21. Communicate To Be Understood.

Know your audience. Write and speak in a way that they can understand. Be brief, accurate, and clear. Use the simplest possible explanations.

George's Message:

Clear and concise communication saves an incredible amount of time, energy, and frustration.  Clear communication reduces unproductive back and forth clarifications. Mistakes and misunderstandings are minimized, and we can devote more time to solving problems rather than deciphering and decoding messages.  In addition, concise communication greatly increases the likelihood that our entire message will actually be consumed and understood.  This applies to spoken, as well as written communication.  A couple of people that come to mind that execute this Fundamental very well are Matt Penn and Tabitha Engelbrecht.   A message from them is always actionable without clarification and they never send the dreaded “Call me”. 

I may lose my IT hat for this, but be aware that technology can sometimes be a hindrance to effective communication.  We’ve all been the recipients of cryptic and sometimes misleading communications that were generated by talk-to-text or auto-corrected into nonsense.  Take the time to read before you press send, and consider reading out loud; you’ll be surprised what a difference it can make. 

Lastly, don’t neglect punctuation.  Consider the following sentences; “Let’s eat, Fluffy.” and “Let’s eat Fluffy.”  The former involves responsible pet parenting and the latter an uncomfortable call to the authorities. 

George Kurko    
Business Systems Manager