Close the friggin loop!
30 10 2006I’m a Communications major, so maybe I understand the way communications work a little better than everyone else, but this principle seems to escape so many of us – close the loop by providing feedback. Below is a basic illustration of communications.
Ignore the part about click a button, it won’t work. So the basic idea here is that there is someone “sending” the mesasge, there is the way they’re sending it (the channel), there’s the message itself, and someone receiving it. There can also be “noise” which distracts the receiver from the message (think pop-up ads on a web site, noise in the street during a conversation, etc.), there can be encoding and decoding necessary for the message to be understood, and there can be feedback.
Now this model works for nearly any type of communication you can think of:
This website, for instance, is the channel for my messages to reach you, the receiver. You can give feedback via e-mail or by leaving a comment. The phone is another channel for us to transmit voice messages to one another. Our feedback there is simply talking back to the person on the other end of the line. The TV is a channel for TV stations to transmit video/audio messages to us. We don’t have the opportunity for feedback via this channel, but we can always call or write to the station.
In the business world, this is an important concept because empires rise and fall on good / bad communication. Rome, good communication (thanks to lots of roads and messengers) – AT&T customer support, bad communication (thanks to foreign accents and frustration). Sometimes we get e-mails that are simply meant to let us know something – no feedback required – others require our immediate reply. The same is true for phone calls and voicemails.
A large part of my job is coordination between multiple people and without feedback the process becomes a nightmare. So I’m begging and pleading with all of you – close the loop- provide feedback! Even with salespeople, people you don’t like, or things you’re afraid of – if you return their calls/emails/voicemails/letters to let them know that you’re not interested you are giving them no reason to call you again – and believe me sometimes the salespeople would rather check you off their list than continue to have to keep calling.
Personally, when you are writing emails or leaving messages for people – make sure to think about whether or not you need a response – and let the person know it. I have experienced this repeatedly – the people who are at the best employers in good positions, will always respond quickly to a request – even if it’s to let me know that it might be a few days before they can really get back to me. So start looking at the world through this model and ask yourself – am I a good communicator?
Begin to think about what you need from your receiver, what is your real core message and what’s the best channel to send it through. Quit leaving voicemails that simply say call me back. Let the person know what you’re calling about and when you need to hear back from them, or send them a text – it’s a lot easier than having to check your voicemail.
Categories : Life
