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DHQ: Your brand-new book, Communication
Gaps and How to Close Them, asserts that
communication is as important to software projects
as tools, methods, and languages. Do people have
trouble accepting that?
KARTEN: People become open to accepting the critical
role of communication when they have personal
ahas about the impact of communication
failures. In my seminars, I've found that simulations
of actual work experiences can help people appreciate
the flaws in when and how they communicate. Once
people gain this insight, they're very open to
considering change. For example, a few of my recent
seminars were with technical groups that were
highly motivated to be responsive to clients,
but in their haste, they often neglected to ask
some important questions that would have helped
them understand what their customers really wanted.
Participating in some simulations helped them
realize how their behavior and tactics contributed
to the problem they were experiencing.
DHQ: What is the biggest stumbling block in
convincing managers and technical professionals
that effective communication is vital to the success
of their projects?
KARTEN: When I think back to my days as a techie,
I can well recall being happiest when I could
concentrate on my programming and testing; having
to interact with other people was a distraction
and a nuisance. So, with technical professionals,
the challenge is to help them appreciate how just
a few small changes can have positive consequences
for their immediate work -- and for their career
growth. Most managers, by contrast, are already
aware of the importance of effective communication,
but some don't appreciate the damaging impact
of faulty communication on productivity and relationships
-- and some don't want to deal with these "messy
people issues."
DHQ: In this fast-paced, ever-changing world
of systems and software development, is there time
to worry about communication skills?
KARTEN: Focusing on communication doesn't take
time; it saves time. As technical professionals
and management well know, the further in a development
effort an error is found, the longer it takes
to resolve and the greater the cost, so it's vital
to put the effort in up front. The same is true
of communication; it invariably takes longer and
costs more to resolve the relationship, project,
and service problems caused by flawed communication
than to take steps to communicate effectively
in the first place. It's a small investment with
a huge payoff.
DHQ: How can we identify
communication problems within a company?
KARTEN: Some questions can help, such as: Is
the level of employee grousing excessive? Are
we issuing mixed messages? Do we spend a lot of
time undoing mistakes or redoing work to get it
right? Are we experiencing a lot of customer complaints?
Have we had difficulty introducing and managing
change -- or been on the receiving end of a mismanaged
change effort? Situations such as these are likely
to be at least partly the result of flawed communication.
Therefore, it's a worthwhile strategy to examine
whether faulty communication might have contributed
to these situations, and to evaluate how changes
in what's communicated and when and how it's communicated
might prevent a recurrence.
DHQ: What if our managers don't think time spent
on communication is mission-critical or even productive?
KARTEN: Fortunately, people can take numerous
steps to improve their own communication without
requiring management's approval or support. For
example, you can make a point of asking follow-up
questions to clarify a colleague's instructions.
You can respond faster to phone and e-mail messages
from key customers, even if only to explain that
you don't yet have the information they want.
You can periodically voice your appreciation of
the efforts of others. You can moderate your tone
of voice so you don't come across as blaming.
You can try harder to consider another person's
perspective, and to shape your comments accordingly.
We can all take personal responsibility to work
on our own self-improvement. If we each focus
on doing our best as individual "Gapologists,"
we can have a huge positive impact on our relationships
with each other and on our ability to achieve
our work goals.
DHQ: Your first Dorset House book, Managing
Expectations, continues to sell very well.
How is it most relevant today?
KARTEN: Managing expectations has certainly proven
to be a very compelling and enduring topic. I
regularly hear from people who have read my examples
of mismanaged expectations and tell me, "That's
my company you're writing about!" The book
focuses on twelve strategies for managing expectations,
such as: help customers describe their needs,
become an information-gathering skeptic, clarify
customer perceptions, try the solution on for
size, listen persuasively, and when appropriate,
just say whoa! As with Communication Gaps,
my examples focus on the experiences of software
and IT organizations, supplemented by amusing
everyday experiences that everyone can relate
to.
DHQ: You explore communication issues in your
newsletter, Perceptions & Realities.
Tell us about that project and where we can find
it.
KARTEN: My newsletter uses a lighthearted approach
to address serious issues that arise in such areas
as delivering superior service, enhancing teamwork,
improving consulting skills, managing expectations,
strengthening client relations, and gathering
customer feedback. Communication is at the heart
of these articles. For seven years, Perceptions
& Realities was a printed newsletter, but
this year, I started posting it on my Website
in PDF format, downloadable by one and all at
no charge. Readers are welcome to print as many
copies of each issue as they'd like. It's on my
Website at www.nkarten.com/newslet.html.
DHQ: You write about engaging in a variety of
athletic activities -- everything from skiing to
bungee jumping. What leads you to try new things,
and what's next?
KARTEN: Well, bungee jumping was a one-time thing
-- I'd always been curious about what it would
be like, and when the opportunity presented itself,
I couldn't resist. It resulted in one of my favorite
presentation stories, so terrifying though it
was -- and it was! I'm glad I did it. Skiing is
an addiction. I love the feeling of propelling
myself down the mountain. At my favorite ski area,
there's a group of skiers over the age of 80.
My goal is to stay healthy enough to someday join
their 80+ Club (not too soon, though!). In the
meantime, my current fun thing is aerobics. I'm
taking a cardio-kickboxing class and a class called
"Survivor," which is intensive huffin'
and puffin'. I want to become aerobically fit
enough to write my next book!
DHQ: What is a communication
gap? How will we know when we've encountered one?
KARTEN: I use the term "communication gap"
to refer to situations, in which inadequate, inappropriate,
or faulty communication adversely affects work
or the relationship among the people doing the
work. Communication gaps are frequently caused
by misdirected, one-way, poorly timed, or badly
worded communications, as well as by misunderstandings,
misinterpretations, and miscommunications among
the parties involved. And sometimes, even if you've
communicated perfectly, people respond in unexpected
or puzzling ways. We're all capable of creating
a communication gap, contributing to one, or falling
victim to a gap created by someone else, and the
best way to prevent gaps from occurring, or at
least to minimize their impact, is to become aware
of them.
DHQ: Do gaps only occur in conversations?
KARTEN: Hardly. Communication gaps are pervasive.
They occur in all forms of communication, and
between individuals and groups at all organizational
levels. Gaps can occur if people aren't mindful
about how they offer ideas, present information,
implement change, propose policies, solicit needs,
make recommendations, establish standards, give
or receive feedback, or simply converse -- whether
with customers, suppliers, management, colleagues,
or teammates. Attention to when and how we communicate
is especially critical to successfully building
relationships, delivering superior service, and
managing change, which is why I devoted a section
of the book to these three contexts.
DHQ: How did you first discover communication
gaps? What kinds of gaps do you encounter in your
work?
KARTEN: My psychology background provided the
theoretical underpinnings and my IT technical
and management experience helped me become an
observer of gaps in action. Now, as a long-time
consultant and seminar leader, I regularly encounter
the damaging consequences of communication gaps
in client organizations. For example, although
software personnel in one organization expected
a leap in customer satisfaction due to numerous
service improvements, customers hardly noticed
and continued to complain. In a second organization,
an IT division embarked on a company-wide desktop
upgrade that was an agonizingly painful experience
for both themselves and their customers. Customers
in a third organization learned at an inopportune
time that their hardware vendor defined its problem
response standard differently than they realized.
A consultant preparing to visit a fourth organization
was overwhelmed by anxiety in response to an innocuous
request from his client. These are just a few
of the numerous examples I address in the book.
DHQ: What kinds of communication preferences
do people have, and how can you use them to your
advantage? How do you find out someone's preferences?
KARTEN: We all have communication preferences,
such as whether we prefer to receive information
in written or spoken form and if in writing, in
a narrative form or a visual form. Some people
prefer active, high-energy group interaction;
others prefer time to reflect and one-on-one or
small group interactions. While we all have general
preferences such as these, our specific preferences
may vary from one situation to another, and may
change over the course of a project. Accommodating
someone's preferences enables you to interact
more effectively with the person, thereby improving
your odds of a successful outcome. Observing and
listening yield clues about a person's communication
preferences, but the most reliable way to understand
someone's preferences is to discuss these preferences
early and often -- that is, at the outset of a
project or relationship and then periodically
over time. I think of this process as communicating
about how you're going to communicate.
DHQ: What is a Perspectoscope™, and where
can we buy one?
KARTEN: Ah, I'm glad you asked. If you can understand
another party's perspective, you're in a much
better position to avoid communication gaps. But
understanding that perspective is no simple matter,
so I invented a tool called a Perspectoscope to
make it easier. A Perspectoscope looks something
like a telescope. To use it, you point it at the
person whose perspective you'd like to better
understand. Then you look through the eyepiece,
and voilà, you see the world as that person
sees it. By becoming aware of the person's attitudes,
actions, and behavior, you can choose ways of
interacting with the person that may be more effective
than those you've used previously. I was hoping
to have Release 1.0 of the Perspectoscope produced
by now, but we're, um, having difficulty with
the prototype. In the meantime, until we get the
bugs worked out, the book offers numerous techniques
to help you better understand someone else's perspective.
DHQ: What are service level agreements (SLAs)
and how does communication affect them?
KARTEN: A service level agreement is a highly
effective tool for improving communication between
service providers and customers, or between any
two parties that need to interact or cooperate
in support of a third party or a shared goal.
An SLA is a formal, negotiated agreement that
helps the parties identify expectations, clarify
responsibilities, and provide an objective basis
for assessing service effectiveness. Communication
plays a crucial role in two ways. First, the communication
that takes place while creating the SLA helps
the parties understand each other's needs and
constraints far better than before. Second, once
the agreement is operational, the parties manage
it through a communication process that includes
service tracking and reporting, collaborative
problem solving, and periodic reviews of service
effectiveness. SLAs have been strikingly effective
in helping parties transform their relationship
from adversarial to win-win.
DHQ: What is the first step one should take
toward improving communication?
KARTEN: Awareness. The starting point is to become
mindful of the potential for communication gaps
and to channel that awareness into observing gaps
after they've occurred, and when possible, preventing
them from occurring in the first place. As you
develop that awareness, consider the role you
may have played in creating or contributing to
a gap. When a situation plays out in a puzzling
or unintended way, be open to asking yourself:
"Could the reason be me? Could there be something
I said or heard or misinterpreted that led to
this situation?" I've had a head start in
becoming a Gapologist because I'm my own best
case study. As I reveal in the book, I've experienced
numerous personal examples of flawed or confusing
communication, so I've had lots of opportunities
to discover that, Yes, at times, it's me!
DHQ: Why should a techie -- who already has
to keep up with endless changes in technology and
programming languages -- read a book on a soft skill
like communication?
KARTEN: Because the book addresses their everyday
experiences and explains the causes of some of
their familiar frustrations. Because the examples
I use are from their organizations -- or organizations
like theirs. Because they will learn simple changes
they can make that will dramatically improve their
ability to interact effectively with others in
pursuit of their technical goals. Because as a
former software developer and IT practitioner
myself, I understand the challenges faced by technology
professionals and I'd love for them to have an
easier time of it than I had. And because readers
have described the book as a down-to-earth, very
accessible, non-ponderous, amusing-while-serious,
information-packed book that they enjoyed reading
-- even at the beach!
DHQ: If an organization wanted to appoint a
Czar of Communication Gaps or Chief Gapologist,
where would that role appear on the org chart?
KARTEN: In Managing Expectations, I described
the role of Expectations Manager as a designated
or rotating responsibility within a work group,
so that over time, everyone in the group would
gain expertise at focusing on expectations. I'd
advocate the same approach for communication.
Preventing and resolving gaps is something everyone
can do; it's a responsibility, not a role. But
it would be valuable for each work group to have
someone whose designated responsibility, perhaps
on a rotating basis, is to pay particular attention
to gap-prevention. And everyone at a high-enough
level to manage across organizational boundaries
should ideally be a skilled Gapologist as part
of his or her existing duties.
DHQ: If you had to choose one lesson from Communication
Gaps and How to Close Them that you would
like the reader to come away with, what would that
be?
KARTEN: Apply a generous interpretation. That
is, when someone responds in a puzzling, confusing,
or disturbing way to something you say or do,
try to refrain from responding in kind, lashing
out, finding fault, or jumping to conclusions.
Often, the explanation for the person's response
is much simpler, and far more positive, than anything
you might imagine. Start by considering positive
interpretations, and ask questions to check out
your interpretation and to clarify the other person's
intentions.
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