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With so much of our communication and socializing happening online these days, how do we ensure our messaging is most effective? No doubt, email communications can increase efficiencies, but remember the good old days? If you wanted to speak to someone on the other side of the office, you got up and walked there. Set the standard for others to emulate\u2014talk to people face-to-face when it\u2019s important, and encourage your team to do the same. Why? Well, have you noticed that sometimes emailing works against you by poorly relaying tone and slowing down the communication process? More face-to-face talks and actual phone calls could help teammates, family members, and clients build a relationship with you, instead of their computer monitors. How effectively do you communicate?<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Given the above, and our team discussion, after a while, we decided to an organization our thoughts using the WHO, WHAT, WHERE, WHEN, WHY, and HOW method of breaking down any topic into its parts.<\/p>\n
WHO<\/h2>\n
One of the problems we have with communication is we want to talk to everyone the same way based upon how we want to be talked to.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s a big no-no<\/em>.<\/p>\nBecause some people want the details, others just want the high-level info.
\nThus, it\u2019s important to know something about the person with which we\u2019re communicating.\nA friend of mine, whenever I ask him a question, he\u2019ll not just answer the question, but tell you all about the background, and 20 things related to the question that I normally don\u2019t want to know.<\/p>\nI feel like yelling at him and saying, \u201cJUST GIVE ME THE ANSWER THAT I WANT, AND IF I WANT TO KNOW MORE I\u2019LL ASK!\u201d
\nDo they want details? Facts? Stories? A quick summary?\n
It also makes a difference if you\u2019ve known them for a while or just for a few minutes. Asking about their family is always good but you may want to ask the question with context. Simply asking \u201chow\u2019s your family\u201d is OK to start but as you get to know the person, asking \u201chow is Margaret liking retirement these days?\u201d is much more personal.<\/p>\n
WHAT<\/h2>\n
Understanding the subject of the conversation is important, what you\u2019re asking about, but it goes deeper.<\/p>\n
Be clear in your mind what it is that you want from the person to whom you\u2019re communicating if anything.<\/p>\n
Do you want a decision? Ideas? Just their general thoughts?<\/p>\n
A way to frame it in your mind is to ask yourself \u201cWhat is the Call-To-Action\u201d for this conversation?<\/p>\n
It may just be connecting with someone, or it could be a specific outcome.<\/p>\n
For example, in our team meetings, what I want is two things:<\/p>\n
\n- to connect with each other personally to make it easier to work together<\/li>\n
- to make sure we\u2019re all rowing in the same direction<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n
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