Thought Picnic: Between writing and speaking

Effective and polite conversation

The art of communication and more so the one of being effective at it matters a lot. Even for those of us schooled in the old-fashioned use of language in courtesy, respect, grammar, and correct address, we must not be tempted to dispose of it for the sheer ease and modernity that attends to current trends.

Whether it be letters, emails, or text messages, I follow some basic and critical rules. The form of address along with a greeting is essential. The statement and context are written with a style that respects both the correct use of grammar and punctuation, whichever language I choose to write in. The closing is properly made too.

Chains of email angst

In a recent series of back-and-forth emails where nothing seemed to be moving, we had generated an enviable email chain that would tire out a casual observer just as some frustration began to set in. I suggested we seek a resolution by telephone conversation to understand where the apparent miscommunication or misunderstanding was because we were getting no further along.

My feeling is that this suggestion prompted my interlocutor to review their workflows and processes after which certain ameliorations were made without conceding the fact that the issue was always on their side.

Suddenly, the shunted wagon of bureaucracy lethargic woke up in a fit of uncharacteristic vigour, trundling forward towards the realisation of intended or expected outcomes.

Words to any effect

One would not want to apportion blame as much as the admission of fault should not suggest a loss of face. Though the facility to admit wrong with the finery of language is hardly taught and acquired without extensive reading, especially of the classics.

I get commended for having a way with words and that my writing conveys my views better than my speech. At my most cantankerous I am neither eloquent nor articulate, and enunciation is good enough, I hope. Yet, where you have no opportunity to write, what you say and how you say it is the only device by which any listener might give due recognition.

Understanding the power of communication matters

It is Babel out there

It would usually happen, technologies that overlap, strong expertise in the separate technologies that seep into egotistical posturing, then exacerbated by a very political setting that engenders silos of indifference whilst all working for the same organisation.

What you get is a tinderbox of conflict and reverberation played out in emails with escalating intransigence as more and more people who already have enough trouble to deal with are drawn into it with the hope that one would prevail and other is vanquished.

Yet, I do not indulge in these power plays and that is what it sometimes demonstrates to gain any particular benefit than to see that what in my reasonable professional opinion gets done. This is where communication, clarity, persuasion, courtesy, and evidence matter. I will not propose without the supporting documentation and references to buttress the point.

The compelling urge to respond

Then, I rely on the reasonableness of my argument to eventually persuade those who can engage to facilitate the necessary. After a number of exchanges, a response came back that left me quite exasperated. Having conceded that the viewpoint was acceptable the rest bordered on infantile invective.

I could have immediately replied, but I could see no further need to conduct that conversation, I left it to my managers to take to the next level and that is what I asked them to do. Generally, I am no fan of needless meetings that yield no progress. I would rather just give my managers the information they need to thrash out the essential compromises and we can get on with what we need to do.

Just let it work

As the email cooled off for a few days and over the weekend, I had begun to craft an adequate response in my head that I began to write on Tuesday, I was not convinced of the need to send it, so, it lay in my Drafts folder.

A meeting scheduled for yesterday was postponed to today and it was my intention to maintain silence until when prompted. I could not have anticipated the developments when concessions were fully made with even more support than we anticipated. All this arrived at on the review of their systems and realising that our request was as reasonable as it could ever be.

At their behest we now have ample opportunity that probably would never have been possible without instigation, that first went completely contrary and sour to cooperation and acquiescence. That’s why I do what I do, I am a geek of sorts but it takes a different kind of political communication strategy to get radical change to a point where it gets the full support of competing interests and eventual implementation.

Thought Picnic: Finding a way with words

A way with words

You have a way with words, my boss wrote in response to an email I sent out to a wider circulation list to counter a political storm.

Communication and succinct communication is something I have found very useful in the workplace. In many ways, between those of us doing the work and the many others whose high-visibility and lots of jargon spiel allows them to steal the glory of others, many things call for diplomacy and tact.

Ways to use suggestion to persuade people of your views, others needed to tell people off quite sternly without appearing to do so.

Purposeful communication

This for me is the versatility of the English language, moving on from the perfunctory to a deeper and meaningful use of expression that you cannot be misunderstood, even if you are misread at the first reading.

I do not write emails to have them ignored, I set up the circumstance in which all courtesies apply that there will be much to be said for your decorum, attitude and politeness, if you do not engage.

Generally, as much as my phraseology can read as flowery and verbose, the purpose in the end is to cut to the chase, dispense with jargon and let very basic common-sense apply.

Working on it

It is so easy to run away with fads and trends to appear as if you can fly with the eagles when you are, in fact, roaming with chickens. I can see through many like that in no time and I so easier run out of patience when I am invited to talk shops that do nothing to help in solving problems.

When I talk, I think I am good, when I write, I guess I am a lot better. I have kept my job, changed systems, impressed greatly, annoyed seriously and gotten raises, just because somewhere in my abilities, I can find the right context, tone and intent in my communication to coax and to persuade.

I have learnt to keep doing what I know best to do, the rest will take care of itself.

On the use of visual cues in emails

Much said and misunderstood

I am used to writing emails in the narrative; long, detailed, thought through missives to get across a point without having to attach explanatory notes; though anecdotes and analogies can be helpful.

However, I have found that due to short attention spans, people might not read the whole email and thereby miss out on what I have to say.

Especially, now when I can receive a deluge of emails that represents a lot of noise, very little communication, but excitable enough for unnecessary power plays, politics and escalations.

Pointedly concise

Whilst I have not sacrificed my propensity for the narrative, I have found that visuals cues help a lot.

My emails now start with a greeting, a short introduction, numbered or bullet points depending on whether I am offering steps to follow or points to note and then more notes if the person wants to understand my reasoning.

The first part is contextually concise and the latter part is generously detailed.

Effective feedback

Beyond this, I can capitalise a negative, embolden or italicise some text and even colour a phrase so that the particular point is never lost in the multitude of words.

Suffice it to say that I have been pleased with the effectiveness of my communication, in that I am not only properly understood, the message is clear and I receive reports to that effect.

Emails may not be the best tool to get a point across, but in a multidisciplinary international team, it is the best means available and one had better find ways to make the best use of communicating with it.

Essential Snobbery 101: Emails should not replace proper communication

Breeding annoyance

The times I have been quite noticeably shocked by behaviour and attitude are without count. That I have quite promptly upbraided people is something people who know me appreciate.

The other day, it was an email with the appeal that I be "calm, logical and professional" Some messages are not worth responding to, because there is no arrangement of words that would serve the intent as well as the put-down she deserved.

I decided that she had not, with all our dealings, begun to understand the kind of person that I am. Nothing annoys me more than the lack of courtesy, where people resort to emails in place of the essential conversation and think things are fine that way.

Proper conduct

Sadly, in my view, if you will saddle me with a responsibility, then you should chat to me. That I have acquiesced does not mean I have accepted that responsibility apart from trying to create a situation of, 'can we just get along?'

It is the same thing that informs how I travel and how I like things to be, 'just so'. There is a cost to this, but the truth is whilst some might consider me demanding or complaining. I prefer the absence of conflict borne of the fact that people know what they are supposed to do, so I do not have to ask them to do what should have been properly done.

Human-to-human conversation is still the most effective, courteous and respectful kind of communication; it shows engagement too.

Project management off the books

This is where one must say the project is losing focus, no expectations are set, no inspiration is given, and hence, there is no commitment and targets are not met.

There is the science of project management, and there is an art of project management; many have mastered the former and lack any skill in the latter. In essence, they have to bludgeon rather than encourage and escalate rather than encourage.

That they appear to be out of their depth is no surprise, and that we are to pick up Humpty Dumpty's pieces afterwards is no surprise.

If I have to insinuate myself into this situation, the quest to get things going might inadvertently expose the incompetence of others. That is why I am restraining myself, but it would not be long before knowledge and understanding meet in the realisation of somewhat all too obvious facts.

I am biding my time.

Thought Picnic: Unnecessary Power-Plays

Much to the muchness

I know that in my writing I take the time to be lucid, to expatiate and explain my viewpoints with great care and determination.

Obviously, the attention to such detail is to eliminate any doubt as to my premise and purpose. Inadvertently, I find that even if I need to develop any part of that thinking any further, the original write-up always seems to have the completeness I have intended even though the reader might not have fully comprehended by reason of glossing over the minutiae.

Unnecessary power plays

When it comes to writing for business and dealing with thorny situations, one is even more thorough and exacting to ensure that what one needs to be understood is properly understood.

I dare say I sometimes get caught up in traditional English expression where the obvious is in the understated, there is no reason to be direct if you can be nuanced and still quite effective – that is the beauty of expression in writing.

I remember times when I have been caught in unnecessary power-plays of email atrocity that sap me of all energy and if I were of a feebler disposition, I might probably lose the will to live. In such cases, I find that the end to all conflict is contained in the brevity of a one-liner or at most two sentences.

In one such instance, when I finally got fed-up with the correspondence and at the same time had put in place the action to support the view I was about to express, you grab the best attention by first switching to formality and then delivering the line, which in this case was, “Apparently, this matter has moved on from personalities to delivering a solution.”

Do not forget to add your thanks and close with formality too. That was the end of the matter.

The subtlety of persuasion

So, recently, I found myself in the middle of one those email atrocities where I was determined something get done despite the reluctance if not truculence of the other party. With just the right people copied in on the email, there could be no argument against this and full acquiescence came within a day.

“The issue here is simply one of improving the User Experience, which is why it was put forward as a suggestion - I don't think that the quest for greater ease of use should generate much debate apart from seeing if it is reasonable or not.”

The art of persuasion is more in its subtlety than anything else, I have learnt over time.

Applying to a correction institution

Irretrievable errors

I do not want to be worried but I am getting concerned – my blogs I can review for years; proofreading, correcting and adjusting as I find errors, emails are a completely different matter.

In the last few weeks, I have had the sad situation of reviewing some emails I sent out only to be mortified beyond words – spelling errors, contexts wrong, even the mobile phone number in my signature has been wrong for weeks – Unbelievable.

This is quite unlike me, I have tried to introduce compensatory measures to deal with certain aspects of my communication – years ago, I found if I had to transcribe numbers I seemed to mess them up, so I broke the groups of numbers down, wrote them down in batches and then reviewed them twice before I was sure I had done that right.

Review, edit, correct

In some of my blogs, I have decided the best proofreading is to read the blog back out loud to myself and that seems to show up issues with construction and writing that I can correct.

What is of concern is that I do know what I am thinking and I cannot understand why what I am thinking does not seem to end up at my fingertips and on screen.

How allocations in my head became applocations on an email does give one a spot of bother. I am usually able to spot irregular patterns or improper constructions on review but it seems this requires a cooling period between writing and review to see things with different eyes.

I would suppose blogs can wait, emails however are written on spur of the moment and sent by which time your reputation is either made or lost with redemption almost beyond grasp.

I wonder if this is a matter of losing concentration because I usually have a good penchant for attention to detail and normally think I could be meticulous to a fault – but if faults belie my presumed meticulousness – we have a problem in need of an urgent solution.

What to do?

Lift me down

Another email needing some airing

We get all sorts of emails in the office and many just make you want to throw your system out of the window in rage or disgust when you get copied in on stupid power-plays which do everything to increase your stress levels and force you to take sick leave.

Now, the text below came in an email we received from our Facilities Management Department this morning, something to do with our lifts.

The Notice - Elevators

As you all have noticed, the elevators in the main office are regularly 'under repair'.

Partly this is due to intensified heavy-duty use because of the Great Place renovation project: heavy loads are transported via the elevators which has its impact on the machinery.

Another reason of frequent defects is the irregular handling of the elevator doors in order to keep them open. Elevator doors close and open automatically. The doors can also be kept open manually by pushing the <<>> button inside the elevator, or by breaking the infrared door-beam. An automatic door should never be kept open by manual force: doors should not be forcedly kept open, they should not be touched at all.

Finally the increased frequency of the repair of the elevators in the Atrium is related to excessive use (they are even used for one floor up or down), old age and wear & tear. These elevators are operational since 1987 when the building was opened, and without drastic measures we can no longer guarantee a smooth and flawless running for a long period.

For all these reasons it has been decided to completely replace the elevator engines. We are about to start the tender process to select new engines which we hope to have installed in the second half of this year.

Sorry for the inconvenience - although not using the elevators has various environmental, physical and economical benefits.

So this means

The lifts would be out of order for a while whilst they arrange for someone to try and fix it, meanwhile, we can reduce our carbon footprint but using the spiral staircase that has those going up using the thinner part of the steps.

We should however feel good because this means we are becoming green-conscious, and for those of us who use canes, we have just been whipped for trying to make our lives easier.

Meanwhile, here I am pushing the hail button and it looks like I am standing for England.