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The art of clear and concise communication

Interacting with professionals from different countries, cultures and occupations is a powerful, eye-opening experience. To be effective in business requires a number of attributes, none more so than the ability to communicate. This not only involves speaking a foreign language, but most importantly using words in a clearly structured, precise and concise way.

When discussing this topic, practitioners typically digress to the use of slang, which admittedly has invaded business communication practices. Buzzwords and distinctive phrases are used to capture attention, but often do not convey any clear, specific meaning. Whether for marketing or self-indulgence, as a society we seem to have drifted away from the basic concept that all words have meaning, and that simple is often better.

How many times during the business week have you been asked to meet someone for lunch, then struggled through 10 minutes of exhausting conversation trying to illicit specific details as to where, what time, who will be joining you, how will you get there, on and on and on? While this is a casual example to make a point, taking the time to actually listen to what is being said or read what is being written by your colleagues over the next few days and asking yourself “were they clear in their statements” might be an eye-opening experience.

You will find that by paying closer attention to what words are used and how they are presented, professional interactions are greatly improved. Clear, concise communication saves time, money and headaches, which in a business context can be considered a form of optimization.

Another aspect of communication that seems to have diminished is the value of speech. Our society has become lazy with time. Initial responses are often reflexive rather than given with any real thought. A prime example is when someone makes the same mistake repeatedly followed by those two very important words, “I’m sorry.” Are you really? In truth, it is a conditioned response with the expectation that by saying those words forgiveness is automatic. In business words and phrases like “thank you,” “great job” and “much appreciated” are bantered about so frequently without any care in the world, that they have lost their true meaning. The key is to choose your words properly and apply them accordingly to retain the spirit in which they were intended, not just as a reflex.

In contrast to oral interactions and presentations studies, reports and written documents in general are for the purpose of detailing important facts, delivering opinion and often serve as justification for follow-up activity. In business people repeatedly neglect a critical component of written documentation. Each idea or event you record or comment becomes a component of your historical footprint. Especially in today’s business environment with big data management and archiving, documents live for a very long period of time. Once thoughts are reduced to writing, and even more so when published, it is extremely difficult to alter content. This does not mean you cannot change an opinion over time. Rather, you have communicated a position that has been set in stone and becomes part of history. People author documents with little concern as to future repercussions, not recognizing that the period in which they are most exposed is often many years to follow.

These are but a few of the communication issues that have deteriorated in substance with time. They affect our daily lives and business activities in various ways. Poorly crafted communication – both verbal and written – can easily lead to misunderstandings, false analysis, and misdirection.