Business communications

[Dr Jekyll]

May I suggest two simple rules that will avoid a great deal of wasted time and frustration.


1) When someone is answering your question, keep listening after the ‘but..’. They know something you don’t, that’s why you asked, so if they think something is relevant and you assume it isn’t it’s likely to bite you later.

2) When someone asks you a question, listen to it and answer it. Don’t answer the question you expected them to ask, don’t give a speech on your favourite subject, don’t use it as an excuse to interfere in their project. Just answer it.

I think it’s because so many people don’t follow rule 1 that there is such a temptation not to follow rule 2.


Monday conversation.
‘Did module 1 work when XYZ tested it?’
‘Yes, but that doesn’t mean….’
‘But did it work?’
‘Yes, but their system is total diff….’
‘For the last time, did it work yes or no?’
‘Yes’.

Tuesday conversation.
‘But you said module 1 worked’
‘It worked on their system, but that’s totally different from ours.’
‘Why won’t anyone tell me these things?’.

Wednesday conversation.
‘Did module 2 work when ABC tested it?’
‘That’s irrelevant to whether it will work on ours’
‘But did it work?’
‘Well their system is totally different so..’
‘But did it work?’
‘ But they’re on release 2.4 and we are on 2.2.’
‘I know, I’m trying to find out whether it works on 2.4.’