Becoming Our Best
GETTING IT DONE VS. CLARITY
Most of us have been in situations where there is too much to do and not enough time to develop and send an important email or text response. That situations is almost a part of today’s job description for many positions. And the higher level the position is, the pressure to “get it done now!” becomes more intense. There are few excuses that will satisfy the person “up the chain” from us. What to do?
- Realize that if the message isn’t perfectly clear, it may be misunderstood, causing time loss, frustration and extra expense.
- Find a way to prioritize responses so the important ones get done with the appropriate amount of thought.
- Always re-read what you’re sending, using the “lens” of your worst enemy reading it for ways to misunderstand it.
- When possible, involve the person “up the chain” in prioritizing your responses when there’s not enough time.
- Know that your reputation is on the line every time you respond. People will remember, and “the cloud” never forgets.
Life in the “pressure cooker” of many jobs is hard to handle in a healthy way. We need to take a few minutes every day to evaluate our clarity, first of our thought and next of our communication. I believe the payoff in achieving clarity is approximately 5:1: That means every extra minute spent ensuring clarity will save 5 minutes of time clarifying the mess after the misunderstanding occurs. In my book, that’s an excellent return on your time investment.
Author: Bruce Johnsen Management Consultant:
824 Munras Ave Suite G Monterey, CA 93940
831-373-5969
bruce@brucejohnsen.com
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