

It reinforces that your people are key contributors and people who the company values for their unique skills and experience. In addition to moving the work of the organization forward, these informal communications have secondary objectives of forming social connections, building culture, establishing trust, and finding common ground.īetter communication results in greater employee engagement, which is a key metric for employee productivity and potential retention. Informal communications include the emails and chats you engage in all day: making requests, asking for information, responding to requests, and giving or receiving support and guidance. Be deliberate and plan your messages to provide what your customer needs, in the way they prefer, and create a positive impression for the company and the product. In general, all of the considerations of communication among employees go double for customers. Customer communicationsĬommunicating with customers can run the entire gamut discussed above, from one-offs to face-to-face, virtual, spoken, or written, formal to ad hoc. The best meetings are highly collaborative and leave participants feeling energized, not drained. Effective meetings build synergy between teams and quickly communicate information that would have a high potential to be misunderstood in another format (like email). They’re also one of the least understood and most overused types of communication. Meetings, whether large or small, are a critical part of a workplace’s internal communication strategy. In addition, many people fear public speaking, and thanks to TED and other series, we have a high expectation for entertainment as well as insight. They have objectives like informing, influencing, and persuading. Presentations are communication tools that are typically aimed at a larger audience with higher stakes. These formal communication events tend to receive the lion’s share of attention, for good reason. This might include surprises, obstacles, and potential risks, as well as wins.

Use a visual tracker or dashboard to carry the load, and save your verbal or written commentary for drawing the audience’s attention to what is most important - typically, what requires action or further involvement from them. Since they’re brief by nature, updates often fall short of being a type of strong communication. Regardless of the format, these types of communications should be considered more formal. These may take the form of memos/emails, reports, or a slot in a standing meeting. Managers (and team members) often have to communicate with their own managers and with other leaders who are not in their direct chain of command. They often communicate through stories more than data. Leaders also often communicate to persuade, encourage, and inspire commitment. The goal may be to inform or update, such as a memo about a new company policy or a change in direction. Leaders often deliver one-way communications to their teams.

An effective communicator will develop different skills and tools to match the type of communication needed. Depending on the type of information being conveyed, those different channels can enhance - or detract - from how it is received. We’ve all had the experience of sitting through a boring, lengthy meeting with the thought, “This should have been an email.”ĭifferent communication channels are ideal for different types of communication. Not all work communication is made equal.
