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Keeping Your Communication Quick, But Warm
by Barry Lenson
I once spent a few years working alongside an older journalist who had learned his trade in the rough-and-tumble newspaper world of the 1950s. Some of his habits seemed pretty primitive. If his phone rang on a day when he had a story due, for instance, he would snatch up the receiver and bellow “DEADLINE!” into it at ear-splitting volume. Then he would hang up immediately or limit the conversation to a second or two, no more.
Around the water cooler, my young colleagues made fun of his dinosaur-age habits. I did too, until I realized how much he was accomplishing by yelling “DEADLINE!” When he did, he immediately let callers know that he couldn’t devote his full attention to what they had to say. If they wanted a better hearing, they had to call back later. Yelling “DEADLINE!” also saved him from explaining his deadline to every caller. That saved their time as well as his own.
And of course, the tactic kept his conversations so short that he never lost his train of thought about the story he was writing. The guy was actually being considerate in his own crusty way. Maybe he was doing something we should all do. It just goes to prove that you don’t have to love people to learn from them. Now, I am not saying it would be a good idea for you to start barking at people. In today’s gentler, politically correct workplace that kind of behavior seems absurd. I do believe, however, that it is possible to reduce the time you spend in face-to-face and phone communications dramatically without losing the personal warmth most people expect today.
These tactics can do the job: Keep phone calls short by being “sweet and sour.” When someone calls, say something like, “Chris! Great to hear your voice [that’s the sweet part], but I am in a terrible crunch [that’s the sour]. Can you tell me what you need in about five words, or should we talk later?” People will go away feeling good while you trim precious minutes from each call. End conversations by being “sweet and sour,” too. Say, “Great, you really helped me with that! Got anything else? I have to run.” Stand up to speed face-to-face exchanges
If you want people to make a decision in five minutes instead of 50, skip the conference room. Get them into the coffee room instead and keep them standing while they hash things out. Or when a visitor walks into your office, stand up to tell them you are tight on time. By the way, a colleague of mine once told me that if he stood up while he was talking on the phone, the person on the other end of the line would sense that the call was over and wrap things up. I can’t vouch for that, but you could give it a try. Smile. That sounds like lightweight advice, but it isn’t.
A smile tells people that you are rushing because you are busy, not because you dislike them. It takes the abrasive edge off the hurried communications that are the norm in business today. (If you watch a show like The Apprentice with the sound turned off on your TV, you will notice how strategically people use smiles to say “this is not personal” during times of tension.) Invest “soft time” to keep your relationships balanced.
When the pressure is off and you are not hurried, that’s the time to ask people about their kids, vacations, weddings, and other personal issues. It’s a great way to keep your colleagues from feeling beat up when time is tight and you have to cut and run from conversations. Are there other times when you should forget speed and invest all the time that other people demand from you? Yes, especially when you have to deliver troubling news. If you have to announce that you just sold your company to a competitor, for example, people will want reassurance that their jobs are secure.
Rushing at times like that is crude, not efficient. But the rest of the time, keep refining your ability to keep your communications warm and quick at the same time. Now that we live in the post-Jurassic age, it’s a balance that successful people need to achieve.