I delivered a workshop on communication and conflict resolution today. At the outset I asked the attendees, as I now ask you, to quantify terms like ASAP, or soon, or later. Do you ever use these terms? To increase the quality of your communication I suggest you don’t.

To you ASAP may mean right now, to me it may mean when I finish what I am working on. It may depend. How about you tell me when you need it? Rather than ASAP tell me immediately, right now, or by 3PM. Clarity reduces conflict. Lack of clarity contributes to it.

If you are clear about your expectations than it is easier to hold someone accountable and easier to resolve conflict because you might stop it from happening in the first place. Give it a try.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, July 29th, 2009 at 2:57 am and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.