Wednesday, April 21, 2010

Use Real Words

If we want to convey competence and confidence to senior management, to subordinates and to colleagues, our speech, both oral and written, must consist of words that convey real meaning. This is easy enough if we pay close attention to precisely what we mean. Think about the listener's ability to take a decision. Some examples.

  • "Our project is nearing completion." This conveys no actionable information. Rewrite as "The XYZ project is on schedule to be completed by the end of May."
  • "A history of success has improved my skills in leadership." No one will hire you on the basis of this statement. Rewrite as "My two years leading the Calgary sales team enabled me to improve my organizational skills while managing a project to streamline local procedures."
  • "Many people support our new direction." Without evidence, management should not act. Rewrite as "Our survey last month showed that over 70% of affected staff were in favour of installing the ABC HR system next year."

Sometimes our imprecision is because we do not know enough facts or we are unsure of our own position. This is a strong indicator that more work is required.

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