Once is Not Enough

If you had a team member who could not hear, you would assure that your directions  were in a written form or were being translated so that everyone would be included.

If you had a team member who could not see, you would assure that your directions to the team were in an alternative form so that everyone got the point.

So, here's the thing. . .

We all have people on our team who are great at reading directions.  .  .and some who are not.    We have people who excel at listening . . .while others would prefer to read directions.   There are those who hear a "thank you" expressed in the hallway and absorb the gratitude. . .and then there are those who merely acknowledge it as a greeting.

The diversity of the workplace that brings us different skill sets, educational experiences and cultural backgrounds. . .also brings us a wide diversity in how people understand and absorb information.

Simply put, often one form of giving directions is not adequate;  saying it just one time is not enough.

This is not to say that every communication has to be in a memo and given in a meeting and sent by e-mail, tweeted out and posted on Instagram.    It is to say that the use of more than one form of communication with a frequency of greater than one time will do a lot to assure success.

A few thoughts. . .

Never underestimate the ROI of a one-to-one meeting - less distractions and time spent with people signifies they are a priority.  Then follow-up with an e-mail. 

Morning memos are a great place to repeat stuff - they establish themselves as reference points.

Gratitude is often not expected and so is discounted.  If you thank someone once - thank them twice:  once in a meeting and the second time with a thank you note.

"Read" people and start to learn how they learn - then use that in your communication.

Think of this:  often undercommunication is identified as a root cause for problems;   hardly anyone has ever been accused of overcommunication.

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My book "Courageous Questions, Confident Leaders" is available on Amazon Kindle.