Wednesday 15 November 2017

Hold the snafu


Communication can never be easy, especially when you are working over phones, Skype and other such media tools and I don’t say its only verbal communication. A week ago my wife asked me over whatsapp
“On your way home, can you bring some tablets?” my reply “Yes” and we ended up in a late night fight when I asked her “what medicine? O that one?” No it was not a problem of commitment vs delivery it was a simple issue of communication. Going by the regular expressions as we follow in India, my answer was “Yes, I can” I never said “Yes I will”.

The more I work with the teams, the more I have realized that this is really a standard. The Yes has variable meanings here.

Yes = I understand
Yes = I know
Yes = I will do it
Yes = May be I can do it, I will try
Yes = Maybe I will try

The same rule applies to 2 mins… and no when I say the same rule applies, when I ask my wife how long it will take her to be ready to go out, that’s the answer I get. I have embarked a few 2 mins rules going by such experience.
2 mins = now
2 mins = 2 hours
2 mins = tomorrow
2 mins = never
The same rule applies to “Right”

Right = Correct
Right = Right Hand side
Right = Straight [Specially if you are down south in India]
Right = Go Ahead

Over years even “OK” has frightened me. Last time I asked a dev “That POC will be done this week? His answer “OK”. Only when I went to him to question about it, did I realize that he meant OK as in it is OK and not that he will do it.

Even “I will “is a threat at times, I will doesn’t guarantee the time, it just guarantees the intention only. Next when you work with remote teams make sure the expressions are handled and understood well.    
Or be ready for the snafu