When you set your goals for future, having learnt from past, make sure that they are challenging but at same time realistic. Don’t make them too easy. You may finish year feeling good about reaching your goals but in reality you will have not done very much to be proud of. But don’t make them too hard either. They must ultimately be attainable with effort and perhaps a bit of luck. If they are totally unrealistic and unachievable you will sooner or later come to see this and start to say “What’s point in even trying?”. So aim at worthwhile, challenging, and above all realistic targets.

So set your goals for year and resolve to attain them. Call It a New Year’s Resolution if you like, but do it. You’ll not regret it.

**********

Doubtlessly, you feel that Mr Richardson of Scenario One has quite a lot to learn.

Firstly, he has declined - to his peril - to give his full attention to task at hand. Secondly, he is probably still under subconscious influence of an educational system that expects teacher or lecturer to pronounce, and expects unfortunate students to listen or take notes. Now that he is in a management position, he has instinctively assumed role of a teacher who knows just about everything, and expects others to passively imbibe his knowledge.

The vital four steps in effective communication might well help people like this Mr Richardson to correct this distorted view of communication process. Some call them four A's of communication. We can only discuss them very briefly here, although each of these four is worth an essay on its own.

ATTENTION

Winning attention of person with whom we wish to communicate, is an obvious first step. In order to achieve this goal, we must first try to eliminate - as far as is humanly possible - what experts in this field call "noise". This includes everything that distracts, be it noise in literal sense, physical or emotional discomfort, personal problems, negative attitudes, or distracting mannerisms or dress.

Respect for other person is an important prerequisite for attention getting. The human greeting, or inquiry about other person's health or personal circumstances, is an effective catalyst in this process. To be sure, if such introductions are false or stereotyped they might serve little purpose. Real empathy on other hand, all more so in downward communication from superior to subordinate, leads quickly to second step in process.

APPREHENSION

Although this word usually carries connotation of "fear", its primary meaning is "understanding". We have preferred term "apprehension" here primarily to retain mnemonic of "four A's" Its two meanings, however, are related; they are two sides of one coin. The task of communicator is to change aspect of "fear" into that of "understanding".

Achieving apprehension is a critical part of communication process, but it is a very subtle one also. Managers sometimes defend their inability to communicate by asking, "Do you understand?" This is usually an unfair question, and even somewhat improved "What do you understand?" is often perceived as a threat.

On other hand, if there is right relationship between transmitter and receiver of a message, indirect ways of establishing degree of understanding will present themselves. As Version Two above illustrates, encouraging a free flow of input from receiver is best way of ensuring that understanding has been achieved.

ASSIMILATION

As crucial as is function of apprehension (in its positive sense as we defined it,) it is not enough. Often, a person has understood a message perfectly, but he or she has not accepted it. Alternatively, it is accepted in a half-hearted manner, without any conviction. Communication is still incomplete if he has not assimilated information into his own being.

The initiator has achieved an ideal result if recipient has assimilated message to extent that he becomes one with sender, as it were. Assimilation of a concept presented by management, or by another worker, goes a long way towards ensuring active participation, and harmonious cooperation, in workplace.

ACTION

This is final step in our communication process. It is that ingredient which propels abstract or theoretical knowledge into world of reality. So often a good idea in business (no less than in other spheres) meets with facile acceptance or agreement, but is not translated into action.

If assimilation has indeed taken place, action on part of receiver should follow inevitably. But what we have said about two-sided nature of communication applies here as well. The originator of message must play his part, too, with abundant support and encouragement.