Every day I laugh and grimace and kvell and sometimes roll my eyes at communication. Last week my significant other (aka ”Mr. Russo”) went out for dinner to a new restaurant located in a local hotel. We walked into a large room with music pulsing, but unsure if this was the right place, Mr. Russo asked a dapper gent who appeared alert “where’s the restaurant?” The dapper gent smiled, nodded brusquely, and began weaving his way through scattered small tables, straight then right then a left then down some stairs....into the hotel’s Art Deco lobby. “Down that hallway,” he pointed us, “the restroom.” Ah-HAH! A great illustration of how NOISE can affect communication.
But, eh, tomay-to, tomah-to, restaurant, restroom. How wrong could that go? At work? Terribly. Stay tuned as I look at communication misses at work.
