It was a beautiful Saturday afternoon and my daughter Emily and I had just arrived at the International Hunter Derby horse show in North Salem, NY. We’ve been planning this for a while and were happy to finally be there.

The farm itself was very crowded. There were HUGE trucks everywhere, dropping off horses, people and equipment. We weren’t quite sure where we were going and before long we found ourselves stuck behind a gigantic truck with its flashers on.

I looked around, poked the nose of our car over to the left to see if anyone was coming, and very slowly drove around the truck.

Uh oh. When I got to the other side there was a man directing traffic. I could tell by the way he was waving and shouting at me that he wasn’t happy.

I opened the window and he yelled: “Anyone with a bit of sense would not drive around a truck! That should be obvious!”

I don’t like being yelled at. So I said, “Obvious to you, not me.” And drove off to the show.

The truth is, what’s obvious to one person may not be to another. It’s the same with your business, especially when it comes to communicating in the follow ways:

• Email Writing. Easy – write down your thoughts and send, right? Not so fast. It’s important to think about the reader. Questions to consider: Will they understand the language you’re using or is it filled with jargon? Have you reread any instructions to make sure you didn’t miss a step? Are the paragraphs in the order that will make the most sense to the reader? Is the tone right – are you being friendly enough, polite, wordy??
• Email Reading. Here’s the trick I use: When I read an email, I read it with the nicest possible voice I have in my head. I know that sometimes people forget to say please or thank you. And sometimes things can be confusing – so I read the email a couple of times before I go back with questions. I give the sender the benefit of the doubt when I reply.
• Talking Shop. If you’re in business for yourself, you’re most likely an expert in the service or product that you offer. Your client or colleague probably is not, so you’ll need to speak in language that will make sense to them. Be thoughtful and explain what you mean in language everyone can understand.
• Knowing Your Policies or Preferences. Sometimes clients email me at night or on the weekends. Sometimes they send me things to do while I’m on vacation. That’s okay – they’re working, even if I am not at that moment. So instead of getting upset about the emails (and thinking they don’t value my down time), I smile knowing that work is coming my way even when I’m not at my desk!

How about you? Have you run into circumstances (truck-related or otherwise) where what was obvious to you was not to someone else?