WORKPLACE COLLABORATION
Think about it. It is difficult to apply a time-percentage to these words. People have told me that they never use the word always because nothing happens all the time, yet others have told me that ‘always’ occurs about 80 percent of the time. My research has shown that ‘always’ occurs an average of 83.5 percent of the time. Coincidentally, ‘never’ occurs about 18 percent of the time. Imagine if you are one of the people that assumes ‘always’ equals 100 percent and you are talking to a person who is confident that ‘always’ occurs less than 100 percent of the time. The situation is ripe for miscommunication. As another example: You ask someone how long it will
take him or her to complete his or her current project. The response is, “It usually takes another hour or so.” What is your interpretation of usually? When do you anticipate the completion and when will you return to ask them for an update? Is their definition of usually the same as yours?
The next time you ask someone when
they will do something and they respond “soon,” what are your expectations? If you are in the upper half of the circle (refer to the communications circle in the October 2013 issue), you are action oriented and soon means within about 15 minutes. If you are in the lower half of the circle, you are more thought-process driven and soon could mean within the next day or so — after you have completed your current activities and thought through your request. You, the action person, are waiting and getting more impatient with each passing minute, for them, the process- person, to complete that one particular task. Their focus is on their current activity and they do not hurry to get to your request. Depending on what else you are juggling, at some point (faster than what they anticipate) you will return to them in a highly agitated state, asking for an update. Their response will be similar to, “I told you I’d do it when I get to it.” Of course, you can use your imagination to see where this conversation goes. This situation happens more often than you would think.
VAGUE-MEANING PHRASES Both individual words and commonly- used phrases can lead to erroneous assumptions and can imply different meanings. Here are a few examples:
“I’ll do it next.” To you, the action-oriented person, next implies soon and rather quickly. Next can indicate that the current job is near completion and the start time for your request will be imminent. However, the reality is that your request will begin only after they have completed their current project. That might take five minutes, an hour and five minutes, or the rest of the day.
“Okay” or nodding your head. This single word or action has two completely different meanings. Okay or head nod can mean, “I heard you and I acknowledge that I heard you.” It also can mean, “I agree with you.”
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