Encoding

The encoding exercise was challenging especially when the words and the sentiment seemed dissimilar. I was fortunate to be lucky in my first emotion, "enthusiasm" but later choices were less simple emotions, and harder to act out. It's also funny how people laugh in embarrassment trying to do the exercise, even in a small non-threatening group. Our foursome was the last group to finish because each sentence would be read three or four times and we would debate what emotions were reflected with each delivery. We wanted very much to figure them out correctly.


The exercise is clearly applicable to me at work. As our relationships with our clients are at-will, I try and be courteous and agreeable most of the time, and not strongly disagree verbally, even when I feel vehemently about a subject. As a manager I am often speaking to home owners about necessary repairs. I have learned, with experience, that my emotions, or feelings about the severity of the problem strongly influences the level of anxiety or worry experienced by my clients. Sometimes what they do or how quickly they do it is based on my words or emotional reaction to the problem. To try to alleviate their concerns I look for a general tone of "don't worry, it's normal, not a big deal." Sometimes problems are a big deal, and when not repaired become a bigger deal. When I then say, "remember we talked about this 2 months ago" on more than one occasion a client has said to me "I didn't realize it was serious."

A concrete example of this just happened. A client hired us and I went out to look at the property with him for the first time. There was a tree in the front yard that was growing at an angle in the front yard. It's trunk diameter was about the width of the sidewalk it was growing up under and destroying. I asked the owner if he was planning to remove the tree or trim it as it was top-heavy and did not look healthy. He told me he had no money to trim or remove the tree. I mentioned that Eucalyptis trees had a habit of splitting, and that it could be dangerous and it created liability for him. He told me he couldn't afford to do anything. One of the neighbors came by and mentioned that he would not even park under the tree, but the owner was adamant. Two weeks ago a branch the size of the front yard fell off the tree, just missing the roof and the tenants car in the driveway. After that the owner was ready and willing to remove the tree immediately. Could I have changed his mind initially with a firmer tone of voice or how I expressed my concerns? It's possible.