At the gym this morning, I asked a colleague how he was doing. He replied that he was fine. After a quick exchange, he admitted that he was a little frustrated because it felt like he wasn't being told much of anything. There was a great deal of activity swirling around and everyone seemed to assume that he knew.
I must admit that I get that feeling often. I think we all fall into similar traps. We tend to think that what we are working on is so important to the overall company that of course everyone knows exactly why what I am working on is so important! We tend to forget that we are only a very tiny portion of anyone's day. While some people may know a bit more about what we do than others, for the most part no one knows our jobs like we do.
Communication will always be difficult. Even when the words are exactly the same, the emphasis on certain words in a sentence can completely change the meaning. Technology can help, but it just can't replace a real effort between two (or more) people to talk to each other and understand exactly what the other side meant.
Now, what was it that you were trying to tell me?
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