I recently had a slightly humorous, but nonetheless, very forceful reminder of the power of repetition when communicating with your team. In the world of EOS, we subscribe to the premise that you have to say something 7 times to be truly heard.
I was in the food court by my office a couple of days ago waiting for my lunch order, listening for my number to be called.
“17 & 21” called out the lady behind the counter. No reaction in the waiting crowd of people. “17”, “21”, she cries a second time. Still no recognition or movement. She pauses for about 10 seconds whilst she preps the next couple of orders then calls out “17”, “21” a little louder. No response. By this stage, I am quite intrigued and am looking around the crowd trying to identify who could be the owners of these two orders.
“Seventeeeen”
“Twenteeee Onnnnne”
Growing louder with each attempt she shouts out 17 & 21 two more times in quick succession. The crowd has finally begun to stir but no one has stepped forward.
“Seventeeeeeeeen and Twenteeeeee Onnnne” she calls once more hitting the magic 7 times. Suddenly two guys standing separately but only about 3 feet from the counter the entire time move forward to collect their lunches. 7 times she called and on the 7th try, they heard her as though it was the 1st time she spoke. Looking at the server, it was clear that this was nothing new to her. She understood the power of repetition when communicating. Rather than getting frustrated with her clients, she kept calm and maintained her pattern knowing that she will eventually be heard.
How’s your communication with your team?
When you introduce a new idea, are you getting frustrated that no one seems to be listening or are you counting off the times knowing that by the time you get to 7, your team will finally hear what you are saying as though you have said it for the 1st time? A simple adjustment in your mindset can make a big difference to your level of frustration and your effectiveness as a leader.