We are supposedly not meant to have emotions or feelings at work, but I’ve never been one for being able to leave my personality at the office door.

Add to that the need for people to communicate about work - projects, planing and workflow, etc. I have been in situations where I can quite clearly see that although communication is happening - it’s obviously not. Whether in one-on-one situations, in teams, or during meetings, what’s being said is simply that - words (empty at that). People are talking and people are listening but the communication is missing.
True communication, especially in the work environment, is about engaging one another; usually with some sort of outcome in mind.

I am reading an excellent book called Can I Change Your Mind? at the moment where the Author, Lindsay Camp, who is a renowned copywriter, states that the best piece of communication he has written in the past couple of months was not a campaign or an advert, but a note to his milkman:

No milk today. Thanks Dave!

Written with the audience (one person) in mind, it achieved it’s outcome. He knows Dave. The kind of person he is and how he communicates. The next day there was no milk.

I see this a lot in marketing communications but, possibly more frustrating, I come across it in the office on a daily basis.

My favourite is this kind of exchange:

“When do you need it by?”

“Well I spoke to the client and they haven’t got everything quite ready yet”

“Okay, so when do you need it by?”

“Well the launch is the 1st of next month and I guess they would like it in plenty of time to prepare at their end”

“SO, WHEN DO YOU NEED IT BY!!?”

Who is right and who is wrong?

Well, if you take the viewpoint that the person with the most flexibility of the communication can control the communication (The Law Of Requisite Variety) there is only one loser… the business.

By allowing individuals to understand communication styles and to give them the tools to understand their ‘audience’ they can become better communicators.

Being in marketing, I view most communication as marketing in one form or another. Whether it is for a corporate brand or culture, or for personal brands, ie. How people see YOU personally.

What you can end up with is a much more cohesive and effective business.

Let me leave you with two parting ideas that I think may back up my claims. Go on, humour me by trying them out.

• Picture the last meeting you went to, think about what was said, by whom and to who, and in what way they communicated. Then remember the initial goals of that meeting and finally, the most important part… Did you come away with your outcome achieved?
• Next time you have to send an email to someone - just before you press the send button - pause and picture them in your mind (preferrably in a nice way). Imagine how they talk to you. See their face. Hear their voice and remember how you feel when you have communicated very well. Then re-read your e-mail, remembering what you are looking to achieve by sending it and them wonder if you could make it more effective.