Enhance Communication on Your Team

Know what your communication preferences are. Try this quick Assessment to increase your self-awareness and learn about your peers and colleagues' communication preferences.

PLAN A LEARNING EVENT (1 hour):

Organize a Lunch & Learn. Invite your team/colleagues to complete the assessment prior to the Lunch & Learn. Ask them to write down their dominant style on a note card of corresponding color to their style (blue, red, yellow, green). Also ask them to bring their scores to the session.

Foster discussion around a relatable communication situation (see below for an example).

Scenario: You must comunicate to your team a change in project scope, including a shorter deadline.

Exercise:

1. Pair up with someone with the same dominant style. Discuss the strengths and liabilities of your style when communicating the above scenario.
2. Pair up with someone who has an opposite style to you. Discuss how you each would communicate the scenario to someone with a different style.

Debrief: Discuss as a group the following questions:

• What style is your manager/direct report?
• What did you learn about yourself?
• What did you learn about someone with a different style?

This assessment comes from The Brinkman Method. Check out this Forbes article for more analysis. Listen to this Tedx Talk by Scott Schwefel to learn more about communication styles.

Cut out some chaos

Let's face it, we all have chaos at the office. Not enough hours in the day, too many priorities, never ending to-do lists, and colleagues and clients who don't respect your time.

The Bad News:

We can't control external factors. People knocking on our door, asking questions they can solve on their own, sending emails that are not relevant to us or are not clear... the list will go on for quite a while. You can't control other people's behaviors, language, and attitude. 

BUT the Good News is:

You can control your own chaos. Here are is a 10 step process to:

• Help you create structure.

• Set boundaries to manage your time better.

• Protect yourself from the chaos that surrounds you.

Take the time to write down your responses to these questions. Reflect and decide is there anything you would reprioritize or change about how you manage your workload?

1. Imagine your IDEAL DAY.

2. Okay, NOW imagine your ideal WORK day!

Really! If you could be working on anything, what would it be and how much time would it take you to accomplish? Think BIG. This is an exercise in getting out of your known reality.

3. If you only had 2 hours a day to spend on work, what would you do? 

4. If you only had 2 hours a week to spend on work, what would you do?

5. If you had to remove 4 out of 5 of your most time consuming activities what would they be and why?

6. What are 3 activities that you do to “fill” time and make you feel AS THOUGH you are being productive?

7. Out of your colleagues and supervisors, who are the 3 people who contribute the MOST to you achieving your goals? Are you spending at least 70% of your time with them?

8. Out of your clients/vendors/customers who are the top 3 that contribute to MOST of your frustration? Are you able to reset expectations with these partners or cut them out?

9. If there is only ONE thing you will accomplish today, what would give you the MOST satisfaction?

10. Based on your responses create 1 or 2 goals for yourself. Ensure your goals are: 1) actionable; 2) have a deadline; and 3) are motivating to you. 

Now, get started on creating your most productive, successful day!