5 Ways to Communicate More Effectively

Adam Kreek

Effective communication is a key skill for successful leadership. Here are five habits you can implement immediately to improve communication with your team.

1. Listen

The most important thing to consider when you’re communicating with your team is your ability to listen. Communication is primarily listening and then verifying what you thought you heard.

2. Use Visuals

The second way to communicate effectively with your team is to use visuals. I use visuals in my presentations for this reason. When I show you a relevant image, it paints a strong picture in your mind. Heck, if you read the quote at the end of this article and know who Chris Hadfield is, you're more likely to remember the point above.

By using visuals, your point suddenly becomes more clear. Aim to use visuals whenever possible to make sure that the concepts that you are communicating are resonant and are absorbed more completely by the people who hear them.

3. Think through what you want to say first.

Prepare. Sit down and think through what you want to say. Make notes.

We’ve all been to meetings where the person leading the meeting hasn’t done any preparation. There’s no agenda, and it’s just a waste of people’s time. You don’t get nearly as much done as you possibly could have. You are more likely to deliver your message effectively if you prepare it beforehand.

4. Get lost in the message

Forget that you’re actually speaking. This comes with proper preparation, but it also comes with simply feeling the message that you’re delivering. Something happens when you get lost in the message- your body starts to move. You start to have hand motions and body motions. This body language actually helps communicate, persuade, and be more effective in your communication. When we start thinking too much about what we’re going to say and the exact mechanics of how we’re delivering our message, then we come across as robotic. It’s a really ineffective way to communicate.

So, just get lost in the message. Feel free to use your body language. Also, feel free to embrace your quirks. Some people say “um” “ah” “like” “like I said” and if you’re going to speak like that? Embrace your imperfections. Fighting them only makes your communication worse. If you want to change your spoken style, change it slightly, but not too much. Getting lost in your message will improve your communication and make it much more effective.

5. Remember the rank of communication methods.

There is a rank in communication methods we need to keep in mind–especially when you’re communicating serious and important information.

In-person matters most. Get in person, get in front of the person, have a face-to-face. A lot gets lost even through the phone, video calls, and certainly through email. In-person is the best way to communicate, but the world moves fast, and people are busy, so this is not always possible.
Video conference. Sometimes, video conferencing can be pretty frustrating if the technology cuts out or is not up to speed. But, when you have a successful video conference, you can see facial expressions and interact with the person, and it’s a great way to relate.
Telephone. When you communicate through a phone, you can hear the voice on the other side, and you can hear the messages that are said to you. You can hear enunciations and tones that you can't hear over email.
Project management tools. Many project management tools are now accessible to us in this modern internet age: Asana, Trello, ClickUp, Slack. Using these tools is effective. They keep you focused and on task. They help you get more done within your organization and within your team.
Email. I feel like so much context is lost in email. I try my best to write politely and be effective through email, but different people inevitably communicate in different ways. Some people are short and pointed in email and are really kind in person – simply because they are focused online. Other people need to have flowery context around the points within their emails. It’s essential to understand the different ways that people communicate via email and not read between the lines too much. If you have any issues with email, quickly elevate communication to phone, video conferencing or preferably in-person.
Text. Texts are short and sweet. You lose a lot of context with text. But texting can be very effective, especially when you need things done quickly, or you need to grab someone’s attention. With the right personality, I enjoy using emoticons to bring context. For example, they make my team coordinator smile, allowing us to have more fun and deal with challenges during the work day.
Social media. At the bottom of the list is social media. When you communicate sensitive information, you are less likely to get a thoughtful, deep and honest response and more likely to be harassed with over-charged rhetoric. Whenever possible, elevate more serious topics to a higher form of communication.

I hope you try some of these communication tips with your team and that they help you become a better person and leader.

Onwards and upwards.

To learn more, check out our blog post on purpose and vision.

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