Retro post: What’s on your to do list?

This summer I’m going retro. I don’t mean with my choice of beach wear, but with the blog posts that I share. Each week during August I am going to re-publish something that I’ve written in a previous summer.

Today I share with you something which I wrote way back in 2011 – it’s hard to believe this was so long ago as it remains true to this day.

To do listI often find myself pointing out that we’ve all got enough to do in our day-to-day jobs, without adding ‘do communication’ to our to do list. Of course, I’m not advocating that people forget about communicating all together, but rather that it’s important to make sure that you are getting some sort of return for the time and effort you put into communicating.

For this to work well, I believe that you have to integrate communication into everything you do. And there has to be a purpose to everything that aligns with the vision and strategy of your organisation. If top-notch communication is not going to deliver against the direction your organisation is going in and help you all get there, then it really shouldn’t be happening at all. If your communication is not having an impact, then you shouldn’t be wasting your time doing it.

It comes back to our old friend, communication planning, again. Be clear from the start what difference you want to make and why. What is it that you want others to be doing, thinking, feeling as a result of your communication? And always ask yourself, ‘so what?’ There needs to be a compelling meaning to what you say and a reason to act.

As I said, we’ve all got plenty to do without adding extra tasks to our list that aren’t going to make a positive difference. If you would like some help integrating effective communication into the way you and your colleagues work, get in touch for a no obligation chat about how we could work together.

Until next time

Sarah

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