Assess the Quality of Your Communicating

Rhonda Latreille

Sheltering in place, lockdowns, slowdowns, social-distancing, and bubbles. New concepts with new challenges are causing us to engage with others in new ways.

In times of COVID, we have lost many of our face-to-face conversations. Telephone and virtual appointments are now replacing many personal meetings. We are compelled to be even more mindful of the quality of our communicating, especially with our maturing callers.

You cannot control the quality of your caller’s environment so it is especially important that you manage the quality of your own . . . eliminate background noise and distractions.

When speaking on the phone, within seconds—and without the benefit of visual cues—you must establish rapport, assess the issue and the requirements, diffuse potential frustration, and ultimately remedy the solution in a professional, efficient, and respectful manner. A tall order! What You Bring The baggage you bring to any communicating situation includes your attitude, fears, beliefs, prejudices, and assumptions. Just because a caller is older, do not assume dementia or cognitive decline. Older people have led and are still leading rich lives so bring an attitude of respect for who they are as individuals.

Remember that the speed of mental processing can be impacted by a number of factors—lack of sleep, poor nutrition, infections, medication, colds/flu, stress, and health-related challenges. Allow the caller plenty of time to complete an instruction. Special note: Never use babytalk when engaging with callers, regardless of their chronological age!

Older people have led and are still leading rich lives so bring an attitude of respect for who they are as individuals.

How You Engage • Wherever possible, provide an opportunity for your callers to speak to a real person instead of having to cycle through a long list of telephone menu items. • Ask your callers how they wish to be addressed. I have yet to hear anyone ask to be called “dearie.” • During a conversation, do not interrupt! Ensure that your caller has finished his or her sentence or comment before you speak, then repeat your understanding of what was communicated to you, so you are sure you clearly understand.

Keep your sentences short.

Offer one step at a time.

When leaving a message or giving instructions, slow down!

Repeat your name and number and details at the end of the message or conversation, to give the person a chance to record the information. Make sure your callers have plenty of time to engage with a keyboard, search a webpage, or work with other devices or products as necessary.

Avoid using professional jargon; use familiar words and keep your tone conversational, modulated, and level.

A person may ask you to repeat something because of a hearing challenge or low volume. Simply repeating the same sentence louder may not be helpful. State your information in a different way and provide a bit of context.

Remember: Communicating clearly is your responsibility.

It is not the caller’s responsibility to struggle to understand what you are saying! s Rhonda Latreille, MBA, CPCA, is the founder of Age-Friendly Business® .