“Now now” is a term synonymous with South Africa. One would think that the word now emphasised twice would mean immediately; however, I’m sure you’d agree that South Africans generally take the term to mean “sooner or later” as opposed to right now or immediately.

As peculiar as it sounds, most of us have often found ourselves in conversations or in situations where someone had told us they would get back to us or complete a specified task “now now”, and we have logically concluded that it means immediately, only to realise much later that the person actually intended to act when they had the time, which could really be translated as whenever.

For example, you make a phone call to a friend or an acquaintance and they tell you that they are busy and they will call you back “now now”. You often have to wait anything from an hour or two to a day, or in extreme cases a week, to receive a call back.

What we are talking about here really relates to our ineffective use of communication.

How then, does communication affect our daily lives?

One of the most vital skills for success in any aspect of the business world or one’s personal life is the ability to guide and control communication in any situation. Look around and you will find that one way or the other, someone is always trying to communicate something. We are bombarded with various messages from different sources on a daily basis, whether through newspapers, television, radio, magazines, emails, the internet and advertising, in addition to our general interpersonal communication, and so on.

Here’s an interesting thought: do people use opportunities to communicate with one another and acknowledge communication, or do they just take it for granted? In my experience a lot of communication is taken for granted, and a number of assumptions enter into our relationships, whether private or business!

We can evaluate a few common practices such as:

• An email you sent some time ago that has not been acknowledged yet, or an email that arrived in your mailbox to which you have yet to respond.
• A request that you sent to someone without receiving an acknowledgement, and you are wondering if they have received it, or are too busy to reply.

These issues may seem pointless, but may be quite costly, especially if one would like to maintain trust among business partners or build lasting relationships. Let us also not forget that no communication is still interpreted as a type of communication, as one tends to draw conclusions from a lack of communication. If you left your friend a message to call you back, and you did not receive a response for at least three days, you might feel that your friendship is not as valuable as you thought.

About the author: Gomolemo Makolomako is a marketing communication consultant and a business administration and training executive. She is also a published writer in the Pretoria News and The Star Newspapers.

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Comments (2)

• |2010-07-08 16:54:46 Sinah
  The truth and nothing but the truth. We need to learn to communicate effectively and accurately. Saying what you mean and not the opposite.
  Reply

• |2010-07-16 12:37:16 Bulelwa
  Good article, people who communicate well in life, go far, that's the lesson for all of us.
  Reply

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