THE TUESDAY BUSINESS CORNER

The three quick wins

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?

Action point

Get on the Communication BUS, and see how much time you can free up for yourself and others?

Know people who'd benefit from reading this Tip? Please forward it on, and introduce them to our Blog :)

Written by NativeEnglish

Native English Spain is dedicated to make learning English simple, fun and affordable for Spanish people.