The boss and owner, Mike, shouted,“That Steven is so unreliable! I don’t know why we do business with him. Don’t do any more work on his file; he has changed his mind again. I should fire him as a client right now!”

Sarah and Bill heard their boss’s comments and felt Mike’s frustration and their own. They were both thinking how could Steven be so uncertain about the work he wanted done by Mike’s company. They had put much energy into Steven’s project and now it was sounding like it was a total waste of time!

What Sarah and Bill didn’t know was that Mike was already having a challenging morning before the conversation with Steven. Three problem phone calls preceded Steven’s call about a small change in the work being done for him. Mike’s reaction was major in response to a minor problem.

Sarah and Bill, not aware of the details causing the boss’s reaction, were making huge withdrawals from their emotional bank accounts of accumulated good will about Steven’s company. Thoughts like: how could he do this to us and we’ll fix him ran through their minds.

Business owners and managers, although expected to be unemotional and rational always, slip into the role of emotional human being from time to time.

As a result, the message conveyed and understood by others can be misinterpreted. This happens often in business where the workforce is loyal to the boss and the company. Any action deemed hurtful by a customer or client toward the company can bring out the loyalty factor in employees.

Mike would have been better off to pause for a time before he relayed the news of Steven’s call to Sarah and Bill. Similar to writing and sending a letter written in the height of anger, venting frustration through the business communication channels will often lead to confusion and damaged customer relationships.

Mike would have gotten better results by using the W.A.I.T method. The W.A.I.T. method was introduced to me a few years ago by Drew Rozell. I can't remember whether he invented it or picked it up elsewhere.

The W.A.I.T acronym stands for the question, Why Am I Talking? Much like the often heard advice, think before you speak, WAIT is an excellent way to prevent saying the wrong thing when you are emotionally charged.

When you find yourself angry, red faced and burning, just ask yourself the WAIT question to allow yourself the time to get composed. Not all messages need to be sugar coated, but they should be rational without being slanted with anger or frustration.

So get going on better communication with your team but please, remember to WAIT if you need to cool down.

You can learn better communication skills through my 8 simple strategies for success. Want to learn more? click here

"Silence is argument carried out by other means." -- Ernesto "Che" Guevara

"The best time to hold your tongue is the time you feel you must say something or bust." -- Josh Billings

"Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak out and remove all doubt." -- Abraham Lincoln

I enjoy the opportunity to laugh whenever I can. There is nothing funny about the benefits of laughing; it keeps you healthy physically and mentally. I admire comedians who can create laughter consistently with their performances. It is a reactive medium. Unlike singing or acting, the audience’s reaction to each joke is instant. In contrast, in theater performances, the audience’s reaction is delayed until the last act. Actors and actresses don’t have to be concerned with the “bomb factor”.

In the humor business, each joke feels like a last act due to the audience’s spontaneous response. On a roll or on a bombing run, the comedian always knows how he’s doing.

I gave the same business talk to five different audiences over the past few weeks. The jokes and stories were the same in each talk. It is amazing to experience different audiences’ reaction to the same material. Time of day, age of audience, previous speaker, size of audience are all variables for humor appreciation.

If you can’t tell a joke, practice until you can. The way to practice is to tell jokes or funny stories. It will keep a smile on your face and on the faces of your friends.

So, did your hear the one about the horse who walks into a bar?

Doug

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