Sometimes you have to talk less to communicate more

I recently had a conversation with someone who didn’t want the conversation to end.  It started innocently enough as a hallway conversation.  We hadn’t seen each other in a while.  I made some small talk asking the person how things had been.  After about five minutes, I realized that the conversation had evolved to meaningless chatter. Every time I started to close off the argument, the other person came up with another discussion point.

I’ve seen a similar phenomenon in meetings.  I once had a weekly status meeting that was scheduled for an hour.  Even when all of the agenda topics had been covered, the owner of the meeting would think up new discussion topics to fill out the balance of the hour. Just because a meeting is scheduled for an hour, doesn’t mean it needs to last that long.

I’ve gotten into conversations in the elevator on the way out of the office at the end of the day. My conversational counterparts would continue small talk in the building lobby.  Meanwhile, I would stand there counting in my mind, each car that is filling into traffic ahead of me.

A preference  to communicate more

I’m not anti-social.  I enjoy a good conversation as much as the next guy.  And maybe there are some that think I talk too much.  My willingness to jabber is directly related to how much I enjoy talking to you.

See my related post: Good Project Connections

Maybe it’s just me.  My too-slow wife says I’m impatient.

I think of it as just being practical and efficient.  Say what you need to say, finish, and let me get on my way.

And that’s all I have to say about that.

If you would like to learn more about working in consulting, get Lew’s book Consulting 101: 101 Tips for Success in Consulting at Amazon.com

As always, I welcome your comments and criticisms.