Communicate With Your Clients

As time goes on I continue to see the benefit of my Communications degree while working with clients, especially among other developers and seeing how they communicate. I’ve seen these miscommunications cost companies money, time, or the client relation completely. Developers are especially bad at communicating ideas because we get so tied up in our own jargon that we forget how to bridge the communication gap.

I am going to veer away from my normal discussions on technology to focus on some points on communication and processes that you can easily add to your every day discussions to improve the quality of your communication. Starting with going over some common misconceptions that people have with communication.

1. Just because I said it, means it got across
This is the first and most important miscommunication. We believe our communication is sound, especially since we said it and the communication method makes sense to us, and that the receiver has understood the message. The issue is that this isn’t programming and we aren’t just talking 1s and 0s. So there are infinitely more reasons why the packet may not have been received.

When communicating you need to remember the communication model.

=== Context ===
The context refers to the environment of the message or external details to the message that provides relevance or information to the message itself.

So if you are talking to your client and he says “did you get that thing done?” you know what that “thing” is. If you aren’t 100% sure what that “thing” is, ask them to define the context of the message.

“What are we talking about?”
“The contract.”
“Oh yes, I got the contract done”.

Often we assume that whatever is the most important thing going through our own heads is also the most important thing going through everyone else’s heads that we are working around. Make sure to stop and define the context as much as possible.

Instead try:
“When it comes to the contract we were discussing yesterday…”

=== Sender ===
The sender in this communication environment is you – the originator of the message.

=== Receiver ===
The receiver in this communication environment is the client – the intended recipient of the message.

=== Message ===
The message is actually not the words you are trying to have heard, instead it is the thought that you are trying to get across. That is another important point to remember, you aren’t trying to get the “words” across, but instead the idea. If you focus on the words then you will be locked into the same actual message, yet if you focus on the idea then you will have many more words and forms of communications that will be open to you to get the idea across.

=== Response ===
The response is the information you receive from the receiver. This response can take place in many different forms – we will discuss verbal and nonverbal. A verbal response could be as simple as “uh huh”, or as complex as a question or conversational additive. A nonverbal response may be a simple head nod or actually taking action that displays that the message was received.

At this point the roles of sender and receiver switch as you need to be able to accept the message in the response.

=== Interference ===
Interference is often the attribute of the communication model that most people – developers included – forget completely. If you are talking on a phone with bad reception or at a loud bar interference is obvious, yet there are many more forms of interference that happen in every communication interaction that are not as obvious.

• - As a programmer my mind often has a component or some set of code running through it.
• - As a male my mind often is thinking of sex. Yup, I said it.
• - As a person that watches South Park, Futurama, and Family Guy there are often words that will be used that will spark a reference to some joke. Some joke that I will replay in my head the second your words trigger it.

That means that at any time that you are trying to communicate with me there are three other things going on in my head at all times. This internal interference is something else that you the sender need to be aware of when communicating and try to overcome.

=== Channel (not visualized) ===
The final element to communication – that I didn’t visualize – is the channel that the message transfers on. This can be as simple as the air that the message travels on and the words that are used, the phone line, or the video chat that you are using with or without wifi… unless you are an iPhone user.

If the channel is getting in the way of good communication, fix it.

No individual part of the communication model is more or less important than the other and all must be considered equally when communicating.

2. Higher Quantity == Higher Quality
Obviously just because I talk more doesn’t mean that I get my point across any better.

Instead, work on switching up how you get your point across. Each time you make a point, try to come up with different and distinct ways to illustrate your point. I’ll touch on this a bit more later, but with more distinct ways that the message is sent across, the higher the likelihood that the meaning will be communicated.

3. The meaning is in the words
This is the final point of miscommunication. The meaning of the message is something that is interpreted based on the words and the persons history and background to the words that were used. As such there is no way for you – the sender – to transmit the meaning using words alone. Instead, be aware that the meaning of your message will be changed when it reaches the receiver. It is our job as good communicators to get the meaning of the message communicated as completely as possible.

Ways to improve your communication
First let me say that communication takes practice and effort. Good communication is a skill that does not come naturally though we do communicate naturally. As such you need to remember that will every skill you need to practice, prune, and work to improve your own communication on a daily basis.

Let’s look at some great communication techniques that you can add into your daily communication with clients and coworkers that will help improve your communication skills and no one will realize that you are actually practicing to be a better communicator.

=== Ask for context ===
I touched on this earlier but I am serious as a heart attack. Ask for the context and be sure to understand what the context is before responding. If the client asks you for that “thing”, ask what the thing is. If someone starts talking to you “mid-conversation” ask for context. It’s really simple and will force the sender to communicate their thoughts a bit clearer. This is a good way to improve the level of communication in a conversation on the whole.

Without context you may put your foot in your mouth in a way that only gets worked out in bad sitcoms. Be sure of the context before you respond.

=== Pete and Repeat===
Repetition is beneficial for more than computers and modern pop stars that can’t produce original work. Repetition is the key to making sure that your point or instructions were clearly communicated and the message’s meaning made it full circle. By asking for the recipient to reiterate what you just told them you can be sure that what they heard is what you meant.

Remember! We aren’t looking for a word for word repetitive memory dump. Since we already know that the meaning isn’t in the words we know that these words are meaningless. We are wanting to hear the recipient’s interpretation of your meaning and make sure that the two messages are congruent. You will be shocked to find out how often the messages actually don’t match and you will have to clarify your message to make sure that the two match. Keep this circle going till you are content that the recipient understands the message.

Now that you are a learned communicator though doesn’t mean that your communication is perfect either – so you should also practice repeating the meaning so that you are sure that you received the message properly. After receiving instructions or a questions I other will say “So what you are saying is…” or “So what you are asking is…”. This very simple start allows for a reinterpretation of the meaning and gives the original sender the ability to clarify is the message wasn’t correctly received.

This back and forth interaction is so important to everyday communication, not just when contracts and clients are on the line. If you are talking to someone and all they are doing is smiling and nodding be very afraid what information actually got across. This time of reinterpretation also helps allow for the time it takes for the meaning of the message to take hold in the recipient. If you’ve noticed how people always come up with questions a few minutes after you’ve communicated your message, this is because the meaning hasn’t really sunk in yet, and when it does they need come up with meaningful questions. This clarification time gives them the recipient the ability to really soak in the message and apply meaningful thought to the subject. This will ultimately save you from interruptions and future clarifying questions after the initial communication.

=== Less is More ===
Earlier we discussed how many people believe that more communication equals better communication. We know this isn’t true. Often times less communication provides clarity of meaning. Keep your communication simple, clear out the side stories and tangents. Think of the meaning you are trying to get across and stick to that one thought. The more tangents and superfluous details you add into your communication the more convoluted your communication becomes.

=== Variety is the spice of life ===
My final hint to better communication is to add variety to your communication. By just speaking your meaning, the retention rate is on average 10% after only a few hours. By showing visuals alone, 35%. By speaking and showing visuals, 65%.

This tells you that the more ways that you can communicate your message the better.

If someone doesn’t understand the first time you communicate with them, don’t repeat word for word what you said earlier. This is not going to help communication at all. Instead switch it up and change your tactic. The person you are communicating with may be a visual learner rather than an auditory learner or vice versa. By switching up your communication style you have a greater ability to communicate your meaning then by sticking to one form of communication only.

I know this seems simple but I don’t know how many meetings I sit in where people try to talk to me explaining and reiterating their ideas over and over again where a picture will solve everything. Usually this is the point that I pop out of my chair and start drawing on the board and the meaning becomes clear for everyone in the meeting. It’s okay to change it up and try new techniques in meetings with clients and coworkers. No one is going to be upset when they leave a meeting with a full understanding of what is going on.

They will only leave upset when they wasted their time and no meaning was fully communicated.

This also can apply to complex computer systems when talking to non-geek clients. Rather than trying to explain to the client exactly how a system works, reorient the example to something they are familiar with. This may sound like you are “dumbing down” the subject but what you are actually doing is just improving the entirety of the conversation’s communication quality.

Too often developers and designers like to prove how smart they are by overtalking their audience, however all they are really doing is making themselves look like horrible communicators and therefore less intelligent, not more.

If you can’t communicate your ideas and meaning then what was the point?