Effective Communication

Getting it right in time

Your people need you to communicate well. One aspect of this is making sure you give them timely information.

If something is in the works, give your people a heads-up, e.g. “We are looking to book a program with Client X on these dates, but nothing is set in stone yet.” This is the old “pencil it in” concept (remember when we had paper calendars? Remember pencils?).

Some people don’t like to share plans until they are firmed up and definite, but this can create problems, because your people might schedule something else in the time you assumed they had available.

Your people might also need time for planning and prepping—don’t assume they will have that time available if you just spring an event on them at the last minute. It’s better for many people who like more structure if they can calmly plan things out without the chaos of scrambling to meet a deadline.

Don’t procrastinate telling people about something that they might not be happy about, either. If you delay, you make actually doing the unpleasant task even more stressful, because now it’s also disruptive and time-pressured.

(Photo by William Daigneault on Unsplash)