Communicating is a tricky business.
Journalists know this because we do it for a living. Words matter. Context matters. Details matter. And as a profession, we work really hard to get it right. Typos and mistakes can cast doubt on your skills. Overgeneralizations can tank your credibility. Using a common phrase in the wrong way can make you look like a fool (not that I’ve ever done this 😖).
Saying the thing you mean in the way you mean it is hard work.
I feel this often as the parent of two teenagers, which requires a level of cultural bilingualism to understand what they’re actually talking about (for instance, “chopped” means not cute, not cut up) and great restraint on my part to not use the terms they use, which leads to cringes and eye rolls (don’t even try to understand “6-7.”)
I experience this daily as someone who’s married to someone born in another country. After 25 years together, my husband and I have gotten pretty good and making sure our words line up with how we’re each understanding them, but I did have to sit him down once and explain that when he says a place is “God’s country,” it didn’t mean the people there are very religious, but just that it’s naturally beautiful.
And I’ve seen how this works across generations in newsrooms. If my boss calls me, I answer, and I am not worried that something is wrong. He just wants to chat. But if he calls someone younger than me without first sending a text or message on Slack, they’re likely going to freak out. I would rather that call, to be honest, than a text message, which for some reason feels more intrusive to me. This is the opposite for a lot of millennials and Gen Zs.
When I was co-leading a fellowship for early-career journalists, we led each new class with some basics about communicating with your boss. I wish you could have seen the way their eyes would light up when I’d tell them, "Punctuation does not equal punishment. A lot of us learned to communicate without digital shortcuts. If your boss texts you ‘OK,’ they don’t hate you.”
“The biggest communications mistake newsroom leaders make is assuming their workers, peers or bosses ‘know’ what they mean,” said my colleague, Tony Elkins, who leads Poynter’s newsroom leader trainings. “As work has changed, the way we communicate with each other has drastically evolved. Words, phrases and emojis take on different meanings depending on your age or communication styles. By not being direct and thorough, your message and intent can easily be lost. It's better to be as detailed as possible (without micromanaging) than assuming someone ‘knows what you mean.’"
Next week, Elkins will talk about how we communicate and the role that communication plays in leadership during a LinkedIn Live with our colleague Kerwin Speight. Whether you’re a manager, an editor or would like to flex your leadership muscles, it’s critical to get your comms skills right.
“I think it's important that aspiring leaders master the art of translating and clarifying information for various audiences within their organization,” said Speight, who leads our virtual Lead With Influence program for people who don’t have anyone reporting to them directly. “For example, executives might need to know the business impact of a project, initiative, etc., while peers might just need the details. Leaders need to be able to adjust their communication to meet the needs of the receiver.”
To learn more, join us on LinkedIn at 12:30 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 27.
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