Communicating Task Changes Clearly

Every time I write up an org-wide communication related to major changes, I consistently apply the lessons that I learned from Annie Christiansen and Kathy Gowell during my time working with them at MuleSoft/Salesforce. Spending most of my early and middle career in more technical roles, my communication style had a tendency lean towards the technical (and wordy). Annie and Kathy did an amazing job helping me step back and reframe my communications to be focused, prioritize the crucial information first, and apply empathy (we're not all engineers in the tech world). I've templated, to a large degree, the key messaging points I picked up from them • What's happening? (𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘣𝘶𝘳𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘥, 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘪𝘵) • What does this mean for me? (𝘢𝘮 𝘐 𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘦𝘥? 𝘪𝘧 𝘴𝘰 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘥𝘰 𝘐 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘰?)  • Why is this happening? (𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘹𝘵!) • I still have questions, where should I bring them to? (𝘚𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘬, 𝘰𝘧𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴, 𝘸𝘪𝘬𝘪𝘴, 𝘦𝘵𝘤) These four stanzas are present in nearly 99% of my major comms. They work when updating the staff about major security threats (such as vishing/smishing campaigns), changes to org-wide systems (such SSO/MFA improvements), and so much more. Most importantly, bring empathy to all comms. Try, as best as you can, to put yourself on the receiving end of the communication you're sending and challenge yourself with the question "is the information framed in a way that I and my peers would feel informed & engaged if we were the recipients"

I solved one of the biggest problems in my business by treating it like I was writing copy. Let me explain… Early on in my business, I would assign tasks to my employees and be completely shocked at the outcome. Two things were happening: 1) Either what I said wasn’t clear 2) Or I had made assumptions about what they knew/understood The outcome was always the same: frustration on everyone’s part. I realized that the problem wasn’t my employees, it was me. Communication is key, whether it’s with clients or employees. So if I wanted something done right, I had to be crystal clear and leave 0 room for questions. It’s just like writing copy… Everyone is busy. No one wants to spend time to decipher what you’re trying to say. When you leave room for assumption, you make room for error. Because what’s apparent to you may not be apparent to others. So I changed the way I communicated. I took extreme ownership I assumed that the problem was with how I was communicating. That meant I had to figure out a way to be more clear when I gave instructions. I had to lead by example. How did I do that? 1) I took every chance I could to over-explain. Simply adding a few extra details (examples, explanations, etc.) takes you only a few seconds but will save the other person a ton of time 2) I clearly organized every piece of communication Just like writing copy - don’t do walls of text, spacing, bolds, etc. Every little detail matters. 3) Examples + Demonstrations when possible I took the time to add the extra elements that could help the person on the receiving end visualize what I was trying to communicate. That meant spending time taking screenshots and creating loom walkthroughs The end result? Everything became smoother. • Clients relations • Employee relations • No surprises with projects • No talking past each other If you don’t write clear and concise copy, you can’t expect your viewers to convert. So don’t expect projects to get completed without the same level of clarity The next time you’re communicating with an employee or a client, treat them like a person reading your copy. Did they understand what you’re trying to say? Do they know what the goal is? Are they going to feel motivated at the end or leave scratching their head? Only you have the power to decide the outcome.

The right communication takes 10 seconds longer for you to say, and saves your team's hours of mental energy every week. Years ago, I ran a project that was ahead of schedule, under budget, and getting executive praise. But, my team looked sea-sick at every check-in, raising issues that THEY themselves were working on. Instead of dismissing their stress, I got curious. After a few conversations, the pattern became clear. My updates gave the team just enough information to worry about problems, without the clarity needed for them to close the loop. The same clarity I worked so hard to develop when connecting with executives was gone when I was communicating with my team. Now, I close opportunities for second-guessing by following a simple structure. 𝗪𝗵𝗼 / 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 / 𝗪𝗵𝗲𝗻 / 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁-𝗜𝗳? Instead of saying “we’re waiting on the vendor” I’ll say: We’re waiting on our vendor's response to our integration requirements. Mark sent them the specs on Tuesday, they committed to feedback by Friday EOD, and if I don’t hear back by Monday mid-day, I’ll escalate to their account manager. It takes 10 extra seconds to say, but now, instead of worrying about the vendor, your team can focus on the work that matters. #communication #projectmanagement #changemanagement ____________ If this post resonated, you learned something or found it interesting drop a follow or connect. 2-3x a week I write about the messy, human side of project and change management, and occasionally share my thoughts on AI.