Communication Tips for Teams

Adventures in Businessing: Entrepreneurship, Small Business, and a Healthy Dose of Humor

Show Notes

• [0:00:55] Episode Summary | Intro

• Last Episode’s Recap
• • Communication Pros & Cons
  • Being Thoughtful with Your Chosen Communication Style

• [0:03:22] The Right Time for Synchronous Communication

• Don’t let “synchronous communication is bad” be a takeaway here.

• [0:04:37] Ways to Build Connection Asynchronously

• A remote team spread across different time zones is your biggest obstacle toward connection.
• • Tips on Established Async Connection:
  • • Have asynchronous communication around things that are not work related.
    • Consider an internal company podcast to heighten clarity and connection.
    • • When shared, provide a way for team members to discuss the podcast publicly with the team at large; message board format recommended.
  • The more synchronous your company communication, the more you take away one of the major benefits of working from home: working at the optimal time, enhancing work/life balance.

• [0:10:30] Effective Communication: My Four Filters

• https://chrislema.com/effective-communication-my-four-filters/
• Timing, Setting, Audience, Unintended Consequences
• • Financial Updates & Transparency
  • • Real time or async?
• Think About Who You’re Communicating With
• • You don’t need to distract or call attention to everyone if a topic is specific to one team or team member.
• Go Into Your Meetings with a Clear Agenda & Time Box
• • Most meetings lack clarity and produce very little.
  • Capture outcomes!
  • Lacking clarity of what to do next is one of the biggest reasons people hate meetings.
  • Have a mediator who facilitates the meeting and the clock.
  • • Let it be known who the facilitator is.
    • Make the facilitator responsible for capturing takeaways, ideas, questions, and next actions.
  • Mine for conflict.
  • • That’s where the gems come out of.
    • Don’t let someone sit on the sidelines when you know they have a difference of opinion.

• [0:19:03] Best Practices and Standards

• Establish when to expect a response.
• Automatic check-ins.
• • Creating a space for ‘What Work’.
  • • A documented history of what you did in a given year.
  • Favorite check-ins.
• Make sure you take time to reset for the day.
• • The ability to ‘not’ helps you gain perspective and clarity.
  • • Don’t let all your reactions be emotional reactions.
    • Stepping away from the computer, even for a short time, works wonders.
• Learn how to read individual personalities in text based communication.
• • Not everyone communicates equally.
  • If you don’t know how to read someone’s text based communication attempts, there’s a lot of room left for interpretation.
  • • If you’re not sure...ASK!
    • Assume the best.

• [0:27:32] Parting Words

• Make time for one-off real time conversations.
• • Even, and maybe especially, not regarding work.
• In a non-pandemic world, face-to-face communication is still very important.

• We want to hear your communications tips too!

• • • Reach out to us at: Ciircles - How working together should work.
      • Or @Ciircles on Twitter