Show Notes
Reminder: What is a Business Principle?
When I talked about what made a business principle I ended up here:
A business principle is a concept that is both foundational and relevant to all businesses.
This set a pretty high bar when it came to identifying what were business principles and what were strategies, missions and tactics.
Communication made the cut and that’s what I want to cover today.
What is Communication?
At its core, the concept of communication is straightforward. Communication is the transfer of information from one person to another. Of course, while the concept of communication is simple, effectively communicating is another thing entirely.
Why is communication a business principle?
The ability to communicate effectively across your organization and to the wider world of vendors and customers is certainly fundamental to the success of your business. Since the transfer of information is a key part of any business it’s clear that communication is one of the clearest principles of business.
-Communication happens whether you meant it to or not...
- Every time you communicate the entirety of the experience is part of the communcaition [ ]
- the tone you use [ ]
- the clothes you're wearing [ ]
- the environment around you or your recipeint or both [ ]
- the words you choose [ ]
- the channel you use [ ]
What are the components of communication?
While we’re not going to do a complete study of communication here I think it’s worth noting the basic components here.
- Source
- Message
- Channel
- Receiver
- Feedback
- Environment
- Context
- Interference
Note: These were not invented by me and when I tried to source them I had absolutely no luck finding the actual smart person that came up with them. Please comment if you know the source and I’ll add it!
While each of these is important there are three I think bear specific discussion in the context of business.
Channel
There is a tendency to reduce the concept of communication to written and verbal channels. It’s worth noting that each of our five senses is integral in how we perceive the information we are receiving about our environment and; therefore, it’s important to consider each of them as we work on our communications for our business.
Does your message change depending on what channel you’re using? Should it?
Message
The idea of message is layered. One layer is the information we want to share. The layer that I think is often missed is the message we sent ‘surrounding’ the message we intend.
An easy way to look at this is with video conferencing. When you’re joining a video conference everything that is visible to your audience subtly (or not so subtly) becomes part of your message. If your desk is tidy… that’s part of the message. If your desk is cluttered then that becomes part of your message as well. In order to ensure that our video is communicating the message we meant to transfer it’s important to look at everything that’s visible in the frame and see how it supports or detracts from that message.
Another great example of this is body language. Most personal communication is actually achieved through our body language and not the words we say.
The same issues can be applied to each channel that we use to communicate.
Interference
Interference is all the ‘stuff’ that gets in the way of transferring your pure message from you to your recipient. This includes the way you encode the message as the sender (biased based on your experience and context), the way your recipient decodes the message and any barriers or obstacles in between.
If we assume that 1:1, in-person, communication is the most effective then for each step away from that we must take more care to reduce ambiguity and the possibility of misinterpretation.
Communication Guidelines
Video
- Look at what’s in the frame and make sure it reflects the message you want to convey.
- Get your audio right first.
- Remember you’re on camera!
Email
- Put your contact information in your email signature.
- Add a greeting for each recipient on the first email of the day.
- Only ‘reply to all’ for distribution or notification. For items requiring action - reply to the person responsible for the action.
- When writing an email, assume the person you want to read it least is going to get a copy.
- Never use email as the first communication of bad news… make the call or meeting then follow up with an email.
- If you’re angry and can’t stop yourself from writing… remove the email addresses from the TO, CC & BCC then save the draft and look at it later before sending.
- Be clear & concise.
- Remember there is no emotional context in email unless you put it there.
Phone
- Never say ‘Bye’ before your customer does.
- Stand.
- Smile.
Text
emotional context
don’t use
i use sparingly
Social Media
wild west of communication
be careful
experiment
be aware of the full messages you’re sending
Practical Action
We can’t all get a degree in communication but it is important that we are continuously practicing that craft to better share our ideas and expectations and value to our customers, team and business partners.
Here are a few things you can do to help improve the value of communication in your business.
Answer the question: How does your communication in each channel support or reflect your Vision?
Create your own communication guidelines and share them with your team.
Take a new look at communication and reinvest in the intentional use of language and tools to share your message.
What’s your favorite communication tool for small business? Why? Drop a comment with your thoughts. Connect with me to keep in touch and share ideas!
What is The Up and to the Right | Small Business | Practical, Actionable, Sustainable Improvements?
Welcome to Up and to the Right, the no-nonsense podcast where we blend your passion with proven business principles and practical tips, empowering you to create the impact and success you envision.
Hosted by Stephen Krausse, the show covers what matters to small business owners, startups, and people interested in becoming entrepreneurs. No buzzwords and no hyped-up trends!
A graduate of Colorado State University's College of Business, Stephen has an academic background that compliments over 25 years of business operations and management experience. He started his first business as a freshman in college in 1987, recording and producing demo tapes for local bands. Since that time, he’s been involved with numerous successful small businesses, including the operation and management of a niche high-tech company with customers and suppliers worldwide.
As a business professional by education and trade, he works with select business owners to blend their passion with proven principles, giving them the edge they need to achieve their unique impact. Stephen is always researching new products, ideas, and innovations - consuming content through audiobooks, podcasts, and online resources, and connecting with other professionals locally and abroad.
Now he’s sharing practical tips and ideas to help you get real work done. This isn’t about fancy solutions requiring a considerable investment or changing how you do your best work. You’ll discover ideas that will allow you to integrate proven principles into the way you already get things done. You’ll get practical ideas to easily replicate, modify, and integrate into what you already do.
Up and to the Right covers topics like getting value out of a business model, outsourcing, hiring for small businesses, working across platforms, productivity and efficiency hacks, building revenue streams, communication and planning, and more! Some episodes will have related downloads available from the show notes page below or unique segments with guests who have industry-specific tips that would be helpful.
It’s time to roll up your sleeves and get to work. Listen to Up and to the Right with Stephen Krausse today.