Right Word at the Wrong Time!

I lost my 4 wisdom teeth in one day!

For the 6 years prior to this time, I thought my dental health was in top shape. So I was shocked when the dentist said they’d had to schedule me with a surgeon to remove all 4 teeth.

It was the first time I’ll be going under general anesthesia so it felt was a rare moment for me. They shared some final details with me and I was gone.

The procedure was successful and while I was in the post op room, the nurse started explaining my post-op care for when I got home.

I was still recovering from the anesthesia and so not fully alert, but that didn’t stop this post-op nurse from just talking away and giving me document after document of what I needed to do.

Thankfully my wife joined at some point but the nurse had shared a lot already.

There should be better support for someone who has just gone through an operation. That’s why I’m glad we’re solving this and other health challenges at League

This whole post-op experience reminds me of how people sometimes ignore a key element of effective communication – right timing.

A lot of emphasis is placed on choosing the right words, finding the right approach, but equally important is communicating at the right time.

Everything the nurse was telling me was good, well packaged but her timing was totally off!

When next you have to communicate, after deciding what you want to say and how you’d say it, spend enough time to consider when is the best time to say it.

A right word spoken at the wrong time, will still have a wrong result!