Get To The Point First
I used to inadvertently frustrate other people with my verbosity.
A client would ask me a question, and I would give them a 10 sentence background, because I assumed this would be helpful.
“Why do I have 3 printers when there are only 6 staff?” was a question posed to me on my first office setup project by the country manager.
I immediately launched into a technical description of the features of the printers. A cliche but common mistake.
What I failed to realise back then, is distilled to it’s most base level, he is simply asking “Are you wasting my money here?”
A perfect, succinct response would have been :
“The fax/copier/printer/scanner is for faxing and scanning. Otherwise, it becomes a dangerous single point of failure. The black and white is for daily printing since it’s cheaper than colour. These printers also support your staff growth forecasts.”
He would have nodded his head, and walked away satisfied about his investment, and feeling better about me as a consultant.
Instead, I was half-way through a long explanation about something he didn’t care about, and my monologue was not addressing his core concern.
After enduring a few roastings, my sense of self-preservation set-in, and I began actively seeking to respond to the core issue. This improved my relationship with my clients, and built trust since I was communicating directly to their questions or concerns.
The most gifted communicators I’ve seen over the years are masters of this. There is an incredible amount of power in being able to process a large amount of information, and being able to succinctly communicate complex concepts in a simple fashion.
I had a tendency built up over years in IT to make the point fuzzier to try to cover every possible scenario. This wall of ‘fuzzy’ can give you a buffer of error. It’s comforting, but it’s a safety blanket barrier between you and the point.
Client : “Will this USB drive be compatible with my 4 year old Dell computer?”
X “Well, most of the time USB drives use a standard set of drivers, so even without drivers you should be able to use it. If you try to plug it in and you get an error, there might be a problem with the drive. Or maybe, you might be using an older operating system, which might not have drivers for that drive. If theres an error, I recommend checking the manufacture website to see if you can download suitable drivers.”
O “Yes.”
Client : “Are you able to provide project management services?”
X “Well, it depends on the type of project. We don’t do much software project management, of course, but we’ve got much more experience in doing things like IT infrastructure projects, or server projects. We’re pretty skilled at most kinds of projects for a wide range of company sizes. We can manage general office IT projects.”
O “We’re experts on IT infrastructure and new office and office move projects.”
Throw away the fuzziness.
Harness the power of simple and direct communication. Don’t make people wait through a speech. Get to the point first.
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Tags: communication, productivity, simplicity
March 5th, 2010 at 7:18 am
Jason,
First off great post. I think the subtleties of IT and technology consulting are often overlooked, and rarely publicized.
I have one modification to your post, however. Once you’ve been in IT long enough, you quickly realize that client trust is your biggest ally; trust in your word. So while there absolutely is a need for succinct answers, it is easy to let non-tech users drive non-tech answers out of you to your detriment.
If you say “yes” to a USB compatibility question, and it turns out to be NOT true, you’ve either just lied or are incompetent. A better approach is to summarize, not over-simplify. So instead of saying ‘yes’, what might be better is ‘It should. Let me know if it doesn’t work though.’
Absolutes are never your friend in IT, but I agree simplicity is what all IT pros should strive to achieve.
March 6th, 2010 at 9:45 pm
Sami,
Thanks for your comment, it’s very nice to hear from you.
Completely agree with you about trust being your biggest ally. I found that the more simple and absolute your answer can be, the more trust you can build.
In regards to the USB question, I’m going to go out on a limb here and say that any recently purchased USB drive will work with any Dell computer made in the last 4 years. To me, this is an opportunity to provide a non-qualified, absolute answer.
For me, it’s key to look for situations where you can provide these kind of absolute answers.
March 6th, 2010 at 10:44 pm
In the interest of succinctness:
Well said.
March 7th, 2010 at 12:05 am
I’d like to add a clause to the end: “Get to the point first” …then fill in the details, as necessary.
Sometimes you need to add background or qualifiers. The problem I’ve seen over and over is what you describe; for some reason, people like to put all the caveats up front and then give the answer. Listeners don’t think that way. We do much better with a ‘working’ answer that can be modified as the conversation moves forward. Your client’s subsequent questions will be a good guide as to what additional information they need.
March 7th, 2010 at 1:00 am
Great points. I’ve become conscious of myself doing that a lot in recent years, and have gotten a lot better at cutting things down to the core point, then elaborating if I need to. But sometimes you think you’re addressing the other person’s concerns but their face tells you otherwise. So I sometimes end up cutting myself off and quickly reassessing what the core issue is.
March 7th, 2010 at 4:01 am
How does this idea of succinct speaking work in other cultures?
This automatically brought up the idea of negotiating with a business person from China, specifically the older ones.
They tend to appreciate and have an affinity for a long winded approach. But perhaps I am out of touch, if I ever truly was, with how business works in China and Asia now.
March 10th, 2010 at 2:13 pm
Great post. Business 101. Amazingly many business professionals can let years pass by without ever realizing this. Less is more!
March 10th, 2010 at 3:54 pm
@Tim, Agreed. Removing as much of the caveats as possible makes for cleaner, faster communication.
@Paul Likewise. I still notice myself doing this, even today.
@Duylam, Great question. From a foreigner living in Japan persective, I’ve found that Japanese companies tend to value relationships and trust, perhaps over any level of succinctness in communication. For example, it took us 1 year to build a relationship with a Japanese company before they did business with us. Of course, being able to clearly communicate why they should be talking with us, and doing business with us – over the course of a year, was a critical factor in them selecting us.
@Daddy Warbucks, Great name. Thanks for the comment.