#MiPDV – Don’t Let Brevity Create Confusion And Inefficiency

One of the benefits of working in multiple organizations and collaborating with many customers around the world has been the insight into how a team or organization functions.?

You can learn so much by witnessing how these teams and organizations communicate internally.?

As you can imagine, I’ve seen many methods for internal communication: voice only, videoconferences, written memos, email, instant messages, slide presentations, and the list goes on and on. Each method has its place in the organizational repertoire.

More interesting, in my opinion, is the content – how the communicators express themselves to their intended audience.?

Ultimately, the goal of communication is some form of action – you want the audience to do something, whether that is to remember what you’re telling them or to take a specific action. Yet many communicators are not clear on what they want the audience to do, so their message falls short of the mark.?

I remember one company that prided itself on brevity for internal communications. The notion was that being brief was crucial because everyone was busy. Unfortunately, the idea devolved into leaders sending instant messages or text messages to employees such as, “Please come see me.” These leaders provided no other context for the employee.?

Now imagine you were on the receiving end of this message. What would be the first thought on your mind? When I spoke to employees of this company, they often confessed that they thought they were in some sort of trouble or about to be fired.?

These same leaders would call meetings with no subject and therefore no agenda. Lacking context, employees would dutifully show up for the meeting with nothing prepared. Little was accomplished because no one came into the meeting prepared for the discussion.?

As a result, meetings often ended with discussion of when to have the next meeting.?

In this company, they allowed the focus on brevity to create confusion for the employees and inefficiency for the company.

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There is another way.?

Simply by adding context and clarity, the leaders could have made their style of brevity an asset instead of a liability. Employees would no longer fear the instant message from the leader because they would know why the leader wanted to see them. Meetings would become more productive because attendees would arrive prepared.?

And perhaps they could have changed the medium to deliver some messages – while convenient, instant messaging systems can be disruptive from the many interruptions they inflict on each person.?

Rethinking their approach could have tremendous benefits to the employees, leaders, and the company as a whole.?

For example, most of us are familiar with the approach 亚马逊 uses: they require a well-structured memo to be written instead of a slide presentation. The first part of a meeting is spent with all participants reading the memo, making notes and formulating questions, so when the meeting begins everyone is equally prepared to contribute. (Side note – if you’ve never tried this approach, it can be uncomfortable the first few times you do it because it’s so different than most people are used to.)?

Why use a written memo? According to Management Today author Adam Gale , Jeff Bezos explained that

“The reason writing a good four-page memo is harder than 'writing' a 20-page PowerPoint is because the narrative structure of a good memo forces better thought and better understanding of what’s more important than what, and how things are related.”

You can read the entire article here:

Clear writing requires clear thinking. Because clear thinking can be difficult, many people opt for speed instead of clarity.?

The idea that clear writing requires clear thinking is not a new idea. Harvard Business Review published an article in 1973 (more than a half century ago!) that had this line: “writing and thinking go hand in hand; and when one is good, the other is likely to be good.”

Personally, I find that I often must revise communications for clarity and context. In doing so, often the communication becomes shorter instead of longer.?

As Antoine de Saint-Exupéry wrote,

“Perfection is achieved, not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing left to take away.”?

As you work with your teammates and team members, do you focus on the clarity and context of your communication? Or do you sacrifice clarity for speed??

What have you found works best for you??

I’d like to hear your thoughts!?

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That’s mi punto de vista #MiPDV.