When Employees Do The Wrong Things For The Right Reasons
If you have employees who are surprised that they did the wrong thing, you should look in a mirror
Welcome to the Gazebo! Grab a cup and join me for some tips to help you succeed at the intersection of management, communication, and technology.
This Week’s Summary:
Not communicating critical information can thwart the best of intentions.
We communicate at work to accomplish something.
Understanding happens in the other person’s mind.
When important, verify and don’t assume understanding.
It takes advance thought and planning to communicate effectively.
I recently came across a clear illustration of the negative impact that comes from miscommunication. You may recall from last week that I had the pleasure of presenting communication as a management tool to a group of successful florists. I’m happy to say that the presentation was well received, and it looks like we will meet again in the Fall to add more to the initial discussion. One of the florists shared a story that became the topic for this week.1
She mentioned that she was recently making a floral arrangement and needed some additional orchids to complete the design. She asked her delivery driver to go to a local store and purchase some orchids. She thought this a simple task. After all, he works in a flower shop, right?
Image created by Ed Paulson using Copilot in Windows.
Off went the driver who returned, proudly, in a little while with some orchids. Much to his surprise, he got a look of displeasure from his boss. Now, he was confused. He was sent out to bring back orchids and he did just that. He even went the extra mile and bought the least expensive ones that looked OK to him to save his boss money! What a great thing to do! Right? Not so much this time.
We found out in our discussion that the boss left out something important in her instructions. She was making an expensive arrangement and needed a few high-end orchids to add the finishing touch. When she said, “Go out and pick up some orchids” she was picturing high end orchids and assumed he would understand that. After all, it was clear in her mind when she said it. Her focus was on the beautiful arrangement and the happy customer. That he would consider saving her a little money on the orchid purchase didn’t cross her mind.
The driver, on the other hand, heard “Go out and pick up some orchids” and likely thought that an orchid was an orchid, and if he got more of them for less money it would help out the boss. With the best of intentions, he bought the less expensive orchids, and did the wrong thing.
Everyone lost here. The driver was hurt because he did what was asked of him and yet he was in trouble. The boss was disappointed because she paid for orchids that she couldn’t use and likely had to go out herself to pick up the orchids she needed. On top of that, she may also have started wondering about the benefits of paying someone to do something when she wound up doing it herself anyway. Get the picture?
Reversing your focus so that it is more on the receiver of your communication and less on you helps you better understand how they will interpret your communication. This all makes it more likely that you will be understood as you intended.
Going back to my newsletter from last week, she communicated in a way that was clear to her but left out the critical information that she wanted high end orchids. It turned out that the driver did not really know one orchid from another. His knowledge and experience base was quite different from the owners, and she was not aware of this when she asked him to make the purchase.
What could she have done differently in this situation? Here are a few options that individually would have helped, and together would have probably created a win all around.
The owner could have done the following:
Asked how much the driver knew about orchids so she could properly calibrate the level of detail she needed to provide.
She could pause a moment and reflect on the criteria she would use to determine if he brought back the right orchids for her need. High end? Freshness? A certain color? A certain fragrance? A certain size? Timeframe? She could have then stated that criteria to the driver.
Do an Internet search and offer the driver a picture of the type of orchid she was looking for. I use this one all the time when asking someone to buy something specific for me from the store.
Let technology come to the rescue. Ask the driver, when in front of the orchids, to set up a video call so she could tell him in real-time which orchids to select. This would be the next best thing to picking them out herself without the driving time and hassle.2
Image created by Ed Paulson using Copilot in Windows.
We should note here that, counterintuitively, extra clarity may be required when dealing with an experienced worker. Let’s assume that the driver is another floral designer who has a passion for blue, and the bride who ordered the new arrangement specifically asked for a purple color theme. Assume that the shop owner said to the designer, “Janet, would go to the store and pick up some nice-looking orchids for the Jackson Wedding design?”
It would be common to not offer more details because, after all, Janet is an experienced floral designer. By not considering Janet’s passion for blue, it is likely that our experienced designer tasked with picking up the orchids and who is also unaware of the color requirement, would pick out beautiful orchids that were perfect in every way except that they are blue instead of purple. Again, everyone loses from the simple omission of a critical piece of information.
It is hard to communicate effectively. It requires clarity about your desired communication outcome, advance planning, an understanding of your audience, and confirmation of accurate message interpretation.
This example also relates to organizational resilience. When the manager takes the time to offer a little explanation, the driver not only learns about orchids, but also learns about how his boss thinks and makes choices. This type of intangible knowledge will pay off in the future when the next unanticipated situation comes up, which it will, and the driver needs to decide on his own. He will have a much better idea of what his boss would want based on their prior interactions. He might even set up a video call knowing that this worked the last time. Otherwise, he might think it unwise to annoy the boss with something as simple as picking up orchids!
Have a great week and thanks for stopping by! ☮
Did you see my posts during the prior week? If not, then you are not subscribed!
Don’t Miss A Thing! Subscribe Now!
If you liked what you read, then click the Subscribe Now button to automatically receive the next edition. I’d love for you to join us! It’s free, by the way.
Don’t miss out on something helpful and/or thought provoking simply because you forgot to visit my site. Automatically receive my management communication success newsletter every Monday to start your week off on a solid note! Your information will never be shared and it will only be used for us to communicate with each other.
BECOME MORE SUCCESSFUL THROUGH BETTER COMMUNICATION
LEARN A LIFETIME OF COMMUNICATION SECRETS BY READING ED’S “GETTING THROUGH” BOOK
Listen to Ed Paulson explain his latest book “Getting Through.”
(Short 3 minute video)
“Getting Through: A Systematic Approach To Being Understood” (ISBN: 9798987950807) is available from Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and other retailers. It is only 130 pages long and can be read in just a few hours. Those few hours will change the way you communicate forever!
Getting Through: A Systematic Approach To Being Understood (ISBN: 9798987950807)
Copyright © 2024 by Ed Paulson. All Rights Reserved.
Last week we talked about how important it is to plan your communication message and delivery, in advance, so that your message will be more likely to glide past their communication filters and be accurately received. In other words, communicating with the intention of being understood by the other person, not simply trying to get the words from your head to your mouth or in writing as quickly as possible. I call the way most people communicate “reverse logic communication” because it is focused more on us (the senders) and less on the audience (the receivers), which is backwards when dealing with others at work.
Field service engineers use this tactic when they encounter a problem at a customer’s site that is beyond their technical knowledge. They will set up a video call with more advanced engineering folks who can then see and hear the equipment in question.
Absolutely correct: training a driver in the art of choosing an orchid would be essential to saving time by delegating that task. The “get in trouble” part of this tale is the florist’s chance to demonstrate communication skills, isn’t it? Mistakes are tuition we pay.
Excellent points to be considered to decrease mistakes made due to breakdown in communication, Ed. Your posts are always so insightful and a fantastic resource.