Communications lessons from a rainy day

Windscreen wiper woes

One cold Melbourne Sunday morning, I drove through drizzle and light rain with only 1 functioning windscreen wiper. Would not recommend.

The rubber on the driver’s side blade had been flapping around for a while, threatening to come off. I had done nothing about it. So with one final flail, it flew off as I drove down a suburban street (sorry world). Unfortunately, rain was forecast on this particular day and I had to get through a 50-minute drive, with a portion on a freeway. So, trying to mitigate the risk, I took off at a moment in between bouts of drizzle. 

The initial leg of the drive was okay. But once I got on the the freeway, light drizzle started coming down. Though the passenger side wiper blade was in perfect condition, the lack of visibility created by the defunct blade was serious – and surprising. I took to shifting my body to the left, more in line with the centre of the car. But this bandaid fix created other problems, leaving me unbalanced, and disoriented as to the perspective and dimensions of the car from that angle. 

As the drizzle turned into light rain, conditions became dangerous. I got off the freeway and decided to take the back roads on a longer, but safer journey. That afternoon, I ducked out in another gap in the rain to an Autobarn, where I purchased a new rubber blade for $11. A ridiculously simple and cheap fix. They kindly installed it for me, and I drove off in the drizzle.

The difference in the visibility was incredible. This may be hard to believe, but I’d never stopped to consider the safety function of windscreen wipers before. I’d thought of them more as a convenience – something that would be annoying to not have. But that experience showed me how critical they were (kind of like how eyelashes are not just something to bat at potential mates).

Building safety and consistency with business communications

With my newfound calm and a literal new perspective, it occurred to me that there are also small fixes in our business communications that could make our worklives easier, more consistent or safer, which are similarly overlooked or underestimated:

• Maybe it’s a simple template that means not having to reinvent the wheel every time

• A step-by-step guide or a manual that can be provided to new team members, so that protocols and systems are delivered with more consistency than a schoolyard round of Chinese Whispers

• Or maybe it’s a proactive email update to your clients about a change in your business that delivers the message and addresses their needs and concerns, saving you from stressful, confused and irate phone calls

(please reach out if any of these sound like something you’d benefit from)

After my nervous system had calmed down, I made a vow to address car issues — even minor ones — as soon as I noticed them. Better to sort these things out on a sunny day when I have plenty of time, before it turns into an emergency situation in the rain, on the freeway, on a long drive or urgent errand.

Of course, our business communications may not be life and death situations like driving down a freeway in a vehicle. But they can help mitigate future risk, stress and wasted time. 

My invitation is to use your ‘sunny’ business days to consider the rainy ones, and to put the things in place that will help you stay dry and safe when the rainy days inevitably come.