In any human endeavor that involves more than one person, communication is key to success.  Every now and then, communication break down and slows progress.  

Now think about what it means to actually communicate effectively with someone.  It is a complex multistep process.

1. Figure out what you intend to mean.
2. Formulate the words that you’ll speak.
3. Expel the air from your lungs through your mouth and over the tongue to form the words and tone.
4. The other person receives said combination of words and tones through his ear drum.
5. The words and tone hits the brain for a first level of understanding.
6. The brain tries to interpret the words and tones into that person’s understanding of your intention.

Whew!  Pretty complex.  No wonder there is a lot of miscommunication around, even if you’re speaking the same language!

The past week has been an effort to communicate my needs, balance budgets, and determine trade offs with my contractor and the subcontractors.  Primarily, the issues revolve around plumbing, dealing with the wet basement issue, and nailing down what I want to do with the electrical stuff, which includes running coaxial and CAT 6 wiring.

My information needs are a bit different from that of my subs.  They are looking at their piece of the picture.  They are looking at the masonry stuff, or the electrical stuff, or the plumbing.  They just need to know what the scope of the job is so they can give a cost estimate and do the work.  For me, I need to know details of why certain things are what they are.  Why is the grading sloping away from the egress well drain?  What is this plastic piping used instead of copper?  Where will this dimmer be placed?  Will the gutter be open or with one of those helmet guards?  I’m also a stickler for wording on contracts.  I went through multiple revisions, even going line by line reviews and corrections, to make sure that I convey what I want and that it is understood by the person on the other end of that contract.  I know this is annoying to the contractor, but mistakes leads to disappointment and more costs to correct them.

We’ve finally nailed down the electrical change order.  The plumbing change order for a sump pump with a battery back up is still pending.   And another change order is still under-going back and forth.  On the plus side, the first funds from the bank was received by the contractor and things are back on track on that front at least.  A little bit more work has been accomplished, but the rain has slowed things down.  But at least the leaky basement is not as bad as it once was!

So whether you plan a home renovation, vacation, or even just a dinner and a movie, be deliberate in your communication in terms of style and substance.  And if you ever forget, there’s even a song about it.