Communication Snafus

By Terry Whalin @terrywhalin

The communciation snafu possibilities are endless. Last week through email I introduced two people. One of them responded but only sent his response to me instead of responding to both of us. Thankfully I noticed and forwarded it on to the person he was trying to reach. I called this individual about the missed email—and I called the person he was trying to reach—but her voicemail box was full. I was persistent to reach her and I texted her the information so it shows up on her phone. Do you see the lengths that I went to make sure the communication happened? I understand that I am an exception in my efforts to communicate. Many people would not be as persistent in their communication.  

 

In a different situation, I was emailing a long-time editor friend who I had not tried to reach in years. I went to his profile on LinkedIn and his email address had not changed and was still his publishing company email. When I used it, my email came back as undelivered. I knew I was not communicating. 

 

I reached out to another editor friend. This second editor knew our friend had left that publisher and gave me his current email. I reconnected with this editor and exchanged a couple of emails. Several days passed and I noticed his LinkedIN email remained unchanged with the wrong information. Normally when people change positions, they take their LinkedIN account with them since it is tied to the indikvidual and not their publishing house. I reached out to this friend again and encouraged him to revise his LinkedIN contact information. He thanked me for encouraging him to make this update. When you set up your social media profiles, is your email a generic one that will always work to reach you? If you are using a company email, I encourage you to change it. None of us can predict our future yet we can always plan for the long-term if possible. 

 

Also I encourage you to monitor the various comments on your social media posts. Last week I had a series of comments with one post where someone accused me of piggy-backing on another writer's brand (which was not true). I've learned such a pubic exchange is not good for anyone and that forum is not the place for such communication. Instead of engaging (which could have wasted hours of fruitless exchanges), I took control of the situation and deleted the communication chain. If you get into such a situation, it's the step I recommend you take.

 

As you communicate with others, be aware of these communication snafus. If I don't hear from someone after a number of days, I will send my email a second time or use a different communication method such as a phone call or text. There are many different reasons and ways to miscommunicate. Good communication is important and you have to constantly be aware of your reputation and protect it. In fact, Proverbs 22:1 says a good name is to be prized above riches. Have you experienced communication snafus? How do you avoicd them, let me know in the comments below. 

 

Tweetable:

The communication snafu possibilities are endless. This prolific editor and author gives a couple of recent examples and how to avoid them. Get the details here. (ClickToTweet)

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