You think you told someone what to do and they shook their head in agreement. It is now four days later and you are expecting that person to come back to you with a specific solution, at least that was your take-a-way from the earlier conversation. The only challenge is that this individual didn’t have the same clarity that you had. In addition they didn’t ask for clarification because they are a bit intimidated by the fact that the owner of the company approached them to complete an important task for the company.
Instead of asking you for clarification they approached a few others in the organization (who weren’t part of your discussion) to provide their input and the project has now taken on a whole new meaning that you had not intended. In the end a lot of time is wasted and you don’t get your desired result. So, why does this happen when we are so confident that we described the objective so clearly.
Andy Grove said it best when he said “Communications is not about what you say but about what the other person heard.” How many times have you said something that you thought was so clear and the other person obviously heard something very different, almost like you were having two totally different conversations. This is all part of human communications and how the lack of understanding affects your businesses every day. Learn more about how you communicate and become a more effective leader!
