Effective communication is an important skill to help us maintain a healthy stress level because it allows us to have quality conversations while also staying on schedule. However, we may need to interact with individuals who are either “stuck in the weeds” with too many details or “high-flyers” who don’t provide any details that allow you to support them. Both types can be a time-suck, especially if you have to pull out the necessary information you need to do your job.
This is where “chunking” can help. When someone is providing you way more detail than you need, consider asking them the question “what is this an example of?” This gets the individual to break up their thinking into more manageable “chunks” and allows them to get to the important issue faster.
On the other hand, when somebody isn’t providing you the details you need, consider asking “what are examples of this?” This question encourages the individual to “chunk” their thinking down and provide more specific details so you can take action or provide feedback as needed.
Chunking will allow you to effectively communicate with these individuals and minimize your stress by not wasting time trying to get to the point of the conversation.
