I wrote a couple of post a fair time ago about the importance of effectively conveying information in various forms by ensuring it is complete and without any ambiguities. The impact on productivity due to missing, incomplete, or misconstrued information varies. It could be inconsequential to very significant. It all depends on the situation and timing. Either way, the importance of effectively communicating information is immense. Important as it is there is no guarantee that the desired results will occur. Even if one spends an appreciable amount of effort and due diligence to ensure that the information is complete and concise, the outcome can still be the same as if those activities were not performed. This outcome can occur when the recipient is not listening, paying complete attention, or they forget the information shortly afterwards.
I have read several articles about the importance of thorough listening and they all present points that are worth while committing to memory. However, I noticed some variations to their points on how to listen effectively or at the very least inspire confidence in the conveyor that you are listening effectively.
For the information conveyor their means is getting what they need. For the information recipient, it is more than just producing the need of the conveyor which is at stake. The conveyor’s confidence is in consideration. In other words, it is one thing not to deliver what is required. It is another for the conveyor to lose confidence in the recipient to deliver.
I have experienced this with a supplier. Some products were delivered to us that were faulty. The fault’s progression was due to a breakdown in communications. There were some differences between what was required and what they were able to produce. The supplier should have directly communicated these differences to us before the products were made. Instead they embedded this information in a document provided to us, therefore, it’s criticality was not expressed. I phoned the supplier to discuss the issues. After a brief conversation I decided to visit them to learn first hand how they make the product. With that knowledge I could be able to instruct the supplier’s engineering personnel on how to make the products so that they completely conform to our requirements. While I use doing this the engineering manager pointed out a shortcoming in my idea due to an inherent limitation in one of the processes. I then told them of a way to work around this limitation which would still meet our requirements. They all agreed.
A few days later I received an e-mail from the supplier stating the process they were going to use to rework the faulty products. I was not familiar with this process, so I sent an e-mail to them asking about the parameters of this process. The engineering manager responded by mentioning the limitations of the first process that was discussed in person. He also repeated his stance that one of the requirements could not be met due to this limitation. To say I was surprised would have been an understatement.
In my e-mail, I was asking about the second process, not the first. Also, it was discussed two days prior how to work around the limitations of the first process, in which everyone agreed to. Not only did the supplier’s engineering manager not answer my question, he completely forgot our discussion on how the product should be made. I was starting to lose confidence in the supplier.
As you just read, not listening to someone, in this case a customer, does not just impact productivity. It also affects the information conveyor’s confidence in the recipient and ultimately their reputation. That in turn could reduce the probability of repeat business or for an employee a reduction in responsibilities. Any erosion in confidence would be difficult to regain.
How does one becomes an effective listener or retains information better? For the sake of brevity I’ll answer that question in the next post.
Until the next time!
Productivity Aspects 