How to communicate effectively at Work

Think about the worst email you’ve ever received. Now realize others often feel the same way in regards to an email, text, or other messages you’ve sent.

This document is a short explanation on how to avoid misunderstanding and communicate effectively. 

General concepts

Step 1 – Know your audience 

• Know the context your audience has
  • If you talk everyday with your audience then you probably don’t need to explain fundamentals 
  • However if your audience is totally new, then slow down and cover basics and acronyms
• Your effort should depend on the recipient list
  • When writing a critical update to a wide range of people (10+) or a VP+ audience, spend more time on it
  • If you’re writing a slack to someone, it’s ok to be brief 
• Ask yourself what does your audience need to know? 
  • A VP/senior leader probably only cares about the so-what
  • A more junior team member may care more about process/how you got to a decision

Step 2 – Ask yourself “what is the point?”

• If you’ve ever played a game of telephone, you know any communication involves knowledge loss during transfer. 
• First, ask yourself  “what do I want this person to take away?” 
  • If there’s a main point, don’t make your reader play hide and seek to find it
  • Bold it, underline it, lead with it in your first sentence!!!! 
• “If your reader loses attention in the first five seconds, then you’ve already lost them”

Step 3 – Use simple language and write for a sixth grader

• Highly specific acronyms, scientific jargon, and technical details make your message harder to understand for most people
• Consider the US government’s advice on avoiding jargon 
  • Don’t say “The patient is being given positive-pressure ventilatory support”, but rather “The patient is on a respirator.”
  • Jargon is written to impress the reader, but doesn’t inform them
• If you get stuck, think about two things
  • “How would you describe what you’re doing to a friend in a bar?” 
  • Use marketing examples-“15 minutes will save you 15% or more on car insurance” as a guide
• The simpler your message is, the more people will understand it

Step 4 – Always use the active voice 

• Consider the mouthful- “Milk was what I went to the store to get”.
• Isn’t it easier to hear “I went to the store to get milk”
• Our minds naturally think in the active voice so writing this way reduces the cognitive load for your reader

Step 5 – Shorten what you wrote

• Think about the quote attributed to Cicero/Mark Twain “if I had more time, I would have written a shorter letter” 
• Condensing takes time and effort, but it’s worth it
• If your readers understand in 1 minute what normally would take 10 then you gave them an incredible gift

Email specific advice

Step 1 – The email subject is your friend! 

• The email subject is the first (and sometimes only) line anyone reads. Take the time here to tell your reader why this is worth their time
• See this example from the Ford theater

• It sets context immediately (when the theater is reopening) and if I click in then I’ll be able to find out more about what exactly opening looks like
  • If you have a deadline, put it into your subject line. This helps the reader understand the urgency and how much time they have to respond

Step 2 – Be extra explicit with your asks in emails

• Anytime you are asking for help, make it clear immediately what you need and why you need it
• Consider bolding names and dates to highlight asks
  • Ex: Scott – Can you finish your communication doc by March 31st?

Step 3 – Segment different trains of thought into different sections/bullets 

• Segmenting different trains of thought into different section/or bullets, makes it easier to follow
• You’ve probably learned this is my preferred style by now, but here’s a whimsical example telling people what to expect for my brother’s bachelor party

Step 4 – Create templates for similar emails

• If you rewrite the same email often, create a template and use it as your baseline
• Since I know I’ll write requests multiple times, I use eliminate the hassle and save myself 5+ minutes on every email request

Step 5 – When embedding a URL, tell the person what they’re clicking on

• Consider below when I am sending a paper showing how human conversations are too long. Is option i or ii easier for you to follow?
  • Check out this paper on why conversations are too long https://www.pnas.org/content/118/10/e2011809118?utm_campaign=Matt%27s%20Thoughts%20In%20Between&utm_medium=email&utm_source=Revue%20newsletter
  • Check out this paper from PNAS on why conversations are too long

Inspirations

Please note, these examples were heavily influenced by work from the following

1. Shane Parrish’s amazing tweet on writing (so good I had to post a picture!)
   1. 
2. Morgan Housel’s  2 min summary of how to write effectively
3. John Collision describing how Stripe uses clear/concise communication to leverage their company (80 min podcast)
4. Richard Feynman’s famous learning technique (25 min read)