Biz Chicks Rule | Who Says It's a Man's World?

He Said, She Said

by Bridget Wright on November 12th, 2007

Sometimes I’ll ask my husband to do something for me around the house or to run a quick errand for me. No big deal. But when I see him again and the errand didn’t get run or the thing-around-the-house didn’t get done, I wonder, “did hear he me or is he trying to ignore me?”

The other day I asked him if he wouldn’t mind if I went to the movies (alone) because there was a movie I wanted to see AND I needed some down time from working and taking care of kids all week long. What was curious was his response when he said ‘he didn’t really feel like getting a babysitter so we could go see a movie. He just wanted to kind of hang around the house and take it easy’. What!! I didn’t ask him to go. Did he hear me? I wonder…

Miscommunication like this happen all of the time between men and women., both personally (as in my examples) and in the business world. Take for example:

• I was working as an employment consultant when our District Manager was let go due to downsizing. Our Regional Manager came in, assessed the situation and asked if I would consider filling in (i.e., doing the work) as the District Manager until further notice. That means, not only should I expect greater compensation, but I would perhaps be a contender in the race for filling the slot, right? Wouldn’t you think that’s what he meant?
• Another time, I hired a lawn company to edge and trim my property, cut the grass and put mulch down in the flower beds. ALL of the flower beds. Only thing was the lawn care man thought I didn’t mind paying for 5 bags of mulch since he only used 4. That was all he had on his truck that day. Again, I say WHAT?!

Effective communications both in and out of the workplace is something that corporations spend thousands of dollars (if not millions) annually to see where their companies can make better choices in communicating to their employees. People say that there is not a difference in the sexes; communications is communications. I disagree. I ran across this exceptionally well-written article that outlines the difference in the way men and women communicate and interact. It’s interesting to note that:

• Women are emotional, men more rational. We knew that, right? But which one is more effective in the business setting?
• Women ask lot of questions before beginning a task. Men simply do the task. Which one works better? I think it depends on the situation but maybe this information could help that poor couple that’s been driving around for hours because he won’t stop and ask for directions. I’m just saying…
• Men cut right to the chase when asking for the sale but women tend to go on and on with no clear ending. Business women, don’t be afraid of hurting feelings. Men are generally better salesmen because they ask directly for the sale. Talk about your kids another time or anything else personal in another settng. Ask for the sale today. Socialize tomorrow.

Tomorrow, I’m going to talk about in detail how women in business can communicate more effectively and get the sale. Right now I have to go find my husband who is looking for that errand list he said I gave him.

But you see, I didn’t give him a list.

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POSTED IN: Communication