Sailing
A sailboat has lines (a.k.a. rope) running all over the boat. All lines have a particular name for what they control; this way, if someone calls for an adjustment, the line in question should be clear to all. Lines that control sail shape are “sheets.” Lines that control the raising and lowering sails are “halyards.” A “guy” controls the position of a pole that helps control the downwind sail (called the spinnaker). And so on…
I recall a race a few years ago in Block Island, RI... It is a very breezy day; it is hard to communicate with one another as the sound of the wind, waves, and other boats interferes with your hearing. Performing your individual tasks in these conditions is hard work because of the extra pressure on the sails, fighting the waves, et cetera.
We are about to go around a mark and raise the spinnaker. As the crew gets into position for the raise, the man on the spinnaker “guy” notices that the line is not where it should be, it is dragging along in the water. As it will take him a few seconds for him to correct the problem, he says to the crew “the guy fell in the water,” implying to us to hold on the raise. The skipper did not understand the context; he thought someone had fallen off another boat! The skipper yells out “man overboard” loud enough for all boats in the area to hear. Those are not joking words on a boat; it can be a very dangerous situation for the person in the water, where everyone onboard stops what they are doing to respond. Those of us dealing with the spinnaker “guy” do not recognize the skipper’s misinterpretation of the spinnaker problem and respond with the rest of the crew. The tactician readies the man overboard equipment, the skipper tries to slow the boat, and the rest of the crew try finding the imaginary man in the water. After a minute or so, the crew figures out the misunderstanding, laugh, and resume racing.
Business
Fortunately, there was no real danger in the above story. It does emphasize just how easily it is to misinterpret a seemingly benign statement. The business world is becoming global, virtual, and more dependent on non-verbal communication such as e-mail. These trends only magnify the chance of communication misinterpretation.
Here is another recent personal example: I travel a lot for work, normally on-site at the client Monday-Thursday, working from my hometown on Fridays. There are no hard-set rules on how we handle holiday weeks. A few weeks ago, I asked the project lead how we should handle the recent Labor Day holiday: do we work from home the entire week, or should we go onsite? His response was that it is a full week at the client and I made my plans accordingly. (I should note that the majority of the team is at the main office of the client and I go to a satellite office in a separate state.) That Thursday evening I dial into the team’s daily call and no one else was on. After calling a few people, I find out that the team already left for home. A full week to me was four days onsite while a full week was a “regular” week to the project lead, meaning going home on Thursday. A few extra words initially would have cleared up the misunderstanding.
The communication gap exists both ways. Another realistic example: A manager can be very explicit to someone on generating a report, what goes in it, the format, et cetera. That person replies that they will take care of it. The manager may want the report immediately while the other person thought it could wait a few hours. The manager then gets impatient and perhaps frustrated while the staff member is clueless that there is even a problem. Again, a simple follow-up, additional word, or clarification would have eliminated the issue outright.
Distance magnifies the potential for miscommunication, such as working with offshore groups. While the other party may speak the same language as you, there could be major variations. As an example, Indians tend to use the word prepone which is not a common in American English (it means to move up a meeting, the opposite of postpone). The use of slang and acronyms compound the problem further as both can have multiple meanings.
Combining Sailing and Business
The solution is perhaps obvious: take care to ensure your communications are clear and concise.
- Try putting yourself in the recipient’s shoes, consider how someone interprets or hears the message, despite your intentions.
- Also understand how the message passes on… will a game of telephone (going from person to person), or a person’s bias mangle the message?
- Should it be an e-mail, a phone call, a face-to-face meeting, a town hall conference?
- Should it be private or as a group?
- If a group, who do you invite (or not invite)?
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