Introduction
When you think about GREAT communication, what comes to mind? I don’t know about you, but when I think about great communication, I think about a scene from the movie Braveheart.
In this scene, we are about to witness an epic battle between the brave men of Scotland who has stood up against the tyranny of the ruling English lords of that time. The leading character William Wallace, played by Mel Gibson, rides his horse back and forth at the front line of his army, shouting these words,
“Sons of Scotland, I am William Wallace, and I see a whole army of my countrymen here in defiance of tyranny. You’ve come to fight as free men. And free men you are. What will you do with that freedom? Will you fight? “ Some say, “No, we won’t fight that. We will run and we will live.”
William Wallace replied, “Fight, and you may die. Run, and you will live…at least awhile. And dying in your beds many years from now, will you be willing to trade all the days from this day to that for one chance, just one chance…, to come back here and tell our enemies, that they may take our lives, but they will never take our freedom!!!”
And at these words, the crowds erupted in an uproar and William Wallace went on to lead his army and slaughtered the enemy and sent them fleeing the battle.
To me, what William Wallace did is communication at its highest level.
Braveheart? Seriously? Yes, seriously!
I know, I know, the example I gave is kind of out there. I’m sure we’ve all day-dreamed about giving a blood-pumping speech like William Wallace in front of a large excited crowd. Maybe some day that opportunity will come, and I hope you are ready for it. But the reality is many of us are stuck in front of a computer screen in an office building day in and day out. Our battle ground is in offices and conference rooms, and our weapons are our words, emotions, and body languages, exchanged face to face, in emails, chats, etc.
Compared to that movie scene I just described, this seems tame and uninteresting, but for those who have had any experience working in an office environment, you know that many exciting things, and sometimes even drama, can happen in an office environment. We need to equip ourselves to be great communicators b/c the success of our personal lives and organizations hinges on these communications.
To help with that, I’d like to offer you 10 key ingredients for great office communication.
10 Key Ingredients
Disclaimer
I want to write this article using my own profession as the backdrop, which is a software and technology environment. A lot of what I talk about center around the context of working on software projects as a team. It may or may not exactly match your work environment, but I believe a lot of it can directly translate to your situation.
Ingredient #1: Communicate in a way that builds trust, honor, and respect.
I mention this first b/c this is the foundation on which any meaningful communication can occur. We’ve all witnessed on news and social media how quickly a conversation can turn sour as soon as people feel dishonored or disrespected. It’s sad that people have lost the ability to communicate with each other b/c they don’t know how to trust, honor and respect another human being anymore.
This is esp. important for an organization. If an organization doesn’t have a culture of trust, honor and respect, everyone will look out for themselves and the organization will end up with a toxic environment and suffer.
Ingredient #2: Define clear expectations for everyone upfront. Take the time to get this right.
When it comes time to start on projects, managers, stakeholders, and clients always want them done NOW. So there’s always a tendency for everyone to rush into the work without proper planning upfront. It’s a constant battle. I can’t tell you how many conversations I’ve had with people in the middle of a project who will make a comment such as, “why didn’t we discuss this in the beginning? Why wasn’t I told about this early on?”
This is usually b/c we rushed into the project without proper planning upfront, or a few people did the planning for other people but didn’t tell them until it was late. This can result in a lot of wasted time and frustration among team members. So always take the time to define clear expectations for everyone upfront. You will save a lot of time and energy later on.
Take advantage of computer tools, such as a project mgmt tool, to make sure that clear expectations for everyone are easily accessible.
Ingredient #3: Communicate accountability mechanism to all team members.
Once we’ve clearly defined expectations for everyone, the next thing people need to understand is how they are held accountable. From my experience most people are self motivated and will do their part on their own accord, but every once a while you will run into some people who intentionally slack off, and we need to hold them accountable, otherwise the success of the whole project might be in jeopardy.
The accountability mechanism is not just to catch people slacking, but it also serves as a proactive tool to reflect the ongoing progress of the team. For eg, in software development, we use a methodology called Scrum where all the developers gather in one place physically or through web cam, to give each other an update on a daily basis. This is not about catching people slacking off, as much as it is about seeing the overall progress of the project and build up teamwork and momentum.
Ingredient #4: Exercise EQ (Emotional Intelligence). In other words, act maturely. Don’t be a jerk.
Emotional Intelligence is a fancy buzz word for maturity. When a conversation or a meeting gets heated, for whatever reason, people who don’t exercise EQ tend to be short tempered and irritable. Some people’s facial expressions, vocal tones, and body languages can easily give away their frustration and anger from a mile away. We can’t help but have emotions toward certain things b/c we are emotional beings, but at the same time we are also adults, and we need to have self control of our emotions and be professional in the work place.
Many people have made the mistake of physically expressing anger and frustration toward their coworkers, and have regretted it for many years afterwards, including myself. I know there were several times where I could have had more self control and the situation might have turned out very differently.
Ingredient #5: Believe in and cheer on your teammates. (The prerequisite for that is believing in yourself)
When you accomplish something at work, wouldn’t you want your teammates to recognize that and cheer you on? Yes you would. So why not do it for your teammates too!! This is something that we typically don’t think about, but sometimes one word of encouragement can make someone’s day. It might make or break a project. You never know. It is a very powerful way to build trust and respect, deepen your relationships with your coworkers. Send them an encouraging email, or some encouraging words over a chat, or stop by their office to tell them how good of a job they are doing. Do it and do it often.
