ajcjobs > BlogBreak > Archives > 2006 > June > 15 > Entry
Clear communication is key
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
As I was clearing my voice mail recently, I had to repeat a certain message multiple times in order to understand what the caller was saying.
I thought I could make out a first name, but the telephone number was a quickly muttered mess.
In the end, I was unable to return the call because I couldn’t understand enough of the message to take down a phone number.
Later, it occurred to me how many missed opportunities must go by daily due to poor communication in the workplace.
Rumors are started, revenue is lost, customers don’t return…all because someone did not communicate in a way that was easily understood.
First impressions are not always visual impressions. The impression you make with your voice is just as critical to your professional success.
This isn’t to say that everyone should speak with the same flat, Midwestern dialect you hear on television.
Someone can have a regional accent, but still be easily understood because he or she speaks clearly and uses proper grammar.
The colorful language and distinctive phrases we might use when speaking to our peers or our family is a rich part of our cultural heritage and may be perfectly acceptable in the right context.
Nonetheless, in the business world linguistic standards are viewed quite differently. Our customers and clients do judge us based on what we say and how we say it.
Sometimes hard-working, well-qualified employees are not promoted because their speech patterns don’t give the impression that they’re management material.
Have you had a similar experience? Do you have a co-worker who is constantly using bad grammar?
Have you made a serious professional blunder because you thought someone said “five” but you found out later they meant “nine”?
Comments
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By karsh
June 15, 2006 11:02 AM | Link to this
My biggest gripe with communication is unresponsive voicemail systems. Maybe because cell phones are such a normal part of everyday life, I’ve become conditioned to a voicemail system that gives me prompts to listen to my message, save my message, etc. On most business voicemail systems, none of those prompts are given! I can’t tell you how many times I have called a business, left a message, and had no idea whether or not it was actually confirmed after I finished. Pressing the pound sign usually does something, but often, that doesn’t work either. I know I’m not voicemail challenged, but they could be a lot easier on the business end.
By Yankee doodle
June 15, 2006 11:26 AM | Link to this
I have trouble understanding people with thick Southern accents because I am from Boston and have just moved down here.
By Chris
June 15, 2006 02:23 PM | Link to this
Although I have yet to do so, I would very much like to remind people there is no x in especially, that they are frustrated not flustrated, and that they may want to say supposedly and not supposebly.
Oh well, it can be expecially flustrating when people pick on the words we are supposibly saying wrong.