By: Robert F. Abbott
As I came out of the car wash yesterday, I appreciated, again, the countdown clock that told me how many seconds remained before the vacuum stopped.

And, I was struck by the feeling of control it gave me. In other car washes, I had to guess at how slowly I should move  through vacuum that sucked away the water left after the wash. But with this one, I knew how much time remained, and roughly how much of my car had been done.
Wouldn’t it be great if we could do this in many other realms of life where we, our customers, our employees, and other important people face uncertainty.

Not every system of this type makes the grade, though. What about going somewhere for service and being asked to take a number. Then, when your big moment arrives, you’re greeted by “Now serving number 31.” That kind of system tells you very clearly that you’re not in control — instead it tells you that the people providing the service control you.

To communicate to others a sense of where they stand, at any given point along a process, we need to think about increments. In other words, break up a process into a series of steps in a sequence, and make each point in that sequence an end in itself.

When I go through the timer in the car wash, I know that my car should be about a third of the way through the drying sequence when the clock has counted down from 90 seconds to 60 seconds. Roughly speaking that means the windshield should be under the vacuum. And, when the clock has counted down to 30, my rear window should be under the vacuum.

What do you tell someone who has to wait for your company to backorder a product? What do you say to the library patron who has requested a book through an inter-library loan?

If we communicate with information about the steps or increments, we help our stakeholders feel in control. And by giving them that sense of control, we’ll make them satisfied stakeholders.

APPLICATIONS
“Here’s what will happen….”
We can’t always provide countdowns or other play-by-play reports on what is happening.

But, perhaps we can do something almost as good. That is to let others know what will happen. For example, on the website for my book, I used to explain the process that would unfold after clicking the ‘Buy now’ button. And, I did it for a specific reason; about 80% of visitors to the website had never bought a book online before. I lost that part in a recent site upgrade, and should put it back again (if I could only find the time).

Anytime you put a stakeholder into a position of uncertainty, you can make her feel better by letting her know what will happen. Ever get inside the door of a restaurant and wonder if you should seat yourself of wait for a hostess? That’s uncertainty.

So, what do you tell an employee who’s launched an objection to something in his performance review? Do you say, “Don’t worry, it’s being handled?” or do you say, “It’s now on the desk of my boss, and she promises to report back to you and me by next Tuesday?” For the person who objected, the latter explanation offers far more comfort.

And how about meetings? Do you go to meetings where uncertainty exists about purposes and processes? As you know, a good written agenda, coupled with a brief discussion about the agenda at the top of the meeting, will eliminate a lot of that uncertainty.

You can find many ways to reduce uncertainty for others, by anticipating their discomfort and explaining what will happen. It’s good for them and for you too because you’ll spend less time fielding unnecessary questions and pointing out the way ahead.