Most teachers ask students to write concisely. The objective is to learn to say what we mean to say in fewer words.
Yet, when I observe people communicating at work, it seems that the opposite is true and better perceived. People who communicate more are the ones getting noticed and eventually promoted. It seems that someone who does excellent work but keeps a lower profile does not get noticed as much as the person always talking... intelligently or not. It is almost as if the longer a person speaks the higher the chances of that person influencing others are. This influence seems to be more based on people just wanting the speaker to stop talking and therefore agreeing with him or her than on logic or data. Why is there a contradiction between what we learn in school and the corporate world?
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3 comments:
It's true what you say about conciseness in writing being encouraged in school, depending on the discipline. I think conciseness in writing is also valued in business. If someone writes a mile-long e-mail, oftentimes people's eyes glaze over, and they don't really read what the person is trying to say.
Speaking, however, is different - you can tune out someone who is speaking, but not as easily as you can skip over an e-mail. It might just be the case of the squeaky wheel getting the grease. People who talk a lot get remembered just because of the sheer volume of their words, whereas quieter people are easier to overlook. However, there are those who still manage to gain great respect without being overly talkative; they may not say much, but when they speak, people listen.
I think that it is true that the people who communicate more are the ones who tend to get promoted more; however, I don’t think that just because a person “talks a lot” means that they will get an automatic promotion. From my experience, there are people who have important things to say and voice their thoughts, and there are people who speak foolishly. The people who have important things to say, but don’t say anything will never be heard and their ideas never voiced. On the other hand, the person who speaks foolishly will be recognized for their foolishness.
I believe both of points are correct, i.e. one has to be concise and more interactive people are more successful in the organizations. Now how can we reconcile between the two? Simple, I would say. Communicate more but keep it to the point, clear, concise and up to the interest of listener/reader. I joined my current company 4 months ago and my manager had an issue with me being not so talkative, because according to him, the work we do needs more planning and suggestions and if i am not going to give any input then he would be missing out on a lot. I understood his point and hence I am still in this organization. So I say, communicate a lot, but be concise.
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