3 Techniques for Better Communication at Work

3 techniques I've learned that you can implement today for better communication at work.

“Communication – the human connection – is the key to personal and career success.” - Paul J. Meyer

I want to share 3 techniques I've developed from lessons learned over the years that have helped me improve my communication in a business setting. These techniques focus on tailoring communication methods, being concise, and making it easy for others to engage.

Find out how people like to communicate.

“Use different messaging for different groups to ensure your communications are relevant.” – Andrea Plos

I found out pretty quickly at a former workplace that text messages to my supervisor seemed to disappear into the void. He was always responsive via phone call and would call versus text me. A team lead for another department I worked closely with was the opposite, preferring text messages versus phone calls. In both cases I wasn't being ignored, it was simply that each individual preferred a different communication method than I was using to reach out to them.

I learned that finding out whether someone prefers text-based communication or verbal interaction goes a long way towards having efficient and effective communication with them. This has really helped me especially with those that I report to, like my manager and those higher up in my chain-of-command.

Technique: Learn the preferred communication method for individuals you work with. Some may prefer text-based methods and others voice communication like phone calls.

Be concise.

"Make sure to communicate your idea quickly and keep it straight to the point." - Paul Bailey

At a former employer, my supervisor's boss sent me out on a field trip one day to fix an issue. I remember this assignment because it was my "skip-level" manager handing me the assignment, and this task had high visibility, including to our client, so he was particularly interested in the outcome.

Once I accomplished the assignment and returned to the office, I was immediately asked how it went. I had the realization that this manager just wanted to hear that the task was done, so he could report that up the chain and move on to other work. I replied that the work was finished successfully, despite being eager to go over all the details involved. He didn't need to nor want to hear the whole story, all the problems I ran into, and how I figured out how to fix the issue.

I've never been accused of being 'short-winded' but I've learned that brevity goes a long way. I've also learned that people don't often have the patience for a long explanation. If you've ever written a massive missive only to find out few if any coworkers read it, I've been there and done that. Maybe you've had people tune out if you give a long verbal briefing about a topic.

Technique: Learn to communicate in a concise manner that gets right to the point.

Learning to be concise has also helped me with getting answers and improved response rates. This leads into my next point.

Make it easy to respond.

Just because something is a priority for me doesn't mean it's at the top of someone else's to-do list. I have faced frustrations with not getting a reply, people being slow to answer if they do answer at all, and so on. People are busy, maybe overwhelmed with their workload, and have different priorities. Coupling brevity with making it easy to respond has greatly improved my business communication as well as helping colleagues get back to me. The less effort someone needs to expend to respond, the more likely that response will happen.

I like to frame my asks in a way in which the recipient simply needs to provide a simple answer, even just a yes or no.

Q. "Can I send you a meeting invitation to talk about 'XYZ' on Wednesday?" A. Yes/no.

Q. "What is the deadline for this project?" A. Friday by close of business.

Technique: Formulate your communication to minimize the effort it takes for others to respond.

To conclude, I want to be the first to tell you that I am not an expert communicator, yet have learned some lessons that I have developed into the techniques that I shared above. I hope this is useful to you as it has been for me.

“To effectively communicate, we must realize that we are all different in the way we perceive the world and use this understanding as a guide to our communication with others.” - Tony Robbins