Message received ?

Funny story this week in the Thai Premier league (soccer). A match had to be postponed because the referee didn't show up. He was not held back or anything but he had simply not read the Line message that was sent to him by the organizing committee to tell him that he was the referee for that particular game. This may look like an extreme example of bad organization but it reminded me of how often this happens in work situations. All the communication tools and apps available these days should help us to be more effective in ... communicating with others ! The reality is often different.

When I have discussions with leaders who share the challenges they have with their teams, I often hear "I sent her the report .." or "I sent him the email ...". Communication in the mind of many seems reduced to hitting the "send" button on the email or the app. And sometimes the "receipt" message is an even stronger piece of evidence that the communication has been successful.

And when we dig into communication issues, we often find out that the issue is that the other person does not react, reply, act or confirm, although ... I had sent the message (and I got the receipt confirmation to prove it!). Sending the message has "thrown the ball" back to the other side and puts people in a mode that says "now I am waiting for them". Amongst the 1000s of apps, one function the cell phone can still perform is to actually call and talk to somebody. If you want to be sure your message is received (and understood, although that may be another challenge), it is sometimes useful to switch back to this most basic of apps !