Communication

The thing about communication is—you actually need to do it.

If you want your people to know what your vision is, what your plans are, what you want them to do, the standards you want them to uphold, etc., then you need to give them that information in a way that gets through to them.

Consider emails. How many emails do you receive every day? Do you read every single word of every single email? Probably not. If conveying info through email, you need to get and keep the attention of the intended reader. Consider the “basic, big-picture bottom-line” of what you would like to convey, and consider putting that in the subject line— for example, “Info needed today” or “Updated copy of tomorrow’s meeting agenda” or “Time-Sensitive: Client needs response.”

Often, email is not the right way to convey the information. Ideally, try to pick a format that will give the recipient what they need, when they need it, using a medium that they actually check. In-person, Zoom/Teams, text, phone, Slack, intranet, etc. — we are all inundated with different communications. Most will not break through. Increase your odds by making good choices.

(image source: https://www.chanty.com/blog/communication-memes/)