The Art of Effective Communication With Your Team

Are you guilty of this in your organization?

We all know that communicating what’s happening, why it’s happening, the impacts of whatever we’re communicating is imperative.

Last week I was working in an organization and discovered that a major change in process had been made by an executive - via text message.

“Effectively immediately, we will be moving forward with x,y and z”.

The text message had no other details. It didn’t explain how:

The organization planned to mitigate the downward impacts of this change
They would be notifying their clients of the change
Why the change was even being made

The receivers had questions - a lot of questions. And the door wasn’t open to ask these questions. There wasn’t room for two-way discussion.

We’ve become so reliant on technology, quick and dirty:

Instant messenger
Slack
Email
Teams
Facebook messenger
Text Messages

Don’t get me wrong - I’m a HUGE fan of technology. A huge fan when we use it for topics that are actually quick and dirty:

Can you move that meeting back 30 minutes?
I’m running 5 minutes late
Have a minute to chat?
Can you add x, y or z to the presentation?
Amazing job on being incredibly resourceful with that client!
Anything you need before I sign off for the day?
Do you have this document?

But when we’re using it to announce a major change that impacts the way the organization does business, its employees and its clients - it’s a recipe for disaster.

The next time you are sending that Slack, IM or text message consider asking yourself “Is this a quick and dirty discussion or deserves more attention?”

Your employees will thank you. Your clients will thank you.