Did You Say What I Thought You Meant?

I heard this one the other day and it rang so true I have to share it.

“The most common misconception about communication is that it is happening”

How many times have you had a conversation with someone and they went off and did exactly the opposite of what you thought you agreed on (or the reverse)?

With the huge emphasis on communication in agile/XP projects this certainly is one of the issues that a new team needs to watch for. Having the bullpen development area, the on-site customer and frequent releases can go a long ways toward solving this problem, or at least catching early.

Are there any significant (mis)communication moments that stand out for you?

2 Comments

  • Miscommunication is a people "problem" not a process problem, so no process will fix it. I do believe that the agile preference for "Individuals and interactions" helps force miscommunication out into the open earlier than prescriptive processes.



    >That's what UML and diagrams exists for.



    Assuming they are correct in the first place. UML is primarily a tool for technologists who build them based on interpreting needs/wants from customers, so they are just as likely to be incorrect as any other form of communication.

  • I do think that things like a common vocabular and reckognized demonstration forms can prevent communcation issues. I've had a lot of communications issues, as anybody else, and it still happens, though having a common understanding of terms did reduce them significantly...



    Finally, perhaps you're right and it's not processes that improve communication, but simply the fact to know team members. Seen this way, personnal free time with other team members can be seen as a business efficiency approach? What do you think?

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