Thursday, June 9, 2011

Communication - The SMART Kind

Communication - The SMART Kind
by Lee__ on 06-30-2010 at 01:47 AM (333 Views)
http://www.rletc.com/entry.php?364-C...The-SMART-Kind

Good communication is a passion for me. So what better topic to blog about. 

There's a really old chestnut that continues to withstand the test of time and use. It gets presented a lot in management and sales training seminars, but it's really an excellent general communication tool applicable just about anywhere. It's also very easy to remember and use. It's a two parter. 

1. The Motivation Cycle. 

Picture a circle. This thing is in constant motion. It's not linear. You just keep cycling through each part of the process in order.

1. Set expectations.
2. Inspect progress.
3. Give feedback.
4. Reset expectations.


2. SMART Expectations

Specific
Measurable
Achievable
Results-Oriented
Timebound


Any expectation you set should be a SMART one.

It should be specific. Not general and vague and open to multiple interpretations and much gnashing of teeth and tearing of hair or complete and total confusion while everyone either runs about in opposite directions or plops down and does absolutely nothing but grumble or try to get control of the remote for the TV.

It should be measurable. How else will you know if the thing was accomplished? It doesn't have to be on an InD level with charts and graphs and data and analysis. Don't overcomplicate the thing. If you want, for example, dadatic to get on Skype voice with a bunch of forum whores, then it's easily measured, isn't it? As soon as you hear his voice on the Skype call, you've measured it. But you have to let him know your intentions and that you want him to be there and when. "Hey dada. I'll be there Saturday at 3pm SL time (PST) on Skype at this Skype address and if I don't hear your sexy voice I'll be so very disappointed." That's the trick.




If you want me to help you with an event in Second Life, then you let me know specifically what you want..."Lee, I'd like you to be the hostess and greet people as they come in the door and tell them about the games we are playing." Specific, thank you. "I'll be there doing the DJing, so I'll be focused on the music and will look to you to catch all the people who arrive." Measurable. Yes. You'll be there too and you will know if I'm greeting people or going AFK. Got it.

It should be achievable. There's no point in telling me to build a sim or region in Second Life or telling me to make a pink cocktail dress for an event. I don't have the skills. I don't have the first clue on how to begin, let alone finish. There's equally little point in telling me to buy a real-world yacht for a forum whore meet-and-greet vacay. I don't have the cash. Make it something I actually have a chance at accomplishing. Anything else is cruel and unusual punishment.

It should be results-oriented. Telling me to alphabetize M&Ms, for example, is busywork at best and a special kind of torture at worst. And it won't make me likely to listen well to much else you have to say. I, like most people, do so much better if I know WHY I am doing something and that there is a value to what I am doing and what the context is to what I am doing. It not only motivates me, it empowers me to make better decisions about what I am doing and that leads to better results.

There should be an expressed time component. When does it need to be done? When is this party you want me to host? When do you need this sim built or this dress created? Critical bit of information there.


An example of a SMART expectation would be:

Steph, would you make a white transferable and copyable RLetc logo t-shirt for human male and female Second Life residents for an RLetc Bay party we want to have in August? I'd like to hand them out as free gifts, but also have them so the staff can be wearing them to promote the site. I'd like to have the shirts by August 1. If you could drop it in my inventory by then, I'd appreciate it. Thank you.

Specific? Yes. Not just any shirt, but a specific shirt.
Measurable? Yes. You'll see the shirt in your inventory. Try it on.
Achievable? Yes. Steph can actually make shirts and this gives her a month to do it. Shoot her some Ls for costs maybe.
Results-Oriented? Yes. It will help promote the site.
Timebound? Yes. The shirts are due August 1.

(Calm down, Steph, it's just a hypothetical.)



Seem obvious? Sure. But think for a moment. Are all your (outgoing and incoming) expectations that clearly and helpfully communicated? No. That's why miscommunications abound.

Seem micromanagy or manipulative? For some people it does seems that way. And that's why they deal with the fallout more than the people who see it as just plain old good communication. And here's a thought for you...some people...like me...find overly macro or bad communication more frustrating and potentially manipulative than the SMART kind.

Seem like management stuff for work? Really? Try it at home. Try it with your spouse, partner and kids. No, you are not the center of the universe and we are not all here to obey your every command...however...as you friend, coworker, spouse or partner in crime, we might present ourselves to you and say, "How can I help?" "What can I do?" Or hell, we might just be part of the same community and being part of that community means communicating with each other and occasionally wanting things from each other and doing things for each other...even if that just means moving your bloody car out of the way of my garage before I have to go to work tomorrow. Ya know?



You can ask your husband to take out the trash Friday night and spend every hour for the rest of the weekend fuming over his contrary laziness while he blithely watches the game figuring it will be perfectly reasonable for him to take it out on his way to work Monday or you can ask him to take out the trash tonight because you have company coming over tomorrow and potentially avoid the fuming and frustration and inevitable fight and have a clean home. Capisce?

People get into trouble communication-wise when 1. They see it only from their point of view and 2. They expect everyone else to psychically see that one (theirs) point of view. Stand on principle all you want, the real principle that matters is that you actually have to specifically tell people what you expect of them if you want something from them.

Also, people like you to notice when they do things for you and they often like a bit of feedback. So when your husband takes out the trash and you are cleaning the house and you see the trash is gone (inspection), remember to say, "Thanks honey!" (feedback).



And before you get the idea that all feedback should be positive, complimentary feedback, consider this scenario...

Let's say Humpty asks me to make some Second Life Notecards with slurl links to the RLetc sites in Second Life. "Fantastic. I can do this," I think. I go into Second Life, I open my Inventory, I create a Notecard, I do a bit of a write up and then I copy and paste the slurls into the Notecard. What I end up with are a bunch of odd little text boxes that mean and do nothing. At this point, Steph drops by and asks me how it is going (inspection). I show her a copy and express my frustration over these weird little boxes. "How are you putting the landmarks in the Notecard?" she asks. (inspection) I tell her, she laughs (Steph always laughs, nicely), and then she helpfully tells me how to drag landmarks into the Notecards from my Inventory, not copy and paste slurls into Notecards as I was doing, in order to get functioning links. Then she tells me to have a go using the new and improved method (resetting expectations). Golden. That's why I freakin' love Steph.

I'm not insulted. I'm not offended. And I'm a helluva lot less demoralized than I was a moment ago feeling like an idiot who couldn't figure out how to get the job done.

(And no, I did not create the RLetc Notecards. Bo and Humps did that. I only just learned how.)



That's the Motivational Process of Communication with SMART Expectations.

It works with employees, managers (try managing up), friends, family, partners and volunteers.

So here's my SMART expectation for you, dear blog perver...

Post a comment to this blog including...
your tips for good communication and/or
your good experiences with good communication and/or
bad experiences with bad communication

...that caused you to learn something about communication sometime this summer (by October 1, 2010). We might all learn something from...communicating about communication.



Specific? You tell me.
Measurable? Yeah, I'll see the posts...or not.
Achievable? Of course.
Results-Oriented? Yeah, we might learn something or feel validated or have a laugh or a good groan.
Timebound? Yes, ya lazy-assed whores.


So endeth the sermon.

Can I get an amen?



Updated 01-05-2011 at 03:16 AM by Lee__
Tags: communication, personality tests, psi shrinkers, team
Categories Communication






Humpty - 06-30-2010 12:05 PM
Printed out and stuck to the wall

Lee__ - 06-30-2010 04:53 PM
Get out of it. You did not. lol

Darcy - 06-30-2010 04:59 PM
stuck to the wall with what?

Lee__ - 06-30-2010 05:03 PM
Aaack! Darcy!

Steph - 06-30-2010 05:16 PM
I'll be honest, you did give me a brief wtf moment as I skimmed.

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