Amid the Noise and Haste

"Communication delivered is not the same as communication received."

I received an email this morning from a vendor who had to issue a me aculpa.  They had sent a previous announcement with errors and with unclear information.  In the email I received today they stated "Communication delivered is not the same as communication received."  It made me think.

We don't always here the message that is being delivered.  More commonly we hear what we want to hear, or we hear what we think was said, but because it wasn't communicated effectively the message became skewed or misinterpreted.  This can happen in personal or business relationships.  It can happen with verbal or written communication. 

Communication isn't easy, and different mediums exist.  Some of the connective threads for good communication across any meduim include: clarity, listening well, and being concise.

Team Building

When it comes to companies with many different deparments the unfortunate downside is silos.  Each department can become so focused on their own tasks at hand that the other departments become secondary in priority.  There are two key things I have seen when this happens:

1. Departments are made up of people (the people part usually gets lost); and
2. Departments need to work together as a team to keep the machine running

The Reforming Project Management Blog had a great list of questions to ask when dealing with "Team Communication and Health."  Asking these questions can help identify gaps in communication that can then be addressed with team building exercises, lessons in communication and development.

• To what extent is the team positive?
• To what extent is honesty and trust evident?
• To what extent is the team learning and improving?
• Is morale improving, steady or declining?
• To what extent are team members being open and honest with each other?
• Are there barriers between trades and professions and if so How high are the silo walls?
• How long or short are tempers?
• To what extent are team members collaborating?

Delays, Timing, Hold-ups

So it has been quite a while since I posted.  It will begin to pick up slowly again...I have recently changed jobs which has taken me away from the blog with preparations, training, etc. 

I hope to be back soon, posting more about customer service and much more.  Please stay tuned!