BLUE ORCHID PR

I think we have all experienced poor communication at some point in our lives, especially with the addition of modern technology into the pot. If you are thinking, “No I don’t think so.” I will provide you with some scenarios that you possibly have run across in your everyday life.

• You’re at work and you get an email from your boss. “I want xyz done and on my desk by 5pm” You get two things from this email, you have been assigned a task and your boss is nicely telling you if you get off at 4pm guess what NOT TODAY (LOL). So you immediately get ready to start your new assignment only to realize the next thing (after you have cussed because you were supposed to go out for drinks later to wash off the hellish work week) your boss included no instructions. Now if this is a task you have done before and you can do in your sleep great, however if it is not. You have just been a victim of poor communication.
• You call your local cable provider because for some reason you see charges on your bill that you know you didn’t make. You put all the information into the automated system (while silently wishing they would dismantle the thing and use it for spare parts in some remote junk yard in costa rica) and wait for a person. The representative gets on the phone and re-confirms your information for security purposes and then asks how they can help. You explain the situation and you are told it will be taken care of. You hang up the phone feeling accomplished. The following month you receive a new bill and it isn’t taken care of, you go through the whole song and dance again only to find that it was not taken care of. You express your outrage to the rep your currently speaking too and demand it to be corrected. The current rep tells you it cannot be corrected because of xyz reason. You tell them that was not what you were told when you called about it on said date and spoke to John Doe. This is when the rep lowers the boom your previous call wasn’t even documented to your account by John Doe. You have been just a victim of poor communication.
Communication is more important than ever now, its how we get things done in life when it involves two parties. I say two parties because if your doing something for yourself; you don’t have to communicate anything, you just do it. However when other parties are involved it takes a bit of information to ensure the exchange is accurate fair and the end result is a positive one.

Poor Communication can come in various forms especially online: Tweets, Text Messages, Emails… the list is virtually endless. The question is how can you correct it? Unfortunately with so many people using these forms of communication it’s hard to effectively and completely eliminate the communication menace. It can however be some what eliminated if everyone took the time to absorb, read, understand and respond appropriately. It would make things a lot easier. Follow up that email with a phone call at a later date. Take the time to spell check that letter to the ceo and take note of the tone you are sending as not to offend. Maybe this particular topic doesn’t need to be sent via text message maybe it would be best left for a face-to-face conversation.

I am pretty sure if we all work towards that common goal there would be a lot less hurt feelings and a lot clearer intentions.