Posted on by roulail

“Get into the game” – e-communication clarified

by Prof Benita Olivier

I am sitting next to the hockey field while my 7-year-old is playing his first mini-hockey game. In short, I can very accurately describe that what I am observing here is absolute chaos. But, it is organised chaos. These boys are super-excited and all of them want a hit at the ball – all at the same time. Then, on my left, an equally excited dad was shouting repeatedly: “Get in the game! Get in the game!”

At first, I thought “Indeed! Valuable advice” but then I realised that these boys do not have a clue what to make of this advice. What does “get in the game” actually mean? What does it mean to the dad? What does it mean to the boys? For me, it means to go and tackle the ball. For the dad, it may mean to do what you were taught to do. And for the boys? Mmmm….. I’m not sure they even registered…

This scenario made me realise the importance of effective communication in our everyday lives, including the workplace. As academics, we deal with a lot of emails daily – from sending manuscripts to co-authors to providing feedback on assignments to students, and many more. Each of us has our own meaning that we connect to a specific bit (or rather bite) of communication. Communicating more effectively will increase your work satisfaction and those of others. Imagine you can avoid those misunderstandings and delays altogether or at least minimise them. Also, in the shoes of the receiver, imagine all the emails you receive are carefully formulated, clear and concise. Now, this is a world that I’d love to be part of!

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As most of our communication is through email, here are a few tips that I’ve learnt in the last 11 years in the academy:

  1. Put a few words, which accurately describe the content/intent of the email, in the subject box, then go on, write your email and stick to your subject. This makes it easier to find emails afterwards when one needs to refer back for some reason.
  2. Add a greeting to the email such as “Dear Sarah” or “Good morning Prof Mokoena”. A more casual “Hi Vanesh” is also acceptable when the situation lends itself to that.
  3. Be a “normal” (what is normal anyway?) human being – a casual tone is sometimes beneficial. Adding in a bit of small talk (or even a lame joke) such as “Now that winter is here, and before we all start to hibernate, I think it is time that we get that paper submitted” or refer back to your last engagement “I hope you are doing well and that last week’s presentation to deanery ran smoothly”. Read the situation sensitively and act accordingly – you will know when a slightly less formal approach is appropriate.
  4. Put the core purpose of the email in the sentence below the greeting/introductory sentence e.g. “I’d like to get permission to use the cricket pitch for research purposes on the 7th of August 2019”, then follow with your motivation and other detail.
  5. When formulating your email, be explicit and chuck the hidden expectations out the window. If you have a deadline in mind, don’t assume the receiver of your email will have the same deadline in mind e.g. if you need feedback on a paper which need to reach the publishers before a certain date, and you would like to have two days to make the final changes before final submission, share your expectations and negotiate from there, if needed. Also, clearly state what you want the other person to do with this paper – scan through, double-check the tables or review the entire paper. This approach will avoid a mismatch between actual and perceived expectations.
  6. In this same line, don’t make assumptions (you know what they say about assumptions) about what you think someone else means when you read their email. If there is ambiguity, ask.
  7. Emails do not have a tone of voice or a body language – precede your email with a quick call if it involves sensitive information which lends itself to being misinterpreted.
  8. To follow up on a case, use the same email thread in which the initial communication took place – everyone has a lot going on and the initial communication serves as a refresher of what has been said or decided. This approach makes responding to an email easy, which means there is a reduction in the turnaround time.

Keep the above in mind when you reflect on your own communication skills. Let us foster a culture of clear communication.

Go and get into the game!

Benita

Benita Olivier7b.jpgProf Benita Olivier is an Associate professor and researcher in the field of musculoskeletal physiotherapy

Department of Physiotherapy at the University of the Witwatersrand

Twitter handle @BenitaOlivier and @ResearchMaster4

Posted on by Perspectives

Expectations meet reality…

So in preparation for my data collection which I hope will start soon. I have been having practice shoots or mock situations with friends who have been so generous to pose as farmers and extension officers. Allowing me to take videos while they demonstrate how the farmer and extension officer will most likely interact when working together in establishing home gardens. The mock shoots were suggested by my supervisor since I have never worked with a camera before. He made me understand that it would be beneficial for me to get used to working with the camera before meeting the actual participants of the study. Having this experience has in many ways prepared me for some of the realities I can expect when I begin my actual data collection.

People prepare in various ways for various situations. For example, some people meditate, some go to the venue where they will be presenting or writing exams to familiarize themselves with the environment and some have mock presentations or situations to help keep themselves calm. In my situation having mock situations was the best way for me to prepare. Being prepared either for exams, presentations, an interview or a meeting puts one at a competitive advantage, enhances strategic thinking, self-discipline and builds confidence.  

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From regular clothes to a work suit…

My expectation about wearing the “right clothes” for the work I will be doing was “of course I will get dirty, I mean I will be working in gardens with smallholder farmers after all, but surely I will not get that dirty besides, I will be the girl operating the camera most of the time”. Consequently, on the first day of shooting the mock videos, I put on jeans, sneakers and a cute jersey what a miscalculation. The wind blew so drastically by the time we were finished my black sneakers looked pale from dust, my blue jeans were literally brown I do not even want to talk about the cute jersey I had on it was not so cute anymore. At that moment it hit me, my dress style has to change from everyday clothes to a work-suit and a doek. The doek is for protecting my hair from dust. On the bright side of things, this does mean less laundry for me… hehehe.

Unexpected challenges

I thought that the challenges I would encounter would be internal more than they would be external. For example, I anticipated having challenges with operating my camera while engaging with the person I am interviewing and choosing the appropriate software for editing videos. I was intimidated by working with editing software’s but now that I have been experimenting with them I have gained confidence.  However, I really did not expect to be confronted by social challenges like livestock roaming around and destroying my hard work. We used a friend’s backyard to prepare the soil, plant the seedlings and eventually got the video done.  The content of the video was about the “best methods of planting that are available to smallholder farmers when starting a home garden”. My friend lives in a commune and a day after we planted our seedlings one of the tenants left the gate open and a cow came in and ate all the seedlings… I died.  So we had to start from the beginning because we cannot monitor the crops inside the stomach of a cow we do not know. I did not see the cow coming…literally.  Seriously caught me off guard.

 

Having the opportunity to prepare for my actual data collection made realize that there is probably a lot of work, shock and plan B’s waiting to be executed. It has also taught me that no two days are the same. Just because one day of data collection has gone well does not mean that the next day will be just as good. Preparation even just a little goes a long way I can attest.