EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION

Effective communication is the lifeblood of organizational teams. Most people are now working remotely on account of social distancing. Jacob Morgan, a thought leader in the future of work, said that research shows that only a paltry 8% of leaders are great communicators. I also agree with Jacob when he articulated that communication is one of the timeless leadership skills. There is no amount of disruption that will change this fact. Whatever strategies you may have; they will hinge on the effectiveness of your communication. Since communication is a very broad subject, today I will only touch on written business communication.

Written communication requires skill and creativity for it to produce intended results, that is, for it to be effective. It surely isn’t enough to only have sound, well organized ideas. Your message has to become alive in the reader’s mind, otherwise it will be forgotten. I believe that the reason we write in business is to call our readers to action, in whatever form or shape that action may take. However, written messages, though they tend to carry a certain authority that oral messages may not, lack the advantages of a face to face conversation. For example, the use of body language and tone of your own voice vanishes. Additionally, you do not have the opportunity to help the reader understand if they happen to misunderstand, simply because you are not there and cannot immediately explain or change the concept in a way they will understand. How then, can you achieve effective written communication against this disadvantage?

Make it easier to read

When you are writing, try as much as you possibly can to use words that you think the reader will understand. You must also use sentences that are constructed in a straight forward manner. Lastly, make your point and then support it.

Bear in mind that, in general, the assumption is that short words are easier to understand than long ones. As much as you possibly can, get to know your reader/s because they will understand best the words that are familiar to them. If they know technical words or those jaw-breakers, by all means, use them. If in doubt, however, use short ‘Layman’s terms’ words.

By the same token, shorter sentences are clearer than longer ones. Nevertheless, a page full of short sentences will have a ‘scatter-gun’ effect: lots of points but no connections. Sentences work best when they are well constructed and grouped together in paragraphs.

Alan Baker said that the golden rule is to write in a kind of ‘stream of consciousness’, putting one idea after another until we reach our conclusion. This gives our writing flow. But we should also be distinct, making sure that our ideas leap out at the reader and hook their attention. If you have something to say, always try to say it as soon as possible. Then deliver the evidence that supports your idea.

By the end of this article, it will be clear how we can use paragraphs, sentences and words effectively to achieve our goals.

Write progressively

Remember when you are writing, you want the written communication to accomplish a specific task. In order for you to achieve this, you must write systematically. Think of writing a document as a building construction. If one intends to build, they first of all get a design or plan, then they build/construct according to the design/plan and lastly they polish the building so that it looks aesthetically beautiful. Writing too, follows a similar methodical approach. First design or plan your document, then write the first draft, before eventually editing or polishing your document.

1. Design- The design process starts off by asking a series of questions. The fundamental questions to ask yourself at the onset are, who are you writing to and why? Your document may circulate to a wide readership. Different readers will have different expectations, priorities and levels of knowledge. Take your time to learn about your readership so that you can manage their expectations better and you can organize information in the document more effectively.

Further pertinent questions to ask during the design process of your document to ascertain its purpose include: Why are you writing the document to the identified readers? What do you want it to accomplish? What do you want the reader/s to do after reading your document? These will help you to get started.

Try to put yourself in the reader’s position and ask: ‘What would convince me the most about this message?’ One point to note is that your document must deliver a single message. It has been proven that people understand one message at a time. The intended message is the most important element of the document. At this point, it is important to check that your document’s message is appropriate: to you, to the reader/s, and to your material. In an oral conversation, interview or presentation, we can check that we are addressing the other person’s needs, or the audience’s expectations, on the spot. When we write, that interaction disappears. Many documents fail to give their readers what they want.

In writing, more than anywhere else, communicating well is a matter of displaying the shape of your thinking. That shape is made up of ideas: the sentences you write. You must arrange those ideas into a coherent shape that the reader can see clearly. Remember, your reader can clearly understand only one piece of information at a time. To understand your message in more detail, they must first break it into pieces, then understand each piece in order.

It is critical that you identify the key persuasive factors. These factors are of great importance in persuading your reader/s to be captivated by your writing. Take cues from the reader/s background: what do you perceive to be their needs? Do you know their priorities and their concerns? What is their status in the corporate culture? Such questions are likely going to assist you to come up with a more persuasive and cogent document in your reader’s eyes.

After asking yourself those many questions, you now need to arm yourself with data and facts that will assist in supporting your message. In this regard, two tools that can make a huge difference in the effectiveness of your written communication come to mind: the Mind-map and the Pyramid Principle. These tools can be used to gather information for your document and then organize it respectively.

1.1  Mind-maps- The term ‘Mind-map’ was popularized in the 1970s by a British author and TV personality Tony Buzan. Tony defines a mind-map as a graphic, networked method of storing, organizing and prioritizing information (usually on paper), using key or trigger words and images, each of which will 'snap on' specific memories and encourage new thoughts and ideas. Each of the memory triggers, in a mind-map, is a key to unlocking facts, ideas and information and, also, to releasing the true potential of your amazing mind. Later in this article, I will provide an example of a mind-map for your benefit.

1.2  The Pyramid Principle- This principle was created by Barbra Minto, back in the 70s, when she was working for McKinsey. Her concept literally flipped presentations on their head and her book ‘The Pyramid Principle’, is still widely recognized as a standard for communication concepts and arguments in a logical, well-structured manner.

Once you have identified your message, anticipate the questions that your reader will have about the message. The questions should be one of the following:

· Why? This speaks to the reasons, benefits or causes

· How? This is concerned with procedures and process steps

· Which ones? This is to do with items, categories and factors

Try to provide at least two answers to each question, but no more than six. Your answers to these questions are your key points. For each key point, go through the question-asking process again and your answers to those become your sub-points. Repeat again then you will have your minor points. When you have completed these different layers: your message; key points; sub-points and minor points, you have built your Pyramid. It should not be necessary to go beyond these layers. Once you are done, you must decide how to organize ideas in each group, only if it is necessary to do so. You can organize ideas by: rank (size, importance, priority, relevance); process steps; chronology; logical reasoning.

Transform your pyramid into an outline by putting your information into texts. An outline is the culmination of the document design process. It gives an overview of the entire document in miniature. This principle of creating an outline, can be adapted to any kind of document: e-mail, memo, letter and report. You’ll see that the pyramid remains the same in each case, with only slight variations.

Allow me to take a detour and shift our focus on outlining e-mails. Outlining an e-mail or memo is the simplest kind of pyramid. Simply place your message at the top, immediately after your salutation. Create a short paragraph, or even a simple bullet point, for each key point and end, if necessary, with a call to action - the next step you want the reader to take. It’s an excellent idea to compress your message into the subject line of the e-mail so that it appears on the reader’s inbox menu.

E-mail has become a standard mode of communication in organizations, especially now that some employees are working remotely. It’s fast, cheap and easy to use. But in many organizations, e-mail is rapidly becoming the problem rather than the solution. Alan Baker speaks of four factors that seem to be contributing to this impending crisis:

· Information overload. Managers receive hundreds of e-mails a day. Getting yours noticed may be the biggest problem in getting it read.

· More haste, less understanding. The style of writing in e-mail is becoming relaxed to the point of becoming garbled.

· Death of the conversation. Many of us now hardly talk to each other; we send e-mails even when we should not. As a result, e-mail is becoming infected with substitutes for social contact and interaction. Lonely cubicle workers spread gossip in private jargon, spiced with emotive icons and cryptic symbols.

· Overflowing inboxes. When was the last time you weeded your inbox? I encourage you also to make it a point to weed out your inbox.

E-mail is writing, so treat it as you would treat any other kind of writing. Plan, write, edit. Here are 10 more tips from Alan, which I find to be very useful:

· Make your message clear. 

· Minimize information. Don’t make the reader scroll down. Remember that the reader, who has other activities to attend to, most likely receives hundreds of e-mails per day.

· Put the message in the subject line. It’s much more useful to have a headline-style message in this line than a heading. 

· Don’t shout. Avoid capital letters, underlining and bold. Above all, avoid inappropriate or all-purpose headings such as ‘Urgent!’ or ‘Read this now!’ 

· Don’t fan ‘flames’. Don’t write anything in an e-mail that you wouldn’t say face to face. 

· Avoid emoticons. Don’t use symbols or silly abbreviations. Use plain English, or whichever dialect you will be communicating in. 

· Edit before sending. E-mail is so fast that you can easily spend a few moments checking sense, spelling and punctuation.

· Remember that e-mail is public. Most e-mails can be accessed on central servers. Never write anything that may be used against you in a court of Law.

· Don’t spam. Send only messages that you must send to the individuals who need to read them. Avoid blanket copies. I used to work at an organization where almost everyone who writes an e-mail would copy anyone with an e-mail address…absolutely unnecessary and time-consuming!

· Clear your inbox regularly. You’ll make the system, and yourself, work much more efficiently.

Example of Mind-mapping, Pyramid Principle and Outlining

Back to our main message. To illustrate this process, I am going to walk you through from information-gathering using a mind-map, employing the pyramid principle for organization, through to the final stage, which is outlining.

Background

Let us assume that you are working for a commercial transport organization with both local and cross border operations. The Head Office is in Johannesburg, South Africa with two other branches in Durban and Cape town. Your business has been moving a lot of weight up north to as far as DRC with an increase in demand for return loads back to South Africa. There is also a potential for return loads between DRC and Mozambique. The company believes that these are real opportunities that will support the company’s growth strategy. You have been tasked with writing a report to your team leader about the possibility of setting up shop in one of the countries up north. Your design process would look something like this:

Outline of the Report

Message

We should invest in a new branch in Lusaka, Zambia.

Introduction

Our cross border business is rapidly expanding. Existing branches are overwhelmed with local operations and therefore no-longer efficiently service our growing cross border business. We urgently need to decide where to locate a new branch. This document summarizes the findings of the expansion project and justifies its recommendation in strategic terms.

1. Legislation in Zambia is favorable for FDI

1.1 FDI enjoy a 5-year tax holiday for investments of $100,000 and above

1.2 100% foreign ownership policy which is foreign to the other alternative neighboring countries

2. Capital costs in Lusaka are estimated at 10 per cent below those of the next best location. 

2.1 Constructors’ bids in the area average 10 per cent below those in other locations.

2.2 Land costs are on average 15 per cent lower than in other areas.

3. Operating costs in Lusaka are estimated to be 15 per cent lower than in other areas. 

3.1 Labour costs are 10 per cent less than the SADC region average. 

3.2 Overheads are estimated at 12 per cent less than the nearest cheaper alternative. 

4. Distribution costs would decrease by at least 10 per cent if Lusaka becomes the hub for cross border operations. 

4.1 The area is centrally located for our markets. 

4.2 The local infrastructure is well developed.

5. Suppliers are readily available

5.1 Truck down-time will be kept to a minimum since there are several spare parts suppliers in the vicinity.

5.2  A sound network from South Africa which will act as backup for supplies at a maximum 2-day turnaround.

Please note that you can use an outline, the miniature document, to check with the client/reader, if that is what they are expecting. It is easier to make changes at this stage. This will save you from having to complete a document and only to be told to re-do it. It is time consuming and can be demotivating. In some instances, only an outline will suffice.

2. Constructing- Now that you have your blueprint, the outline, you can then start your construction/writing. This should be considerably easier now that the outline is complete. All you are now doing is to expand the outline by adding text, headings, and if it’s a report, you also add numbering and graphics. The sentences in your outline give you a clear idea of what you want to say in each paragraph and section. I urge you to treat the writing of your first draft of your document as a separate activity from either planning or editing. As a matter of fact, take breaks between these three activities, if possible, so that your mind remains refreshed.

· Aim for a natural flow. Don’t ponder over words. Keep going. Leave gaps if necessary.

· Write in your own voice. Expressing yourself, in your own way, will help you to say what you mean more precisely. If your reader can ‘hear’ your voice, reading will be easier.

· Write without interruption. I know most people are now working from home and there could be some distractions. Try to find a time and place where you can think and write without distractions.

· Write without editing. Don’t try to get it right first time. Resist the temptation to edit as you go. You will tend to get stuck and waste time.

· Keep to the plan of your outline. Use the sentences from your outline to focus what you want to say. If you find yourself wandering from the point, stop and move on to the next sentence in the outline.

· Make use of navigation aids like summaries, introductions, headings and bullet points. These will make your document more effective and help you sell it to your reader/s.

3. Polishing your construction: Editing- The objective of editing is to produce a fine piece of writing that is easier to read than the initial draft. I find it easier to edit hard copy, rather than on the screen. At this stage, you are correcting errors and making your message concise and clearer for your reader/s. It’s difficult to edit your own work. Therefore, I encourage you to ask a colleague to assist, where possible. Should you be editing your own document, take a break before editing, so that you are better prepared to look at the text with a fresh mind. Edit systematically. Editing word by word is time-consuming and may be counterproductive.

 To edit efficiently, work on three separate levels in this order: paragraphs, sentences and words.

3.1  Paragraphs display the shape of your thinking. They show the individual main ideas and the relationships between them. Every time you take a step, alter your point of view or change direction, you should start a new paragraph. Summarize your paragraphs by using a topic sentence at the beginning of each paragraph. Topic sentences help you to decide what to include in each paragraph. You can think of a topic sentence as the paragraph’s message. It should:

· be a fully grammatical sentence;

· make a single point;

· contain no more than 15 words;

· say something new.

Remember you already have a ready source of topic sentences, your outline. Sometimes, we put the most important idea as the paragraph’s conclusion. Try flipping that conclusion to the start of the paragraph as a topic sentence. All topic sentences, put together in their order, should make sense. You should be able to read all the topic sentences and understand the document in summary.

3.2 Sentences express ideas. They will express your ideas more strongly if they are constructed sturdily. Very long sentences or poorly built ones are weak. Always say what you mean in your sentences and no more. Follow the ‘15–25’ rule: message sentences, topic sentences and other sentences expressing big ideas should never exceed 15 words. All other sentences should remain within 25 words long. Make your sentences more robust by:

· cutting long sentences into separate sentences;

· separating multiple sentences;

· re-building complicated sentences;

· making non-sentences grammatically correct;

· finding strong subjects and verbs.

3.3  Words- Because English is a hybrid language, many ideas can be expressed with two or more words. Perhaps for this reason, more than any other, plain English should be preferred to guide us in word choices.

Plain English helps any reader to understand at first reading. It tells the truth without exaggeration. It is a code of practice, not a set of rigid rules. Here are some guidelines that you can make use of when choosing words:

· Make your sentences 25 words or less. An average of 15-20 is ideal.

· Use only the words that your reader is most likely to understand.

· Use only as many words as you need.

· Use the strongest, clearest and most specific verbs you can.

· Say what you mean. Be positive; avoid standard expressions and tired formulas.

· Punctuate clearly and simply.

Managing vocabulary

Certain words cause particular problems with readability. Pay attention, in particular, to passive verbs, abstract nouns, unnecessary words.

Good writing comes alive in your mind. Nothing comes between the writer and your understanding. Effective writing is transparent. Bringing your own writing to life is a long-term project. Here are some further guidelines to point you in the right direction: say what you mean, be specific, be positive, remove blockages.

Style is personal. Choosing how to write is like choosing how to dress. Improving your style is like improving your dress sense. Look around; imitate what you admire, aim for functional elegance rather than excessive showiness.

Say what you mean. Concentrate on what you want to say, not how to say it. Imagine the reader’s response. If you only had a few seconds to get your point across, what would you say? Be sincere.

Be specific- be precise rather than vague. Avoid generalizing. Use numbers and names, so that your writing becomes more personal. Make it concrete. Give real examples. And use jargon carefully.

Be positive. The best functional writing is forward-looking and action centered. Avoid writing too much about what has happened, what hasn’t happened, what should have happened or what is wrong. Instead, write about proposals, future action and what you are doing. Make definite promises and avoid controversial and emotional language.

Remove blockages. Good writing flows like water in a pipe. The words should be under pressure. Remove blockages so that the meaning flows freely. Wherever you can, transform passive verbs into active ones and abstract nouns into concrete ones. Remove unnecessary words and exterminate clichés. Punctuate inflated language and connect your sentences together carefully.

Take Note

Most of the advantages of conversation disappear when we write. Compared to talking and listening, writing and reading are slow and inefficient. A document isn’t dynamic, it’s static. Misunderstandings can easily arise. If the reader slightly misinterprets or totally misunderstands, you won’t be there to help them understand. Worst of all, you can’t even be sure that the reader will read the document - therefore make it count when it is read. Good writers try to make reading as easy as possible. Reading, after all, is hard work. We read on three levels: working out what the writer has to say, scanning sentences for complete ideas and reading individual words for their meaning.

As mentioned earlier in this article, writing is best tackled systematically. We all face the temptation to do everything at once: working out what to say, in what order, and how to say it. This is a recipe for disaster though because we risk becoming confused and frustrated and the writing that emerges is a muddled mess. Make use of the tools suggested in this article.

Moreover, try to keep the suggested three stages to effective writing separate. If you can take breaks between them, all the better. It could also be useful to ask a colleague for help at each stage. I know that these techniques are most-likely already familiar to you. So, let’s keep practicing - the more we do, the better we get at it.