“Are your team’s comms better than they were three months ago?”
I ask this question a lot.
Nearly everyone says “no”.
I then ask why not.
The usual answer?
“TIME!”
But ‘time’ isn’t about ‘time’. It’s about ‘priority’ and ‘diary’. So:
- When people say they don’t have TIME to do X
- That’s the same as saying they chose not to PRIORITISE it
- Which is the same as saying it wasn’t in their DIARY
(Quick proof of this: all the things you PRIORITISE today are what’s in your DIARY. So you’ll have TIME to do them – even the ones you hate!)
So, the only way to improve your team’s comms?
Put something in your diary. For example:
- Schedule a regular team meeting – “IMPROVE OUR COMMS”
- Hold them every fortnight, month – whatever works
- In them, you each share your recent comms (1) successes, and agree how to embed them across the team; and (2) challenges, and identify how to overcome them. End by (3) agreeing three improvements you’ll take forward as a team
Your team’s success hinges on how well you all communicate.
Do you prioritise this enough?
Or haven’t you time?
Action Point
Diarise time to improve your comms – regular meetings work brilliantly (I’ve seen it happen hundreds of times!)
And if you want to share more comms best-practices in these meetings, these will help.