My Valentine’s eve wasn’t spent exactly how I’d planned: I found myself in the dark shuddering with confusion and indecision in the company of a serious man, whereas the company I had been expecting was that of a single man.
Do I sound like a slapper? Well that’s because of my own inimitable use of miscommunication; the very same miscommunication texted between my, neither single nor serious, partner and myself.
Leaving domestic duties at home I’d whisked myself ‘up west’ to have lunch, to see Keira Knightley in a matinee performance of The Misanthrope and head to an early screening of Colin Firth’s latest film, or so I thought.
My partner knew I wanted to see Colin in action and when I texted him to ask me where The Quiet Man was playing, he understood what I wanted and told me which cinema to go to and what time it started. All I had to do was run to the cinema, pay and jump in my seat. He corrected my text told me where and what time to find A Serious Man. I assumed he was right, he assumed he was right!
Expecting a weepy I joked with the girl in the next seat about needing tissues; the lights dimmed and I watched in dismay as the film opened with subtitled peasants droning on about Dybbuks. What unfolded was a maelstrom of disillusion as a 1960s’ professor’s life falls apart in the Coen Brothers Jewish Mike Leigh-esque study NOT Gucci Genius Tom Ford’s directorial debut A Single Man.
I leaned to my neighbour and said: “I’m in the wrong movie – Where’s Colin Firth?!” She guffawed and said: “So am I, I don’t know!”
I walked out into the foyer making my exclamations to the Odeon staff who said several people had made the same mistake…
Don’t get me wrong had I expected it, A Serious Man would have been a brilliant, if dour, experience although it’s no match for a naked Mr Firth.
It got me thinking – how much bother a bit of miscommunication can cause.
You only have to go back to last November to read about the lack of understanding between one a search engine giant and Chinese authors. According to Chinese State Media the country’s scribes had their quills raised in rage against Google Books for a possible breach of copyright laws, by scanning Chinese books for its online library
In January 2010 Google admitted there had been poor communication between itself and the Chinese writing community and apologised for inadequate discussion between them. But China may not be the only country pitting itself against the tech giant on such an issue: America, France and Germany may soon follow suit on the Google Books debacle.
Closer to home a recent study undertaken by coaching company Think Feel Know (TFK) revealed that poor communication between line managers and employees could hamper our recovery from the recession, in 2010.
Nearly half of the 4000 employees surveyed were unsure what was being asked of them by their line managers, which resulted in huge time wastage, up to 40 minutes per day, which is equivalent to 83 employees in a company of 1000 doing NOTHING each day.
So, if you line managers don’t want to get your staff to feel as flummoxed as I was in the flicks, here’s how to reverse the negatives revealed in the TFK study:
1. Know what your employees do, or what their role in the organisation is before delegating tasks.
2. Be clear about what you want: don’t assume employees know what you’re talking about.
3. To maximise staff morale keep your customers informed to avoid confusion and loss of business.
4. Don’t assume…anything!
TFK’s CEO James McCarthy makes a good point:
“The key to moving forward is recognising people will always communicate and interpret information in different ways but by understanding how individuals work and tailoring approaches accordingly an aligned and productive workforce can be built.”
And, from my experience take responsibility for yourself… if you don’t understand something ASK. Like I should have: “You do mean the Colin Firth movie don’t you? Please text me the cinema’s number and I’ll call them myself.” Sorted.
