This Posting is about Message Clarity

How do you know if you even have a message? The question isn’t stupid. Clearly, if you are speaking to a large group or running for political office, you had better have a message, otherwise why bother? But does every conversation in daily life have a message? Do emails and IMs have messages? Well, yes, in a way, they all do. Sometimes the message is very simple, sometimes very complex, but everything we communicate does send a message. This is where another of the key terms in my original posting comes in: clarity.

How many people do you know who never seem to get to the point? They talk and talk and you have no idea why. The problem is they haven’t decided what their message is. In personal conversation this can be irritating; in a professional setting it can be disastrous. Whether the person has a message or not, one is being sent. A message that says “disorganised person”, “clueless” or worse.

Sometimes the message is as simple as “can we change our lunch appointment to 12:30?” So say it. All too often the conversation wanders: “I just got an email and I need to run several reports. You know, for the International project. I know we were going to have lunch together, can you still make it? I don’t think I’ll be very late, you know, 12:15 or 12:30 . . .” You don’t have to explain your life (unless you are asked), the other person just wants clarity.

Emails have become the example par excellence of this phenomenon. People receive so many emails these days that most of them only get half-read, if at all. That makes it doubly important to make your point right at the beginning. If it isn’t in the preview pane, it is likely to be missed. Especially if you are asking (or telling) someone to take action. If the critical point is five paragraphs into the email, you can forget about it.

Let’s take another example. A new project is going to start in your company. You are the manager who will assign it to your staff. One of your employees comes to you saying “I believe this is important, I am very enthusiastic about how it will be perceived by the market and I have lots of great ideas on what the end result should be, the steps to get there, who it should be targeted at, what documentation will be required, what it should be called and how it should be priced and costed.” Great. But what is his point? The employee has NOT thought out his message. He has given you lots of information, and certainly expressed an interest in the project, but why? Does he believe he should manage it? Does he want to participate as part of the team? Does he want to contribute peripherally? Or is he just talking about company events? If he wants to manage the project, that should be brought up early in the conversation, and he should be able to explain why he believes he is qualified to do it.

When it comes to clarity, the simple rule is no one can read your mind.