How to Communicate Clearly

How’s the communication with your team? You might talk to each other, but talking isn’t enough. That’s because everyone remembers conversations differently. There’s a huge difference between what you THINK you said and what you ACTUALLY said.
You think you said, “For tomorrow’s breakfast, I’m gonna bring coffee, two dozens of donuts, paper plates and a whole stack of napkins.” But what you actually said was, “I’ve got breakfast covered for tomorrow.” What does that mean? Your team sure doesn’t know!
Repeat after me: specific is terrific. Vague is the plague.
Here’s another thing: if it’s not written down, it doesn’t exist. When you don’t put tasks in writing, there’s no way of knowing who’s supposed to do what. Everyone remembers a different version of the conversation. And chances are, they’re all wrong. I bet you can’t even remember what you said 30 minutes ago!
Don’t just say what you’re going to do. You need to write it down, too.
Writing stuff down holds people accountable. When someone offers to complete a task, repeat it out loud to verify you’re jotting it down correctly. This will eliminate confusion and get everyone on the same page. Don’t forget to be specific!
Personally, I need to write stuff down all the time. Watch this video to see what happens when I don’t!