Child: Well, you never do

Communication loses power when people think you don’t do what you’re asking them to.

Obvious, yes? Well, it should be. But I’ve seen hundreds of examples of when this isn’t the case. Recognise these?

• Bosses who say ‘It’s imperative every one of you attends this critical presentation on X. I can’t be there, I’m afraid. I’ve a Board Meeting that I can’t miss’
• Colleagues who complain when others waste their time by making them attend pointless meetings… who then host meetings that others don’t need to attend
• People who send emails asking people to stop sending them emails
• Leaders who email their direct reports, telling them they should spend more face-to-face time with their direct reports
• Sales bosses who say ‘Meeting our customers’ needs is our Number One Priority… Alan, why haven’t you sold more Product Xs this month?’
• People who grumble about presenters’ word-y slides… who then present alongside word-y slides ‘to remind me what I’m supposed to be saying’

It even happens with people who are supposed to be experts at their topics. For instance, I’ve attended many training courses where even the trainers didn’t follow their own advice:

• a Writing Course with spelling mistakes in the pack
• a Confidence Course, where the presenter was really nervous
• my personal favourite – a Time Management Course when the trainer arrived late

As Ralph Waldo Emerson once said: “Who you are speaks so loudly I can’t hear what you’re saying”. Or if you prefer, people copy what you do, not what you say.

So, want to change others’ behaviours? Change yourself first. And then tell them what you want them to do.

It’s the only way to persuade your children to eat fruit.

And it’s the only way to persuade others to do… well, anything.

Action point

You can either use this technique to looking forwards or back. Identify…

…Something you’re about to ask people to change. Be honest with yourself. Will they perceive you’ve already made the change yourself?

…A recent situation where you asked people to change, but they didn’t. Ask yourself whether this might have been because you hadn’t first made the change yourself.

Next step with them both? Change yourself first. Then – and only then – communicate it.

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Let’s start with six indisputable facts:

1. You want to have more successes
2. When you’ve helped someone, they’re grateful
3. When people are grateful, they’re pre-disposed to helping you
4. Word-of-mouth is powerful
5. People are really busy, with lots on their minds
6. It’s always useful to find the easiest way of achieving something

Do you agree with all these?

Good, thought so.

Here’s how to use them to help you…

When you finish a piece of work that went well, ask the principle beneficiary three questions:

Question 1: ‘Are you happy with the outcome?‘

They can only say ‘yes’ or ‘no’. If it’s a ‘yes’ (which is probably will be, given things went well), move on to Question 2. If it isn’t, find out why and resolve their concern. Then ask Question 1 again

Question 2: ‘What do you think was the best part about what we achieved?’

This question leads to them talking about what they perceive to be ‘your best thing’. In other words, why they think you’re a valuable resource.

Question 3: Ask them to do something for you

They’ve now agreed you’re useful, and why. Now ask them one of these questions, depending on what you want:

• Want to work with/for them again? Ask ‘How else can I help you?’
• Want them to recommend you to someone else? Ask ‘Who do you know who would also like to benefit from what we’ve just achieved?’ or ‘Would you mind calling Mrs X and telling her what we’ve just discussed? I’d love to help her too.’
• Want a written endorsement from them? Say ‘I’d love to include what you’ve just said in my CV/marketing. Would you mind if I summarised it in an email, and sent it to you, for you to approve?’

This works because people reciprocate. Your first two questions focused on how much you’ve helped them. If you like, it helps them feel they ‘owe’ you. And it leads to them considering how they can help you in return.

As always with these things, remember the Doctors’ Rule ‘first, do no harm’. Choose when you use this approach. But do use it. After all, you’re simply using a technique that’s based on six indisputable facts…

Action point

Identify your most recent and/or greatest success, and the name(s) of the main beneficiary/ies. Prep your three questions, then go and ask them. Do it right, and you’ll both be glad you did…

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I’ve asked this question hundreds of times. And the answer’s almost always the same:

To be better at influencing and/or motivating others

And this makes sense. After all, almost everything you do involves other people. Master how you work with them, and everything improves.

But it isn’t easy. These people are busy. They have different agendas and priorities to you. So, how to influence them towards your way of thinking?

There are two main ways to do this – push and pull. “Push” is where you give them your views on something (you “push” your views to them). “Pull” involves you motivating them to want to change (such that they “pull” your views in).

The main pushing techniques are:

• Rationalising – “logically, this is the best outcome”; and
• Asserting – “I think/feel/know/insist we do this”

The main pulling ones are:

• Inspiring, so people want to follow your vision
• Negotiating, by continually trading to get win:wins
• Bridging, where you cross the bridge to see things from their point of view – by asking questions etc – and then tailor your messages accordingly

Done well, pushing is often quicker; whereas pulling often achieves greater commitment.

Done badly, pushing can come across as imposing views/not listening; insincere pulling can appear manipulative and dishonest.

So, which of the two techniques is best? Well, it depends. On you, who you’re speaking to, any “power” you have over each other, what you’re speaking about, deadlines, and so on.

And, because it depends, it’s essential to flex your influencing style depending on the situation.

The easiest time to find the best way to influence someone?

Immediately after you’ve spoken with them. Did they do what you wanted, or not?

The best time?

Immediately before: identify in advance which technique is most likely to work, and spend time honing your approach. Both of you will be glad you did.

Action Point

There are two this week:

Firstly, look at your diary. Who have you got to influence today? Spend time preparing how you’ll approach it – push or pull?

Secondly, there’s a fantastic new book on this subject How to succeed with people (remarkably easy ways to engage, influence and motivate almost anyone). It’s written by one of the UK’s best-selling self-development authors, Paul McGee. It’s been endorsed by the likes of the People Manager of Innocent Drinks and the CEO of Ann Summers.

Like we did with my book The Snowball Effect, if you buy it this week, there’s loads of free stuff – videos on how to influence/motivate others, and the like. To buy the book this week, click here. And, to get your free stuff, send your proof of purchase to kevin.daniels@theSUMOguy.com.

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However, case studies are rarely as impactful as they could be. Here’s how to make yours better:

# 1 Flip the order. The usual case study format is (1) explain the background (2) explain your approach (3) list the results. But people switch off during communications. So, this order puts your main point (the results) at the end, when they’ve stopped listening. So, start with the results you triggered, and then work backwards.

# 2 Improve your title. Reinforce the results you caused by including the best one in your title. After all, which would you rather read “Case study – X plc” or “How we reduced X plc’s costs by £25million”?

# 3 When writing, have a clear Call To Action. Make it easy for people to get in touch, by giving a person’s name/number to contact, plus the benefit of calling… “To discuss how we can reduce your costs, call Jane Doe on [Jane’s contact details]”. This is much better than (1) no Call To Action or (2) just a generic office number.

# 4 When talking, say “you”. When you’re discussing your case study, add context by linking it to the other person’s key need… “We can help you reduce your costs here. In fact, during my recent work with X plc, we saved them over £25million using techniques we could deploy with you. What happened was…”

It’s important you do all four with your case studies. The reason? People buy if they know you can improve their future. If you’re not careful, your case studies can focus on the exact opposite – your past. How can you make yours more compelling?

Action Point

Two actions this week:

• If you use case studies, review them in light of the four points above. How can you improve them?
• If you don’t use them, start doing so! Use the points to help you write them.

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• Me: I’ve got to do lots of prep for tomorrow’s masterclass
• Him: Why do you always do so much prep? You’ve been doing this job for years. And it always seems to go ok
• Me: That’s the reason it always goes ok… because I always prep

Think of the best communication that you ever delivered. I imagine you prepared well for it.

And when something didn’t go as planned? I guess you could have prepared better.

Everyone knows it takes effort to appear effortless. So why don’t people prepare more? Is it…

…“No time”?

• My response to this: it takes less time to prepare than it does to fix things when your unprepared communication doesn’t work

…“Not in the diary”?

• My response – and this won’t surprise you: diarise it! And when people then say “But I’ve no time in my diary to even put prep in”, remember that time is never about time; it’s about priority. You can always find 30 minutes if you think something’s important enough

…“I thought it would be ok”?

• My response: sometimes people analyse whether prep’s needed, decide it isn’t, then realise later they should have prepared more. If so, learn for next time (as the saying goes: make a mistake once, it’s learning; make it twice, it’s a mistake; keep making it, then it’s daft). Sometimes, of course, people don’t analyse properly, and just assume it will be ok. This is never a good idea

To tweak a famous phrase: ‘some communications are more equal than others’. You have to prepare for these. You’ve seen preparation works for you in the past. Don’t fall into the trap of thinking: “preparation worked so well last time, I never did it again”.

Action Point

Like actors who don’t fully know their lines, if you’re concentrating too much on what words come next, you’re not concentrating enough on the audience. So, identify your next key communication, and diarise enough prep time for it.

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For example, when you move house and want to know a good restaurant, you ask people you trust to recommend one. You benefit (a nice meal), the restaurant benefits (they get your business) and the referrer benefits (both you and the restaurant are grateful).

Similarly, there are lots of people out there who want to be recommended to people like you. It could be customers looking for good suppliers; recruiters seeking good applicants; leaders wanting someone to run an important project for them. And what will they do? They’ll ask people they trust to recommend someone.

So, how can you make sure people recommend you?

Well, one thing that isn’t enough on its own is to do a good job. Unless you’re lucky, the beneficiaries of your good work won’t think to recommend you. That’s because they don’t look at you in that way. So if I do a great job at a conference, the organiser doesn’t think “who can I recommend Andy to?” They think “thank goodness, my conference went well”.

So, as well as doing great work, you also have to ask for recommendations. Here are a couple of techniques that work very well…

Following a successful project/contract/job, say to the person who hired you:

1. Are you happy with the outcome of the project? [They say “yes”. If they don’t, rectify it, then ask again until they’re happy]
2. What do you think was the best impact of our work together? [They say what they perceive to be your most valuable contribution]
3. Who do you know who would also want to achieve this impact? [Hopefully, they identify someone they can refer you to. If they can’t think of somebody, have a couple of pre-prepared names to suggest]
4. Would you mind emailing them – copying me in – describing the impact of my work, and saying that you advised me to contact them?

You can see why this approach works. It focuses on the value you’ve already brought someone, and the value you can bring to someone else. At no point are you saying “please can you recommend me?”, which satisfies your agenda only.

You can tailor this approach to other situations. So, when speaking to customers who have recently started buying from you:

1. Are you happy with the service you get now, compared to where you went previously?
2. What do you think is the best thing we offer, compared to your previous supplier?
3. Who do you know who…?
4. Would you mind emailing her and saying…?

I recently ran a session where a group wanted to learn how to trigger more word-of-mouth. I showed them this script, and then gave them 20 minutes to call their contacts and use it on them. When they returned, the group had over 30 promises of recommendations!

The only skills they used? They knew who to ask, and what to ask.

And – most importantly – they did ask.

Action Point

The steps are:

1. Identify who you would like a recommendation into
2. Identify someone who can recommend you to them
3. Prepare how you’ll ask for the recommendation (use the above script, or one of your own)
4. Ask them

If you use the right script, this approach can’t do any harm.

Even better, it could do a whole lot of good… for all three parties.

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So, your aim is to convince people to call, not convince them to buy.

This means the only criterion when deciding on content is “will this persuade someone to get in touch?” This is very different to “will the content sell our products/company, so the readers know everything, and could buy without even speaking to us?”

This new focus makes your content

• shorter (good for them)
• cheaper (good for you), and
• more focused (good for you both)

Examples of content that convinces people to call are:

A name and number to contact. If you don’t include your contact details, they don’t know how to contact you. So they won’t. And, if you don’t include a personal contact, they won’t know who to contact. After all, emailing “office@…” doesn’t make people feel very special, does it?

Have an engaging title and/or subtitle. A title’s only aim is to convince someone to want to read on. Unengaging titles like “About us”, “Our services”, and “Our history” just don’t engage. A better formula is “Helping you to (insert benefit)”.

Free advice. When people read your marketing material, you want them to think “well, I’ve never thought about it like that before”. Include top tips, common errors people make, etc, so they feel compelled to find out more.

Include a brief example of your ability to deliver. Remember: facts tell, stories sell. Include a testimonial and/or very short case study. The best ones contain (1) an impressive customer name and (2) the impact you caused, not just the work you did.

Include 1-2 jaw-dropping credentials (if you have them). “Our customers include the Royal Family” is pretty compelling. “We have 17 offices and here’s our map” isn’t.

Mention your unique way of doing things (if you have one, and it’s interesting). Only include things that others can’t say. So “unparalleled market knowledge” isn’t unique – everyone says things like this. Better is: “All agencies do A, B and C. But we find this results in (bad thing). So, we also do D and E, which gives you (good thing)”.

If in doubt, make it shorter. Remember, you’re looking to convince people to call, not buy.

And the best way to trigger interest? Almost always, through word of mouth. Next week’s Tip will show simple ways how to achieve this. But, for now…

Action Point

Review your current marketing material, asking “if I knew nothing about this company, would I get in touch?” Use the above list to help improve it.

And, when creating new material, use the list in the order it appears. So, start with a name/number to call, and then work backwards to the title, then the free advice… You’ll find you end up with shorter, and much more compelling, material.

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They were confused because:

• Delegates loved the training (the Happy Sheets were always excellent); but
• They didn’t improve performance when they got back to their office (which the delegates’ managers had made very clear)

The more I looked into this, the more the problem became apparent: the trainers thought their job was to train.

But it isn’t.

As I said to them: “your job isn’t to train things; it’s to cause things. If you think it’s to train, you think you’ve completed your job at 5pm on Friday, as you hold a bunch of Happy Sheets. But, when you know your job is to cause improved performance, your job doesn’t stop then – far from it”.

I then explained how they had to step-up outside the training room, by working more closely with delegates and their managers (both before and after workshops), helping embed learnings, coaching how to overcome teething difficulties, and so on.

As you would expect, once they started doing this, the improvement was huge.

So, why tell you this? Because, whatever your job is, your role isn’t to do things; it’s to cause things. Leaders should cause their people to deliver; salespeople should cause their sales to increase.

And you will only achieve this if, every time you communicate, you also remember that your role isn’t to say things, it’s to cause things. So, never start by thinking of your agenda or your content – that’s what you’re going to say. Instead, the first step of your prep is always to consider what you want people to do after your communication. You then deliver a communication to maximise the chance of this happening. Finally, of course, you follow-up until it’s done.

Do this, and your communications become more effective. Don’t, and you become like a trainer focusing solely on their course and not on improving business performance.

Action Point

Two actions this week:

• Write your job-in-a-sentence by talking only about what you cause. This means you can’t use your job title, key delivery mechanism etc. Once you’ve created this, use it to help drive how you do your job.
• Look at today’s diary. What’s the “cause” for every communication? If you’re not sure, identify it before you communicate it.

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What would you think if you were one of the presenting team? What if you were one of the audience who had had enough of watching tedious presentations? What if you were the person who’d supplied the projector? And what, while everyone was distracted, if you were an assassin?

As the Chinese Proverb says, “Life is a search for the truth; and there is no truth”. So, ‘facts’ depend on your perspective of them. This could well be very different to other people’s.

This means that, when you communicate, you can pretty much guarantee that the other person(s) will have a different view to you. This, in turn, means that using words that persuade you possibly won’t work on them.

Once you realise this, your preparation becomes:

• Step 1: what do I want them to do after my communication?
• Step 2: what do they need to hear, so they’ll want to do it?
• Step 3: what will their concerns be, that I have to remove, so they’ll do it?
• Step 4: given all this, what’s the minimum I need to say, to achieve what I want?

These four steps make your communication much more effective and – almost always – a lot shorter.

Even better, when it’s possible, ask them for guidance with steps 2-4 – “What do you think the most compelling arguments for doing this are? What are your biggest concerns? Is there anything you want me to include in my communication? Anything you don’t want to see?”

If our views differ on something as simple as a projector blowing up, a complicated message will lead to different people thinking all sorts of things.

And since your recipients are the only ones who can decide whether your communication is successful or not, you might as well think of their perspective every step of the way.

Action Point

What’s your next communication today? Why will the recipient buy-in to your message? Why won’t they? What can you change, so you phrase it from their viewpoint?

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“He’s your brother. You can do what you like with him. The only rule is you can’t pick him up.”

Unfortunately, on the second day of his life, I had to stop her giving him some food. So she now had two rules:

“He’s your brother. You can do what you like with him. The only two rules are that you can’t pick him up or feed him.”

One day later, it became three:

“You can’t pick him up, or feed him, or put wrapping paper on his head”!

So, even though we’d wanted things to be simple, three days in and we had three rules. And the last one related to something that would probably never happen again. Extrapolate this, and she would have 30 rules within a month…

Communication at work can be like that. It probably started off sensibly once. But, over time, more and more communications crept into everyone’s diary, some of which probably originated because one person did one thing wrong, once.

So, with Maia, we thought “we need to start again. How can we achieve our objectives, but keep things simple for her? What’s the one thing we need her to do, which will cover everything?” And we ended up with:

“He’s your brother. You can do what you like with him. But the only rule is that you must make sure he’s ok.”

We then spent time discussing what that meant, so she completely got it.

And it’s worth doing the same with your communications. Ask yourself:

• What are the key things you want your team to do?
• What’s the quickest, easiest way to communicate with them, so they do? (ask their opinion too, of course)
• What communications can you now therefore stop? What new ones should you start?

Doing this helps everyone. After all, nobody minds useless comms stopping.

Also, a new, simplified Communication Rhythm means it’s easy to respond to issues you weren’t expecting, like:

“So daddy, because I have to make sure that Tom’s ok, when I pass him scissors, should I do so handles-first?”

Action point

Schedule time to consider the three bullets above. It might take a while to get right, but the benefits it brings (more time, energy, motivation, focus etc) far outweigh any investment you put in.

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I read countless articles talking about the appropriateness of the song – “Susan dreamed a dream, and her life was transformed forever”, and so on.

But the song actually isn’t about dreaming happy dreams. As anyone who’s seen Anne Hathaway’s harrowing rendition of the same song in the recent Les Miserables film will know, the words are about her devastation and despair about how things have turned out for her.

Which goes to show how impactful titles are. They’re our first impression. And, if we don’t read on, they’re our only impression.

Think of the titles you see every day at work – emails (“FYI”, “misc”); meetings (“update”, “progress”); presentations (“Q2 review”, “our credentials”); documents (“our proposal”, “risk analysis”) and slides “background”, “summary”)…

Now think of the titles you see outside work – impactful newspaper headlines, eye-catching adverts, interesting-sounding TV and radio shows, books you simply have to buy based on the title alone…

The latter list is so much better. That’s not the way it has to be. It’s just the way it is.

So, make your titles at work better. Include something that grabs and/or benefits the recipient.

When you do, they’re more likely to read it.

When you don’t, they might not read it at all. This makes your title their only impression of your communication – not the impact you intended.

Action point

When you close this email, look at your Sent Items to see the standard of your titles.

And/or look at today’s diary, to see which entries sound interesting.

This helps you see how others view your titles. Then, of course, if you think they should be better, improve them.

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I’ve been delighted by the reviews so far. For example: business guru Brian Tracy said: “this fast-moving, helpful and practical book shows how to develop instant rapport, connect with the basic interests of the other person, and persuade him/her quickly to your point of view in a warm, professional manner.”

The book contains lots of simple, practical techniques, which I’ve split into four main sections:

• Persuade people to say “yes” more quickly, more often
• Enjoy your job more, because you’re calling the shots for a change
• Remove the communication frustrations you feel all too often
• Get more done more quickly, by getting people on your side faster

Click here to buy The Snowball Effect

Special offer – for today only

If you buy the book on Amazon today, I’ll send you a link to these fantastic insights from 14 top thought leaders:

• ‘Transform your ability to market yourself and influence others’, by marketing legend Drayton Bird
• ‘Raising your visibility with personal branding’, by Lesley Everett, the leading voice on Personal Branding
• ‘An hour of insightful, engaging and humorous views on how to better ourselves, and the people around us’ by international best-selling authors Paul McGee and Andy Cope
• ‘How to give impactful radio interviews and create compelling core messages‘, by Alan Stevens, an expert at helping companies enhance their reputation. Alan is currently President of the Global Speakers Federation
• ‘Quick tips for the perfect presentation’, by Simon Morton founder of Eyeful Presentations Ltd
• ‘A simple guide to successful reviewing’ by Tony Birch, who has 20+ years’ experience of preparing winning bids and pitches
• ‘40 power questions to grow your business’, by Bev James, CEO of the world’s largest training centre for coaches, and bestselling author of ‘Do it! Or ditch it!’
• ‘LinkedIn for Leaders’ and ‘The Three Click Myth’, by Phil Blything, co-founder of digital agency – Glow New Media
• ‘How to network your way to more business’ by Charlie Lawson, who runs the UK arm of the world’s largest networking and referrals organisation, BNI
• Excerpts from the book ‘OMG’ by Geoff Ramm – a multi-award winning international speaker, known as ‘the Billy Connolly of marketing’
• ‘Top ten negotiation tips’ by Alan McCarthy, a sales expert who has helped his customers win $billions of new business
• The e-book ‘How to achieve your goals’ by high performance coach Antony Stagg
• Plus five short videos from me, showing how to improve your meetings, emails, sales, PowerPoint slides … and your ability to say “no”!

To buy the book, and get all this advice for free, you only have to:

1. Buy the book on Amazon today
2. Send your proof of purchase today to my colleague emmamerry@andybounds.com

And that’s it.

Amazon will send you the book; we will send you the advice.

This offer is open to anybody. So, please feel free to forward this email to anyone who you think would be interested.

But the offer’s only valid if you buy the book today. So why not make it the next thing you do?

Thank you,

Andy

Click here to buy The Snowball Effect, and receive all the specialist advice for free

To improve your communication, you have to get on the right BUS:

• Ban powerless PowerPoint
• Use the right channel
• Stop pointless meetings

In more detail…

Ban powerless PowerPoint. I don’t carry an umbrella when it’s sunny. That’s not what it’s designed for. It’s similar with PowerPoint. It’s great sometimes; but it’s terrible for stimulating debate, interactivity and just plain old thinking. Steve Jobs banned PowerPoint from meetings because it stifled ideas; and he was pretty successful. Unless it’s needed, leave that PowerPoint Umbrella at home.

Use the right channel. When an email is taking ages to write, it probably shouldn’t be an email. Just pick up the phone instead. When only one person speaks during a conference call, they probably should have emailed the detail upfront, and then hosted a shorter call to discuss the key points. When meetings stifle progress, discuss topics 121 first, and then meet to formalise consensus. If you want to channel things right, you have to use the right channel.

Stop pointless meetings. You know those meetings which achieve nothing? Well, stop having them. And if that feels too scary, stop them for a couple of weeks and see if it causes any problems (and then stop having them). Or, make something smaller – the number of attendees, the agenda, the time each presenter is allowed to speak, the meeting duration… anything.

All these are pretty simple to do. Which will you do first?

The special offer

My new book The Snowball Effect (communication techniques to make you unstoppable) is out now.

But please don’t buy it.

Not yet, anyway. Let me explain…

Like Tuesday Tips, The Snowball Effect has only one aim: to permanently improve how you communicate. In fact, Dragons Den’s James Caan describes it as “A toolbox of powerful techniques that will help anyone communicate more powerfully, effectively and confidently than ever before.”

So why don’t I want you to buy it?

Well, I’m officially launching it on Amazon next week. Anyone who buys it next Tuesday (5th March) will also receive some fantastic insights – for free – from ten of the UK’s top thought leaders. So, in addition to the book, you’ll get advice on such topics as: influencing others, personal branding, self-development, impactful media interviews, impressive presentations, best-practice documents, and much more.

Action point

So, please don’t buy the book… yet. (Don’t worry: I’ll remind you about the offer next week).

For now, why not get on the Communication BUS, and see how much time you can free up for yourself and others?

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I asked him for examples. He said:

Her: I had a bad day at work. I argued with my boss about X

Him: Why don’t you go in early tomorrow, apologise for the misunderstanding and ask how you can help him with X?

Her: Why are you telling me what to do?

Him: I’m not. I’m helping.

Her: No you’re not. You’re not listening…

(I imagine this conversation goes on in lots of houses!)

I told him it sounded like he was offering solutions, which she didn’t want. He replied “she asked for my help”. I said “no, she wanted you to listen to her. Next time, ask her more questions about it, so she can talk it through. A good phrase to use can be ‘tell me more’ ”

Sure enough, he had an opportunity to use this advice very shortly afterwards. This is how he later told me the conversation went:

Her: I had another bad day at work.

Him: I am sorry to hear that. What happened – tell me more.

Her: Well, I had a problem with X, which resulted in Y.

Him: Really? What happened?

Her: [more detail]

Him: That doesn’t sound very nice. How do you feel about it now?

Her: [more detail].

Afterwards, she said he’d been ‘much more helpful than he usually is’. He told me that he felt he hadn’t contributed much, because he hadn’t provided a solution. I helped him see that that wasn’t the case.

Sometimes people tell you things because they want your advice; sometimes they just want to talk. Saying “tell me more” (or similar) means you give them what they want. If they want to talk, they will. If not, they’ll often reply with “well there’s not much more to tell. What would you advise?”

Useful advice for you to use this evening? Useful advice for you to tell somebody else to use?!

Action point

Next time somebody tells you they’re stressed about something, ask for more information first. (After all, doctors diagnose before they prescribe). A good rule of thumb: when they’re stressed, make sure they talk more than you do.

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Amazingly, I did the latter. I chose the easiest path.

Obvious, yes? After all, people always choose the easiest path, don’t they?

Well, no, not always. For instance, when people have important messages to cascade, they have two paths:

• The muddy, cloying path of creating detailed slides, emailing them to their team and saying “pass my messages onto your teams using these complex slides”; or
• Making it really easy – either by:

1. communicating directly with their team’s team, or
2. creating something simple to cascade

When you look at it like that, why would anybody choose the muddy, cloying path? Yet, people do.

So, to improve cascades, here are two better options:

1. When appropriate, communicate directly with your team’s team
2. If you want to involve your team:

• Tell them the impact you want their communication to have on their teams
• Tell them the key (very few) messages to get across, to cause this impact
• Ask them to add their own slant, stories, experiences etc to make the communication resonate with their teams

Both work very well. The first means people hear directly from you. The second works because people often respond well to their boss’s personal perspective.

And, of course, if you’re handed something to cascade that’s muddy and cloying, consider asking the owner for guidance on what they want you to add to their message. It’s just a much less muddy path to choose.

Action point

Involved in a cascade this week? Ask yourself: “are we choosing the best path to ensure we do this well?”; and identify ways to strip out all the mud.

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Of course, it’s also important to simplify communications. Here’s a list of things that don’t make things simple:

1. Running meetings with too many people, who make decision making slower
2. Meetings where some/all agenda items could have been decided in 121s/by email
3. Groups being constrained by having to sit through a detailed PowerPoint, when a chat accompanied by a flipchart would have done much better
4. Discussions about solving problems which focus largely on the problem and its ramifications, rather than going straight to looking for the solution
5. Lots of senior people giving their own personal slant on centrally-produced information. This often just adds noise, not value
6. Needless communication processes that were initiated years ago because one person did one thing wrong once. These processes are pointless, but have become entrenched in the culture
7. Insufficient preparation upfront. This means the communication doesn’t go well, so everyone has to spend ages trying to rectify it
8. Weekly update meetings that add nothing
9. FYI emails, again, that add nothing

I could advise ‘just stop doing all that’. And, in an ideal world, that would be all that’s needed. But, it’s hard (impossible?) to permanently break habits just like that.

However, there are simple things you can do which would take zero time, but make a big difference:

1. Invite less people to meetings (maybe send the arising actions to interested non-attendees?)
2. Have shorter agendas. Even better, don’t call a meeting unless it has to be a meeting
3. Take flipcharts to meetings, not PowerPoints
4. Start problem-solving meetings with “we all agree X is a problem. This meeting will help us remove it. So let’s start by discussing the first possible solution we’ve identified, which is …”
5. If you’re senior, don’t communicate your views on centrally-produced information, unless it’s absolutely necessary. Once you’ve stopped, ask people what were the adverse effects, if any
6. Stop pointless comms/processes for a week and see what happens. If ‘nothing’, don’t re-install them
7. Diarise to prep
8. Reduce updates – have them fortnightly, not weekly; and/or make them 30 minutes, not 60… or just stop having them
9. Never, ever send something FYI. Instead, write what you want them to do with it: ‘Please read, and tell me if we need to adapt our approach’ etc

All these are simple. The only reason for not doing them is habit, not complexity.

Given all this, it’s clear that it’s simple to make certain things simple. How can you best help yourself/others by doing so?

Action point

Look at your communications this week. What could you do, to make some/all of them simpler? (This Tip’s given you nine ideas to kick things off).

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So, here’s a simple technique to ensure you’re interesting every time:

1. Think of three things that you know people find interesting. For example:

• Interactivity (group discussion, pairs etc.)
• Insights that shift their thinking
• Humour

2. Think of an icon that relates to each. In this case:

• Speech bubbles, to show they’re talking
• Light bulbs, to signify a new idea
• Smiley faces, for humour

3. When you’ve written a presentation, write these three icons where your content is interactive, new and funny

4. Review these icons to make sure:

• There are enough of them. By “enough”, I mean at least 1-2 of each, often more. If there aren’t enough, add more
• They’re spaced out evenly (ish) throughout, so there are no lengthy boring bits. If needed, move some content around

And that’s it. It’s very simple. It’s very effective.

And it means that, before you start speaking, you know there are lots of “interesting bits”. This is great for your confidence as a presenter…

… and even better for your audience!

Action point

For your next presentation, try this approach. You might use different “interesting things”/icons of course, but make sure there are some in there.

After all, if there aren’t any “interesting bits”, you’re not going to be interesting.

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• Do-er, not the receiver – “sales” is from the salesperson’s view, not the purchaser’s; “presentations” refer to the presenter etc; or
• The communication itself – with “meetings”, people meet together; with “conversations”, people converse etc.

These are the opposite of the two most important things about communication:

• What the receiver (not the do-er)…
• …does after it (not during it)

Changing the name of a communication can often change people’s mindset. For example, some salespeople think “selling” is something they “do” to someone. It isn’t. It’s a joint thing. A better phrase might be that they’re making an “agreement to help”.

Similarly, if you’re presenting, don’t think of it as a presentation. Instead, think of it as a “discussion to trigger actions”.

Other examples:

• Update meeting – ensuring next week’s better
• FYI – this’ll help you do X
• Meeting – a decision-making, action-triggering discussion
• Feedback – how to do better next time
• Conference – shifting everyone’s mindset and performance

You might not say these new phrases out loud (I don’t know many salespeople who’d say “so, Mrs Customer, let’s create an Agreement To Help”).

But thinking in this way helps you focus on the right things.

After all, if you don’t, you could end up thinking the communication is just about you or what happens during it. Neither is right.

Action point

Identify your main communications today. Ask yourself: ‘for every one of them, have I thought about the (1) audience (2) afterwards? If not, now’s the time…

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And this becomes even more annoying when someone else’s bad planning has forced this stress on you.

So what can you do? A few options are:-

• Just accept it, and put the coffee on… it’ll be a long night
• Be nice but firm: “I want to help, but there’s not enough time for me to do everything you’ve asked. What are the key priorities you’d like me to focus on?”
• Be abrupt, knowing they’ll plan better next time: “I’m sorry but I can’t help this time. There’s too little time. Next time, give me at least a week’s notice”
• Seek alternatives: “We’re too short of time to do everything you want. What could we do instead, to get the message across?”

Which of these four is best? Well, it depends on the situation and who’s asking for your help. As always, when choosing your response, remember “first, do no harm” – to you and to them.

But: with communication, what we hate, we often do (for example, when you’re in an audience, you might hate presenters using wordy slides. But when you’re the presenter, you might use wordy slides, to prompt you)

So, just as bad planning on someone else’s part doesn’t constitute an emergency for you, bad planning on your part doesn’t constitute an emergency for them.

To avoid imposing unnecessary stress on others, you could do some/all of:

• Use three diary entries (for preparation, delivery and follow-up) not just one (delivery)
• Forewarn others you’ll need their help in x days time, and schedule it in both your diaries
• Identify when you planned things well in the past, and copy what you did
• Identify when you didn’t plan well, and learn from that

Everyone can make a mistake with planning. But, if you only do so once, it’s not a mistake, it’s learning. It’s when people keep doing it that it becomes a mistake.

Action point

Preview your diary. What big communications are coming up? Have you told your relevant colleagues – and your diary (!) – about the preparation and follow up that’s needed?

Also, if someone frequently gives you too little time because of their bad planning, decide in advance how you’ll respond next time. If you don’t, you’ll almost definitely repeat what you do every other time.

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But when salespeople speak with customers, some think ‘my job is to sell more’.

These two mindsets might lead to an outcome that suits both parties. But they might well not.

Clearly, you’re more likely to say the right things when you both want the same things.

So, in 2013, will you and your team be thinking – and saying – the right things? Here are three quick questions to check (your answers will only be five words):

Question 1: what your colleagues think

Think of all the messages your colleagues receive about what their #1 priority should be. For example, the topic that’s most frequently discussed in team meetings; the topic that you discuss the most; what they see you doing; how they’re bonused/paid; what their performance reviews tend to focus on; your company’s processes and procedures; what your CEO focuses on at the annual conference etc.

Given this, in two words max, what will they think their core job is (for instance: ‘sell more’, ‘speed up’, ‘cut costs’, ‘explain everything’, ‘eliminate risk’…)

Question 2: what your customers think

Now picture the people who benefit most from your team’s work – your ‘customers’.

In two words max, what is the #1 thing they want from your team? (examples might be: ‘improve me’, ‘communicate better’, ‘improve ROI’, ‘be thorough’, ‘care’…)

Question 3: The Big One

In one word max, describe how aligned your first two answers are (‘definitely’, ‘no’, ‘sometimes’)

If your answer is ‘definitely’, your comms in 2013 have a much better chance of landing every time.

But if your answer was different, it’s imperative to take action as soon as possible. For example…

Action point

There are two types of action with this Tip – the macro and micro:

• Macro: devise ways to change the culture so your two words are more aligned with your customers’ two words. If you want some ideas how to do this, let me know and I’ll get you started
• Micro: identify 1-2 simple changes that you and your team could make, to become more aligned with your customers. You, and they, will be delighted you did.

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Similarly, first-time skiers can often look at their feet instead of keeping their head up.

And when you’re driving and you think you’re about to skid into a wall, you’ve a better chance of avoiding it if you look at the road you want to drive down, rather than the wall you’re dreading crashing into.

In other words, it’s essential to focus on the right thing (after all, when you focus on the wrong, it’s more likely to happen).

So, as 2013 approaches, are you focusing on the right thing? What are you expecting? What do your colleagues think you’re expecting?

If you communicate “my focus is on survival”, the best you’ll get – unless you are very lucky – is survival.

If you’re thinking “2013 is the year we consolidate”, the best you’ll get could well be consolidation.

But when you communicate “2013 will be better than 2012 because …”, it helps build your – and your colleagues’ – certainty you’ll have a good year.

Of course, I’m not advocating being naively overly optimistic. But it’s important that you convey the right messages with everything you communicate.

As we all know, you don’t always get what you deserve in life. But you often get what you expect.

So, what positives are you expecting will happen next year?

And how can you communicate to help ensure they do?

Action point

Review your end-2012/start-2013 communications. Are they positive enough? Do they help build certainty that next year will be better than this one?

Identify at least 1-2 changes that will improve the impact they – and you – have on others.

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And when the committee is full of big egos, discussing how to communicate an important subject, meetings can often become less about listening and more about people waiting for their turn to speak.

There are lots of techniques you can use to combat this. Here’s a simple one that often works very well…

At the start of the meeting, don’t begin by discussing detailed content and approach. This is the area that usually becomes the battleground for people’s opinions. Instead:

• Discuss the more important – and easier to agree on – three areas:

1. What you want the audience to do after you’ve communicated with them
2. The (max) three key messages they need to hear, to convince them to do it
3. The (max) three biggest concerns they have

• Write these on a flipchart. Explain that the flipchart has now become the most important person in the room, since it shows what the audience – not anyone in the room – wants to hear
• Then, as you discuss the detail, any time there is a big difference of opinion, refer to the flipchart. As the most important person in the room, it will help guide what you should be doing.

Using a flipchart de-personalises things. It helps ensure everyone’s focus is on the audience, rather than the meeting’s attendees.

And, of course it’s much better than the alternative: lots of people giving their opinions, which usually begin with “I hear what you’re saying, but…”

Action point

Next time you’re involved in a Planning Meeting share this flipchart technique with them beforehand. As long as you all agree with the idea, you’ll find it helps you all arrive at much better content, more quickly.

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This could be a salesperson convincing a customer to buy from them; an interviewee persuading an employer to choose her; a team influencing the Board to invest in their initiative instead of the alternatives.

And it can be tempting to ‘prove’ your worth by discussing the intricate details of how you will do the job.

But this just proves what you’ll do, not that it’ll work. It’s like someone saying “here’s my 5-step process for getting a date on a Friday night” and then going into lots of detail about each one. But when you ask “does it always work?” they reply “no, never”.

So, to prove your approach works, use one/more of:

• Case studies: tell a story of when you’ve done something similar before. Start your description with the results you caused, not the work you did, since that’s the thing they’re most interested in
• Testimonials/references: obtain written/verbal endorsements from credible people you’ve delivered similar results for. Again, start with the results and work backwards
• Talk about something that shows you have new insights to help them deliver exceptional results (a good test: you want the other person to think “well I had never thought it about that”)
• List all the initiatives/companies/customers you’ve delivered similar results with
• Give the total results you’ve caused i.e. add them all up

Once they know that you deliver results, you’ve earned the right to discuss your process. After all, if someone said “I can help you find love on a Friday night. My approach has a 100% track record; and here are three case studies, two testimonials and a reference”, your response will be “Sounds great. How do you do that?”

Action Point

Identify when you next have to prove your way is best. Then choose one/some of the above to show you will definitely deliver results (this is very different to explaining the steps you’ll be taking).

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Even worse, they often don’t generate information you can use. For instance:

A: What do you do?

B: I am an Accountant

A: Who do you work for?

B: X Partnership

A: How long have you been there?

B: Five years

A: And how’s business?

B: It’s OK. And you?

A: It’s OK

B: And what is it you do?

A: I am a Lawyer

B: And who do you work for…

… and so it continues.

A better approach is to focus on what the other person is looking to achieve in the future. Once you know this, you’re better able to see how you can help (either yourself, or by introducing them to others).

One very effective, future focused question is “so what are you responsible for?”

Their response will show you where their priorities lie. And, of course, once you know this, you can ask more probing questions. So, after the initial “What are you called? What do you do?”, here’s how the conversation might go now:

A: So, what are you responsible for?

B: Growing the practice

A: And how do you do that?

B: Mainly by networking and referrals

A: Is that why you’re here tonight?

B: Absolutely

A: So, who would be good contacts for you this evening?

Much more useful. It’s certainly better than when they list all the jobs they’ve had, or – even worse – all the products they now sell.

Action point

For your next networking conversation, drop this question in and see where it leads.

I know many people who’ve done this, and uncovered extremely useful insights they wouldn’t otherwise have found.

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Every business has Dementors. They can be

• people – the ones who make a room sadder when they enter it
• conversation topics – those which bring everyone down when they discuss them
• projects – “I love my job… except when I have to work on X, which I hate”

Recognise these? They’re such a drain on everyone’s productivity, aren’t they? They sure can turn a good day into a bad one very quickly.

So, what would make it better?

The key with Dementors is to look to the future, not past; the solution, not the problem. The better people are able to focus on improving the situation, the less they get embroiled in the things that bring them down.

Very often, a simple technique is to ask “so, what would make it better?” Sometimes this works first time:

Them: “Our update meetings are tedious”

You: “So, what would make it better?”

Them: “Well, we could shorten them, have them less often, limit how many people attend, limit how long people speak for, do some of the detail by email…”

Or sometimes, you might need to repeat it:

Them: “Our update meetings are tedious”

You: “So, what would make it better?”

Them: “Nothing. They’re rubbish.”

You: “I know you don’t like them. But there must be something we could do to improve things? So, what would make it better?”

Them: “Well, we could …”

Asking this simple question helps change people’s focus. It also works on you: when you’re having a Dementor Moment, ask yourself “so, what would make it better?”

This simple phrase can often act like a light switch that instantly turns dark to light.

Did you notice how the top three paragraphs of this Tip were negative? Paragraph Four then asked “so, what would make it better?”, and things changed immediately.

Action Point

The next time you/your colleagues are feeling negative about something, ask “so, what would make it better?” to identify how to improve things.

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And it’s essential you’re ‘front of mind’ with them when it matters. This, of course, isn’t always easy.

So here’s a simple 3-step approach (my 3Hs) to becoming more important in their eyes:

• Hot buttons?
• How to help?
• How about?

In other words:

1. Uncover what their current hot buttons are. Ask them questions like:“What are your priorities at the minute? What are you working on? What is your key focus until the end of the year?”

[The output: you know their priorities]

2. Find how they think you can help, by asking “How can I best help with that?”

[The output: you both know how they’d like you to be involved. Or you’re invited to contribute when they say “I don’t know. What do you suggest?”]

3. Say “how about …” and suggest ways you can help them achieve their priorities

[The output: they know new ways you could help them]

The 3Hs work well. The first H tells you where their heads are at. The second uncovers how they want you to help (they’ll often say something you wouldn’t have thought of). The third gives them new ideas that they wouldn’t have thought of, for you to contribute.

This technique is certainly better than waiting by the phone – hoping, praying they’ll call.

Action point

Identify the person(s) you want to be more ‘front of mind’ with. Then, contact them, and use the 3Hs. You’ll know it’s worked when:

• They talk more than you do, and;
• You have clear next steps about how you’ll help them with their key priorities

In effect, he said that the only way to get exactly/very close to what he wanted was to plan in advance of shooting. If he doesn’t do this, he knows he’ll make key decisions based on logistics and what seems do-able, rather than deciding based on a clear vision.

And of course this is true for all critical communications. Plan early, think ahead, get a clear vision, develop a clear theme, identify the best way to convey your main messages, and so on.

If you don’t plan early enough, you’re more likely to make your decisions based on logistics and what seems do-able. I mean, which will produce a better communication:

• Asking “what are my key messages?”, or “what slides have I got that I can use in the time I’ve got left?”
• Asking “out of all my options, what is the best way to explain this?”, or “what’s the quickest way to pull this together?”
• Asking “have I left myself enough time to do a third – or even fourth – version?”, or “have I left myself enough time to do one?”

This sounds obvious, but doesn’t happen as often as it should (or there wouldn’t be so many last-minute, late night rewrites).

And the only way to make sure you do prepare early enough? Diarise it. If you don’t, you have to fit it round the diary – and this just never happens.

Action Point

Identify the most important communication you have to deliver this year. Ensure you’ve diarised your prep early enough, so you make decisions based on what’s best, not what’s possible in the time you have left.

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Will it make the boat go faster?

If yes, do it. If not, don’t. If you’re not sure, analyse it until you are sure, then do the right thing.

This simplicity and level of clarity would have been invaluable when deciding between options. So, this week, I have three questions for you:

1.What is your/your team’s/your company’s equivalent of “the boat going faster”?

Have you got one? If so, it will be short (8-10 words max) output-focused and memorable. Examples I have seen include:

• Wow. Everyone. Always.
• Always win-win (so they keep buying and you keep trying)
• Givers Gain (this one belongs to BNI, the world’s largest networking and referrals organisation)
• Improve health
• Amaze our customers every day. And that’s it.
• Help Mr. X make better decisions
• Ensure Mrs. Y looks good in Z’s eyes
• Etc

2. Do you – and/or everyone in your team/company – have your ‘boat phrase’ front of mind?

Well, do you?

And, if you want to find if others do, ask them. If it turns out they don’t, reinforce it until they do.

3. Is everything geared to achieving it?

Your best way of always making your boat go faster is to ensure that everything is geared to helping it happen: your processes, systems, how you measure success in yourself and others, how your leaders behave etc.

As the famous ‘story’ goes, President Kennedy asked a NASA janitor who was sweeping the floor “What do you do here?”. His reply: “I’m helping to put a man on the moon”.

If someone asked your colleagues, what would they say?

And if someone asked you?

Action Point

Ask yourself/your team the three questions, to see how aligned you are.

Use these answers to identify what you should change, to help your boat go even faster.

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One way to resolve this is by using a Battleships Grid, where you:

1. List all the things you’re working on (e.g. your projects, initiatives, customers, products etc.) across the top
2. List all team members’ names down the side
3. Then, if person C is working on Initiative 3, in Box 3C, write Person C’s:

• Overall responsibility with initiative 3. This won’t change (much) over time; and their
• Next action re Initiative 3. This is removed as soon as it’s completed

This has lots of advantages, with only one potential problem. The advantages first:

• It’s an impactful visual: everyone can understand what’s going on pretty much immediately
• Everything gets done, with minimal duplications/omissions
• Blank columns or rows are really bad – they mean an initiative has been forgotten, or a colleague isn’t doing anything – so tend not to happen
• It’s easy to see the big picture, and therefore ensure:

1. the right person is working on the right things (if not, swap actions so they are)
2. nobody has too much/little to do (if they do, re-allocate actions)

• the owner regularly updates and circulates the grid, so there’s good momentum and communication

In fact, this works so well that the only potential problem is that your Update Meetings could be really boring, especially if you all just read out what the grid says. So, instead, use the grid as the main update mechanism, which you reinforce with 121s and focussed ‘small group’ meetings. You would still meet as a big group when it’s needed, but probably only to discuss the big picture.

One final thought about Battleships Grids: they don’t take long to create. And anything that’s simple, quick and a definite improvement has got to be worth doing.

Action point

Put your team’s current projects on a Battleship grid. Is everything covered? Everyone doing the right work? The right amount of work?

Then, use it communicate progress with your team, ensuring everyone always has a next step.

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But when will you be following up?

As you know, follow-up is essential, in that it:

• builds momentum
• ensures everything gets done (after all, unless you’re lucky/skilled/important/surrounded by saints, you have to follow certain things up. It’s just the way it is)
• ensures previous activities have worked as planned (“Did last week’s session improve things as you wanted? How else can I help?”)

But, despite its importance, follow-up is often:

• not discussed during a communication; and/or
• not diarised

The former means you have to re-start momentum later – never as easy; the latter means you’ll probably forget to do it on time/at all – never good.

Fortunately, the solution is very simple:

1. Agree during a communication when you’ll follow-up later. Simply ask “how and when shall we follow-up?”
2. Think “5 and 5”. Create a daily 5-minute reminder at 5pm called “diarise all today’s follow-ups” where you review your day’s activities and schedule when you’ll follow each one up

So, you’ll be communicating a lot today. When will you be following up?

Action point

For all today’s communications, remember the two Ds: agree During the conversation when you’ll follow-up; then Diarise it, so you ensure you do.

And if it works today, do it every day!

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And then of course, this is quickly followed by last minute, stressful re-drafting.

This isn’t much fun for either of you. And you can both feel frustrated by the other: you think they should have done better; they think you should have briefed them better.

It’s not always easy to find ten minutes to deliver a better brief. But it’s never easy to find the many hours you need to rectify a poor Draft One.

So, here are four quick steps to giving a better brief. Be clear on:

Step 1: What you want the communication to achieve
(“I want it to ensure my team does Action A”)

Step 2: The main sections/titles
(“To convince them to do A, I’ll need to cover topics B, C and D”)

Step 3: The key 1-3 points that go in each section
(“The main topics to cover in each section will be…”)

Step 4: A guiding one-word phrase/rule
(“while you’re creating this, at all times think FUN. The team has got to enjoy it”)

You might brief someone by telling them all four. Or you might tell them items 1 and 4 (the purpose and style), and discuss what they think the sections/content should be.

The latter is usually better, because they bring new insights, and also feel greater ownership. But, both work well. And both are certainly better than “Please prepare a report on X that I can present to the board”…

… which is usually followed by “I didn’t mean it to look quite like that”.

Action point

Identify the next communication you’re asking someone to prepare for you. Make sure you are being clear enough on the four points above (it’s quicker to do that than do needless re-drafts later).

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When four people meet, they now need six agreements – AB, AC, AD, BC, BD and CD.

When eight people meet, they need 28 agreements (don’t worry – I won’t list them all!)

When you look at it like this, is it any wonder that big meetings don’t achieve all you hoped?

People often think it helps when they invite more people to a meeting. But, if you’re not careful, it just ends up “deciding by committee”, in that:

• Nothing gets decided
• Even when things do get decided, it takes ages
• The noisiest person gets their way (and “noisiest” can – but doesn’t always mean – “most insightful”)

So, reduce attendees by doing some/all of:

• Make decisions 1-2-1 as often as possible
• Only invite people who can influence the decision; and/or will make the decision better; and/or care
• Similarly, only go to meetings where you can/want to influence the decision (obviously contact the owner beforehand if you’re not going)
• If you can only contribute to agenda items 3 and 6, call the owner in advance, and ask them to change the agenda so they discuss your topics first, so you can contribute then leave
• Once a decision has been made, choose the person(s) who will run with it, and ask them to take the detail off line. This is much better than eight people having 28 (dis)agreements about it
• If appropriate, send relevant non-attendees an “Actions arising” e-mail, so they are up to speed (note: “Actions arising”, not “Topics discussed”)

As with any communications advice, remember the rule of “first, do no harm”. All the personalities and politics involved in meetings mean that you have to treat this advice sensibly.

But always remember; ideally, you should only attend a meeting because it helps you and others; not because you always have done.

Action point

Review your diary for upcoming meetings that you are chairing and/or attending. What can you do to reduce the number of attendees at each of them, including – when appropriate – yourself?

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If you’re anything like most people, probably not. In fact, a recent McKinsey study found that people spend only 39% of their week doing their core job. In other words, they spend three days every week doing other stuff – three days!

And, not surprisingly, much of this ‘other stuff’ relates to inefficient and/or pointless communications.

Sound familiar?

Imagine if you could free up these three days (though, let’s be honest, just one extra day would be life-changing).

So think of all the communications you give/get. For each one, ask yourself if you:

• Remove it – a good test: remove any communication that, when you stop it, will do no harm whatsoever
• Reduce it – e.g. change updates from weekly to fortnightly
• Shorten it – e.g. make 60-minute meetings last 45; when you’ve created a document/presentation, try and reduce it by a third (I’ve found many people can achieve at least that)
• Change it – e.g. if you have regular conference calls where only one person speaks, change to sending an email instead
• Skip it – if you can’t add anything/don’t want to/it’s not a priority, suggest to the owner that you don’t attend
• Ban it – e.g. stop people hitting ‘reply all’ (not everyone cares), ‘FYI’ (hardly anyone cares) or giving lengthy background info (nobody cares)

Remember, when you communicate, your aim isn’t to say something, it’s to cause something.

So, change/stop communications that cause nothing.

Action point

Look at this week’s diary. Which would be the best communication to change? You want the one that:

1. will save you lots of time, and
2. doesn’t cause you a problem when you change it.

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