It’s something that happens in the best of organizations. The boss drafts a report and asks a staff member to proofread it. The assistant brings the report back with a section marked and says, “I don’t understand what you mean here,” to which the boss replies, “Oh, that’s technical–it’ll be clear to the lawyers when they review it.” Two weeks later, the lawyers ask for a rewrite of the same section.

To consultant Dianna Booher, this is a scenario that’s all too familiar, as she points out in her Communication Tip of the Month e-newsletter:  ” People always assume the confusion happens on the other end of the communication–that what they themselves say is perfectly clear and that the other person just missed it somehow.”

Very nice – at least for your ego.  But in business communication, you may be asking for trouble if you assume too much.  Wise communicators never take their skills for granted.

Want a good gauge of your own clarity, or lack of it?  Beware the blank stare!

Need additional signs that your message just might not be getting through? Booher offers the following:

Lack of questions. (You call for questions at the end of a presentation, and there are none. Or, you bring up an idea in a meeting and you’re greeted with only polite smiles.)

Unexpected responses. (People respond irrationally to what you say, such as with anger, withdrawal, silence, or denial.)

Lack of coordination. Things “fall between the cracks” in coordinating projects.)

Low morale. (People feel discouraged that they can never “get it right” when, in fact, projects are frequently delegated without essential elements for successful completion.)

Rework. (Projects have to be redone because the instructions weren’t clear the first time. Or, extra work was completed “just in case” to “cover all the bases” because somebody wasn’t sure what was needed.)

Bottom line remains as always: fuzzy words lead – at very best – to fuzzy action. Only with clear words canyou expect clear action.

As one who appreciates the infinite value of good health, I don’t believe whoever invented Coca-Cola did a favor to the human race. But I take my proverbial hat off to the Coke employee in this little anecdote related and commented upon by Angela Sinickas of Sinickas Communications, Inc.

A woman tried to buy a Coke from a vending machine, but it malfunctioned and swallowed some of her money. By a happy coincidence, the worker from Coca-Cola who refills the machines showed up at that moment. Hearing her story, he apologized, returned her money and offered her a Coke for free. Praiseworthy in itself, but there’s more.

The woman insisted on paying for her drink,  but took the opportunity to express her shock at how much one had to pay for a bottle of Coke nowadays. The worker commiserated with her about how high prices were, but explained in the nicest way just how much the higher price of oil affected the cost of his product, from the oil used to make the plastic bottle to transportation costs. He mentioned specific percentages and dollar figures. He quoted how low Coke’s profit margin actually was on that bottle she’d just purchased.

A good ending, but how did he know so much?

So how did that potentially negative encounter with the Coca-Cola brand end?  The customer didn’t walk away believing that tomorrow she would be paying less for Coke than she did today, but she certainly left with a far more positive feeling both for the brand and for the way her concerns had been addressed. And that, after all, is what good customer service is all about!

But  how did the vendor maintenance man,  who presumably  ranked pretty low in the corporate pecking order, happen to be so knowledgeable on the intricacies of product costing?  One must assume, points out Ms. Sinickas, that he was appropriately briefed , whether on a formal or informal basis, by someone inthe company who served as an internal communicator. And the successful imparting of that knowledge requires a careful definition of goals followed by meticulous planning and preparation.

In Sinickas’ words:  “Especially in difficult financial times, the more we communicators can do to help our employees learn what they need to know in order to interact more positively with customers, the more we demonstrate our own value to the bottom line. Let’s be sure we actually measure that ultimate behavioral impact we have, not just whether our employees heard our messages.”