In my previous piece, I talked about why I stopped presenting and started conversing.
But what kind of conversation?
Chit-chat?
Small talk?
Philosophical drag?
NO.
A diagnostic one. Unassuming. Bias-free conversation.
A good medical practitioner doesn’t cut open a patient based on his instinct. Instead, the first step is talking to the patient. Understanding his problem. Corroborating his judgement with supporting evidence. And ultimately deciding the best approach forward.
This is why we have to hold a conversation BEFORE we start designing a solution.
So, how to hold an effective conversation? In my experience, these are good points to keep in mind:
(1) It’s not about you: getting out of the equation should be the first step while holding a conversation. We are not there to assert our credentials and past knowledge. Every challenge is unique.
(2) “Can you tell me more about it?”: this almost always works. You will be surprised by finding how much more people are willing to share when you ask this. You understand their challenges better. It is not a trick question. It shows your genuine interest.
(3) Crazy focus on the process: the devil lies in the details of the process. Most of the problems have roots somewhere in the chain of process. The conversation is a tool to reach that tool.
(4) “What’s your vision?”: an effective solution is useless if it doesn’t align with the vision. A wholesome conversation helps us translate the organization’s vision in our head, as it is.
(5) Past failures: oftentimes, you may be not the first person to be onboarded to solve the challenge. It is always a good idea to ask about the past mistakes of different people. What they missed out on. Reinventing a wheel is in no one’s interest.
If you carefully go through these pointers, you will realize none of these is practised during a presentation. Presentations are by-default, just presentations.
The dominant corporate culture has failed to educate. Too much glamour and too little education lead to practices that are out of touch with reality.
Conversations are here to stay. They’re in there for a long haul. And that PowerPoint we had made a year back? Well, whose life was changed by it?