Communication lies at the heart of any business. There is a simple thing that can be done to improve any businesses communications and yet few businesses ever pay any attention to it. This simple thing is to never assume anyone knows anything. If it is true that experts are people who have made lots of mistakes then I am a super expert.
You should never write as though you were having a conversation. When so much of communication is usually down to visual clues in a conversation when those visual clues are not available communication becomes much harder. This is rubbish. Writing is far more complex than this.
A little while ago I was involved in a project where we had to redevelop part of a web site. We were both very clear in our minds about which part this was and so never bothered to clear this up. I was frustrated that they couldn't understand what I was talking about and they were frustrated that I couldn't understand what they were talking about. It was only because I said something that immediately made the other person see we were talking about different things that suddenly we started making sense to each other.
The real trick is to write in such a way that you communicate your message without overdoing the detail. There is nothing more annoying than having to read a simple message with a lot of other words in the way. Many entrepreneurs and leaders will admit that some information needs to be available on a need to know basis to prevent that information from slipping into the hands of the media, competition or enemy. Any communication expert who studies business communication will tell you that such things need to be handled very carefully to keep employees and team members fully engaged.
Is it true that not everyone can be trusted with information? Well, information is power and if you power-up those who cannot control their integrity levels or choose not to, then in a way giving them the information makes you an accessory to their actions. For instance, many folks have a lot of knowledge, experience, observations, insight and original thoughts.
But, like water it does flow, information, like living organisms want to be free. Sometimes, even the folks who have the information do not even trust themselves with the information they have because it's too easy to make a mistake. As the saying goes; lose lips sink ships.
There is little doubt that the business world locally, nationally and globally has been forever changed by the information age. Today, the world is closer together than ever before and an economic crisis in any one country has far-reaching effects elsewhere around the world. But, what will these new technologies be that increase business communications speed of transmission and bandwidth be like? Remember it was not long ago you were chugging along on your dial-up access on your 286 IBM Clone computer and you were quite amazed at its abilities when it first came out.
Soon, we will have super small devices that operate by voice and eventually by thought. The storage capacity will be better than the library of congress even for a device the size of a mini-cell phone. Well, think about it for a second, you can collaborate on designs. You will be able to see a miniature of whoever you are talking too, watch the body language and get a much better feel for the conversation.
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