StartUp Ladies™

(©Artwork by Lillian - All Rights Reserved)

S is for Smiley Faces

It would not have occurred to me to write about this, but a friend told me I should.

As commercial illustrator I have hired sales representatives, but in the end have always come back to working directly with my clients. The more people who get involved in hearing, then passing on messages, the greater the likelihood of a misunderstanding, no matter how well-meaning they are. People interpret and condense. They mishear. They don’t write things down. Much of communication happens subtly, between the words, with gestures, inflection and tone of voice. You have to have all of your senses open to really hear someone. It’s great that so much business can happen through overnight-mail and the internet, but those limit the nuances of communication.

So, add a language barrier to the mix and see what happens.

I’ve developed a product which is being manufactured in China. Working with people overseas is an issue many of us have to confront, on personal and business levels. I’m talking today purely about communication.

There are a whopping three components to my product. One gets printed and cut out, then gets assembled with the other two. I made a prototype exactly as I wanted it to work and look. Then it got complicated.

The first batch from the manufacturer came in too small. The second was trimmed outside the bleed area of the art and I had to hand trim thousands of pieces. The next batch came back with knots tied too loosely, so I had to hand tie (four knots for each item). Each batch seemed to come with a different kind of strap material. Working on these for hours gave me a lot of time to think about how to communicate more effectively with my manufacturer. My production contact speaks English. He’s from Atlanta, so it’s a different kind of English, but it’s technically the same language. He deals with the manufacturer. But, each area of expertise comes with a unique vocabulary. Engineers and artists can refer to the same thing by very different names because they are looking at it from different conceptual angles. So, how could I expect my English-speaking connection to express what I couldn’t make totally clear to him? Bleed? Doesn’t that involve band-aids?

I scanned things and sent photos. I drew arrows. I sent back samples. But, I was never sure how my words or symbols would be comprehended. How could I explain that the cords, all of which seemed to be made of the same material and the same weaving configuration, were actually different? I’m not sure I could do that in English.

This is where the smiley faces finally come in. I made a manual. I glued down samples of a poorly-trimmed piece and put a frowny face next to it. I also glued down a perfectly-trimmed piece and it got the smiley face. I glued one-each of the several cords they’d used, but only the one I liked got the smiley face. Loose and open knots…frowny. Tight knots…smiley. I tried to make it fun and hoped it wasn’t insulting. We’re all trying, here. The good news is that it worked. I’ve had only smiley batches since then, which gives me a smiley face.

What it comes down to is: you have to work at communication from every possible angle. It’s like a puzzle. Be aware that others may simply have a different way of thinking from yours. Give yourself opportunities for varied types of encounters and, if possible, meet or speak with anyone you’re working with at least once. And put on a happy face. Actively trying to help make communication better and keeping a positive attitude will bring out the best in everyone.

Barb Hranilovich is a guest writer for StartUp Ladies. She is writing an alphabet series of articles pertaining to women entrepreneurs and business owners. Make sure to read her articles on the letter D, letter P, letter R, letter M, letter B, letter V , letter F, letter H and letter Y also.

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