your colleagues at work: Tell them you got a phone call from your parents, saying that they need you to help them in their house this weekend, but that you have already agreed to help another friend move house. Then tell them that you have called your friend and changed the date, and they are fine with that. Before you explain this last fact, though, take a sip of coffee. By the time you swallow the coffee, you will have two or three solutions presented to you. Often, when people start to tell us their problems, we immediately start looking for solutions. This is the ‘default’ human nature, to instinctively try to help. This impulse is increased if we spend our time in work solving problems (and most of us do work with people, and so spend all our time solving problems!)
However, as with our experiment, most people have already thought about their problems in a little greater depth before they relate them to us, and so our automatic response can seem at best overenthusiastic, at worst, dismissive. When people tell us what has happened to them, we must first of all decide if they are in fact telling us about a problem. They may be relating an interesting story, or gauging our reaction, or perhaps even boasting, if they themselves have already worked out a genial solution. Until we know what is expected of us, it may be best to delay reaction.
How can we tell what the other person wants from us? Why not ask them for clues? “How does that make you feel?”, “Have you any idea what you will do?” “How do you think I can help?”. Questions like these will clarify the issue without being too aloof. You might also avoid volunteering to do something you don’t need to.

What Employees Really Want!

A few months ago I was present at a talk given by the Centre Manager of a Shared Services Centre based in Krakow. The Centre employed 350 people at the time, and had plans to employ a further 150 or 200. During the talk, the Centre Manager was boasting about the Centre's reputation as a good employer, and shared with us the results of the Centre's last employee satisfaction survey.

As you could guess, a lot of people mentioned bonus schemes and salaries, but although the Centre pays average or higher for the industry, this seems to be an easy area to complain about.

Apart from the subjects relating directly to money, the most important factor in employment satisfaction was communication. This was ahead of facilities, working hours, atmosphere, even development opportunities.

The Manager explained that almost every employee mentioned that they wanted to have more information, sooner, from their managers. They weren't only referring to information immediately relevant to them, either! Communication is vital for so many different reasons, and not just for the ones mentioned in leadership meetings.

Of course, there is a certain size where an organisation must divide itself into departments, projects or teams, in order to survive with some kind of structure. However, in accordance with the rule of 'divide and conquer', one of the effects of this division is that the people in one department no longer really know what's going on in any of the other departments. Of course, it isn't necessary for the Accounts Payable Team to know what the Accounts Receiveable Team are doing, but it helps us feel more like we're part of the big picture if we are aware that there is a big picture!

There is a story of a TV production company who was experiencing reasonable success, and so decided to build their own offices instead of renting. When the architect asked them about designing a kitchen, the directors saw this as a great opportunity, and ordered that no kitchen was to be built. With no other opportunity but to eat lunch at their desks, they reasoned, productivity would rocket.

In fact, after the company moved into its purpose-built headquarters, productivity dropped by 50%! The reason was the exact same one -there was no canteen. People were no longer able to mingle between departments, chatting and gossiping while waiting for the kettle to boil, or the microwave to ping, or while eating their pizza. And so, the television production company -a company very much in a creative industry- had made it almost impossible for staff to be creative at work! No longer would people overhear a problem, and remark that their colleague had had a similar problem, but found a solution. Gone were the days when people would call out "does anybody know how to fix this?" and expect an answer, or at least sympathy!

Human beings are social animals, and despite people complaining about financial gains, deep down, all we want, any of us, is to be loved. Give your staff the opportunity to systematically chat, gossip, ask for advice, offer advice etc., and they will feel much more comfortable. And despite our pride of living in the 21st Century, we are still much more fond of using prehistoric methods -the office intranet is not an outlet for social communication! Make sure your staff is happy to chat. Just make sure they don't suddenly go quiet when the boss walks in!

Main points: communication weak. (Dress code, pay also)

Think for those who don't

This morning I was proofreading an article for a physics graduate student, who had written about a photovoltaic circuit. He had described something that happened in both situations, when S=0(switched off) and when S=1(switched off).

I have a background in languages and linguistics, and I have both feet firmly in the humanist camp, so it quite often happens when I read a scientific text that I ask the author to explain passages to me. I guessed that he had made a mistake when typing, and had wanted to write 'on' instead of 'off' at least once. But when?

When I asked my colleague if he was sure it was correct, he read the sentence and said it was correct. He is a physicist, though, and I thought that he may have just read the equations. In this case, I asked him to tell me if when S=0, the circuit is on or off. "Off", he answered. Next, I asked him if when S=1, the circuit is on or off. "On" was the reply. I crossed out the relevant "off", and wrote in "on", and asked him if it made sense now. He laughed when he realised he had read the piece three times and hadn't noticed.

Often, when we read or listen, we start to lose concentration, and our brains 'fill in' any information we don't pick up, by understanding what should be there. The other side of the coin is when we concentrate too much on the concept, and stop concentrating on what is being said or written. To see this is action, the next time you are in a restaurant, and the waiter asks in passing "Is everything alright?", answer in a pleasant tone of voice, "No, thank you, I'm not at all happy". Most probably, the waiter will smile, reply "That's fine", and walk off. Of course, this fact can be very useful at times.

The solution to this is quite easy, and is simply to ask the other person to repeat back what you have said, or to repeat what they have just said, in the form of a question. "So, if S=1, is the circuit off?" would be an example of checking to see that someone is listening to what they are saying. To check if the waiter was listening to you, the question might be "Is it fine that everything is not alright?"

The thing to remember, though, is this: If you're going to check that someone is paying attention, you had better be paying attention yourself!