Advice Line | Bob Lewis | InfoWorld | How to not blurt | June 30, 2007 07:44 AM

MORE ENTRIES

How to not blurt

June 30, 2007 | Comments: (0)

How to not blurt

Dear Bob ...

In a recent KJR ("Iacocca's alliterative leadership list," 6/18/2007) you wrote "Effective communication is the result of planning, not blurting. It focuses on the audience's vocabulary and cares, not the leader's. Anything else is self-indulgence."

What is the best way to develop the skills required for effective communication? Like the ability to identify the audience's cares. Is this something I can learn from a book or do I need a personal coach?

- Blurter

Dear Blurter ...

Mostly, you need empathy - the ability to put yourself in their place and anticipate how they're likely to feel about whatever-it-is.

So if you're about to introduce a new piece of software to replace one that's cumbersome and hard to learn, put yourself in the place of the employees who have mastered the old system. They're going to:

* Feel grief over the loss of prestige. The new software will make hard-won skills they're proud of irrelevant.

* Feel anxiety regarding their ability to master the new software, and perhaps the new way of doing business that goes with it.

* Feel more anxiety over the possibility that the real reason for the project is to layoff some employees - namely, them or some of their friends.

Pretty easy, once you change your perspective.

The other tool you need is listening. Establish open lines of communication where you make it clear you're genuinely interested in what they know and what they're thinking. Once you've done that, you can explain what you're planning to do and why you're planning to do it, and ask how that strikes them.

Talk with some employees one-at-a-time and with others in small groups. Some people need the freedom of not being overheard. Others need the moral support of their peers. Doing some of each maximizes your chances of hearing what you need to hear.

Once you get in the habit you'll find it isn't very complicated. It does, however, require real effort to explore the different ways to communicate a point, in order to find the one that fits each situation best.

- Bob

Posted by Bob Lewis on June 30, 2007 07:44 AM

RATE THIS ARTICLE:

COMMENTS

Ahh, yes, which reminds me of my favorite negative definition of listening:

Listening does not mean waiting for your turn to talk.

Posted by: John Van Dinther at July 5, 2007 10:34 AM

One source that will help improve effective communication, listening, and leadership skills is Toastmasters. Through active participation in Toastmasters, you should be able to improve on those soft skills that Bob mentions are important.

Posted by: TdyYrLove at July 9, 2007 11:27 AM

"Establish open lines of communication where you make it clear you're genuinely interested in what they know and what they're thinking."

It should go without saying that you have to actually *be* interested in what they think. We have a manager around here who is clearly just going through the motions. Sigh.

Posted by: Sue M at July 12, 2007 08:05 AM

Three books. Three ways to change the world, your life, or at least Bob Lewis' bank account.

Leading IT: The Toughest Job in the World distills the world of IT leadership into eight learnable skills and gives you concrete, practical techniques for each one of them.

Bare Bones Project Management: What you can't not do makes project management manageable, even for first-time project managers with no formal training in the discipline.

ManagementSpeak: What managers say/What they mean … well, it won't help your career, and won't make you a better manager. Mostly, it will make you chuckle, guffaw, and maybe even chortle. Make friends - it's the perfect gift for anyone who has ever suffered through one of those meetings.

Order your copies today!

Technology White Papers

InfoWorld Technology Marketplace

» Technology White Papers Library

Technology White Papers by Topic

Technology White Papers E-mail Alert