Talk Less and Do More
By Orby, 28th Aug 2012 | Follow this author
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Posted in WikinutBusinessEthics
People are more productive when they concentrate on the task ahead and talk less.
Talk is Expensive After All
"Talk is cheap”, they say. Talking is a free gift from nature. People enjoy expressing their emotions, ideas and desires by spoken words especially. Almost everyone would like to talk and be listened to irrespective of whether they are making a point or not. Since talking is such an enjoyable exercise, some people have taken the pleasure of talking to an extent that it becomes a negative habit. The more people crave to service their talking habit, the more other vital aspects of their lives are left untended. This is to say that people talk at the expense of work. This is why I am of the opinion that talk is rather very expensive. I am not saying that talking is totally bad after all it is very essential to human existence. It is an indispensable tool for communication, socialization, and culture and knowledge acquisition. However, it should be noted that too much of everything is bad. A lot of people have used spoken words to paint a very beautifully picture of what they would do but when it comes working hard in order to make such words a reality, they go aloof.
The story is neither different in an organizational setting which is my focus. I often wonder why many are employed to do the job but only few actually do the job. This is because people are often swayed by such things as appearance, eloquence, charisma, polished accents and well tailored diction. They are more interested in the packaging than the content. Some organizations hire employees for their appearance and eloquence and not for their ability to do the job. May be I will narrate my personal experience to drive home my point. I once work in a unit within an organization where meetings are held 5 days of the week, spanning from 7am till 11am each working day. You would marvel at we discuss in such meetings and you would also be surprised that people still spend as much as 20 hrs per week on just talking and listening to people talk. Painful as it may be, employees wake up as early as 4 am or 5 am to beat traffic and get to work on time to attend such meetings where most times individual are made subject matter either for their inability to purchase new suits or beautiful pair of shoes for work. Staff members are meant to view their means of livelihood as an ordeal since management take turns to discuss their shortcomings before everyone on daily basis. These employees resume on their various desks after the meetings with little or no time to rush through their jobs since they are under the obligation to meet up with our turnaround time .We are then subjected to work amidst grumbling and negative work atmosphere with little or no positive energy. In same manner we rush home only to get a little sleep, shower and return to work the next day. We never enjoyed what we were doing. The job we once accepted with joy suddenly turned into a night mare because some people have chosen to dedicate their time to talking, 4 hrs every day. We only trudged on after all they say "half bread is better than none". On the other hand, a set of people enjoyed this system so much that they never wished for a change. These are the ones who have their names on the management’s good book. They are presentable; they play their games well at the expense of their various desks. They are dressed in the finest attires, experts at over delegation and flying on other people's wings. They are excellent and eloquent speakers. During the meetings they are the first to air other people's views and they spend most of the time discussing one issue or the other especially what transpire during the meetings, how other employees were lashed for not doing what they should do, what should be done that was not done and how they should be done by others.
When it is time for appraisal, they graded high or above average not necessarily for discharging their duties diligently but for their speaking prowess at meetings and their ability to maintain their position on management's good book. They are master players and talkers at the expense of the organizational goals and productivity, often praised for their good sense of humor. Obviously, you and I are aware of the fact that success is not in the talking but in the working. Issues discussed in such gatherings could be disseminated to the employees through other viable means while they do their jobs more efficiently and effectively. Employees could also manage their time and life properly to enable discharge their duties and manage their lives in a more positive outlook. Errors incurred from discharging duties in a rush (just to meet up with turnaround time) and begrudgingly could be averted and more cost saved for the organization. Remember errors are not cost friendly. They are time consuming and time is money.
Generally people are more productive when they are quiet, calm and concentrated. Hence it is pertinent to talk less while trying to discharge any duty. Talkativeness does not jibe with performance. The more we talk the less we perform, the less we perform the more we lose. In other words, talking is just a direct opposite of performance thus very cost unfriendly for any organization or an individual whose goal is remarkable productivity unless in a situation where the said individual's or organization's job function borders on talking .It could be very unhealthy for an individual or an organization invest such scarce commodity in talking and chit chats. Although, talking is very necessary but limited time be set aside for it. People should talk less and do more after all talk is very expensive.
Comments
30th Aug 2012 (#)
This is so true.
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30th Aug 2012 (#)
Thank you Rhonda!
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2nd Sep 2012 (#)
Idle talk and effective communication are at the opposite ends of the pole. I agree some people do their work while others just talk of doing work but pass it on to others. The saying - to get things done, give it to a busy person - holds true. Thanks for the share, Orby - siva
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3rd Oct 2012 (#)
First of all, welcome to wikinut, I look forward to reading more of your work. Makes sense to me. Thank you for sharing.:)
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