Better Business
Increase Your Communication Effectiveness

January 21, 2004

Give people information in the format they prefer. Remember people often send messages in the same way they like to receive them. Some people prefer to communicate in person; others use voice mail, e-mail, memos or the company intranet. Don’t flood a face-to-face communicator with scores of e-mail messages. Walk to the person’s desk and have a conversation instead.

Link Praise To The Big Picture. Drive praise home by showing employees how their performance contributes to the overall success of the organisation. Follow these steps: 1) Show employees how much their good work means to you. Example: “Mike, I really admire the way you handle difficult customers. You sympathised, calmed them down and answered their questions.” 2) Next, link the performance to the good of other staff members and the company as a whole. Example: “Taking time to explain things to customers builds understanding and makes him easier for the team to deal with. It also ensures we’ll keep his business.”

Choose The Right Spot For Evaluations. Where you hold a performance review can make a difference. To relay feed-back about past performance and guidelines for the coming year, a focused but relaxed neutral setting is usually best. In other words, your office isn’t ideal. Try a conference room or a colleague’s comfortable office – or even the employee’s own office if private enough. A restaurant or other public location, although neutral, isn’t secluded enough for a review – especially one containing bad news.