Communicating for clarity

Our workplaces and lives are increasingly noisy. More people, teams, time zones, external sources - all demanding our attention. We are expected to be able to take in all of this information, sift through it and sort and prioritise.

Without addressing the underlying systems of communication and how we communicate, our current approaches leave us in workplaces where we don’t feel heard, we can’t hear others, we misinterpret what others are trying to say and make less than well-informed decisions.

“Back-channelling” happens, we fear speaking candidly, and we may experience passive aggressive or even hostile communication patterns. This can culminate in a loop of deteriorating relationships and lack of trust. However, we can improve how we communicate with one another through intentional and purposeful alignment.

Teams need to decide on ‘communication protocols’ -- what channels to use, what the purpose of each channel is and when to use that channel e.g. Slack for asynchronous communication, email for customers/clients, zoom, Loomio for decision-making, etc.

Channels, frequency, priority, and flows are important in communicating for clarity but equally important is quality of our communications.

Listening is an essential skill to practice and intentionally invest in.

Tools/Practices:

• Harvesting is the practice of documenting and sharing key insights and decisions from meetings and work cycles

• Knowledge mapping is a practice which ensures artefacts can be found easily

• Deep listening practices that come from understanding the Four Levels of Listening
  

*this essay is a distillation of Greaterthan's Pillars of Self-Management. Thanks to Kate, Elena, Sarah, Fran and the entire team for their contribution to these principles.