The “information super-highway” (remember when it used to be called that?) has done a lot to change the way we behave. We shop online, we do business online, our kids do homework online…if someone has a question they don’t know the answer to…they google it. The trouble is we’ve become afflicted with information.
Even though email is rapidly becoming a thing of the past when it comes to personal communication everyday hundreds upon thousands of pieces of email speed through the servers of American businesses with the subject heading “FYI”. The lazy sluggards who do this to you probably do so as a result of an unconscious prompt such as:
- I’ll probably forget this so I’d better send it to someone else as informational insurance.
- This doesn’t look like it is important to me but it looks REALLY important to someone who is not me.
- I’m not sure what to do with this so I’ll pass it on.
- As long as I pass this a long I can’t be held accountable.
It’s a lot like someone handing you a wilted plant in a damp clay pot, telling you it is important, and then walking away!
The worst of it is that we’ve gotten so used to simply “exchanging information” that it effects how we regularly communicate. Meetings are held, presentations are given, and memos are written that contain a LOT of information but seemingly little explicit purpose. Unfortunately our human brains LIKE purpose and DISLIKE a vacuum so anytime we’re given bulk information sans purpose we fill in our own, even if only subconsciously. This, in turn, spawns multiple rabbit trails of understanding which often have to be undone with yet another meeting, presentation or memo.
Effective communication happens not when we’ve given the MOST information but when we’ve given the RIGHT information. How do we know which bits are the RIGHT information? The right bits are the bits that can be connected by a clearly focused clearly articulated purpose that is understood and shared by the informer and the informed alike.
So the next time you’re tempted to forward along an email with a simple FYI added to the top pause and consider WHY the recipient needs this information. Then, instead of taking the lazy way out and just leaving your FYI, take the time to write out a single sentence description of why they need the information. VOILA! An email with a clearly stated purpose is born!
How many FYI’s do you get in a typical week? How many do you forward along? How many of them contain any real purpose?