Maestro Technologies - Intelligent management software for the construction industry.

The essence of good communication

A lack of time, use of the wrong medium and a lack of skills often result in communication problems. Communication is an art that is not mastered by everyone. We lose an incredible amount of time misunderstanding each other and we experience the frustrations that result from this. Being aware of this can lead us to pay greater attention to this problem. Simplicity in our communications is certainly an effective solution to this problem.

As a business, what do we need to communicate? Who do we communicate to? How should we communicate it? Once these questions have been answered, all we need to do is write the message. Simple you say? Not necessarily.

We all strive to make communication effective and pleasant, but what ensures simplicity in a message, discussion or article?

• Get to the point: A simple text contains a clear and precise message. The goal here is not to fill as much space as possible with as many words as possible. Instead, you want to ensure that the idea you want to send is well articulated and transmitted. The writer must remain focused on this idea to be able to send it effectively. Too much information sent at the same time will only drown out the main idea.
• Short text: If you want to get to the point and minimize the amount of information, you need to have a clear idea of what must be said and you must stick to it. To do this, you must first write a plan and present the information in a structured manner. Being short and concise in your ideas will allow your readers to understand the message instead of interpreting it. Furthermore, providing a short version with the essential points of the message and completing this with a bit more detail for those who need it can be an effective solution.
• Use plain language: The vocabulary used to write a message is very important. You must always adapt your writing to your audience. Although the information sent may be technical or specialized for a given sector, you must remember that some readers may have problems understanding the vocabulary. This is why it is so important to use plain language to make the information accessible to all. An example, graph or image are often very helpful in explaining the situation.
• Means of communication used: The means of communication used depends directly on the type of message to be sent. It is important to choose the best tool based on the objective to be achieved and the requirement at hand. Verbal communication is often more direct, but written words remain. E-mails can be sent very quickly, but can easily be lost with the volume of e-mails received on a daily basis. Do you need to address more than one person? If yes, a group meeting is preferable over individual meetings, as long as the message to be sent is the same for all. Without expanding further on this, it is important to understand that it is critical to ask yourself these types of questions before sending your message.
• Respect the initial objective in verbal communication: In verbal exchanges, it is very important to allow the contact to respond and present his ideas. However, it is also very important for the person who initiated the conversation to ensure they remain on topic about the initial objective of the discussion. If your contact changes the subject, you must politely return to the main topic.

Although this is not scientific, keeping the message accurate and simple makes it more likely to bring about the desired result than a long message or a conversation with no direction. It is now up to you to determine whether your internal and external communications truly are effective.

Marie-Josée Lafond

Send a comment