Drifting through the 7 Cs of communication

Communication, although is the most essential part of work, it is also one of the main reasons for misunderstanding.

Effective communication is not easy and takes practice, so here are 7 tips to improve your communication skills also called the seven Cs of communication.

Completeness

The message must be complete. You need to provide all necessary information and convey all the facts that are needed for the receiver to understand what you are trying to do.

For example:
If you want your colleague to send an email about her work progress, you say:

“Hey Sherry, send an email to the client at the end of the day today, okay?”

Now, your colleague is extremely confused since she does not know what email you are talking about. The message you gave her was incomplete and she will not be able to do what exactly you want her to do. Instead you could have said:

“Hey Sherry, could you send an email to the clients about your tasks update including the ones that are still work in progress? Let me know if you want me to review before sending. Is that okay with you?”

This gets the message across properly without any confusion.

Conciseness

Conciseness means wordiness.

Convey what you want to say in least possible words.

This does not mean give them an incomplete message, but keep your message as concise as possible. This is a time saving and cost effective way of communicating. Do not keep repeating the same thing over and over again or don’t add any irrelevant information.

For example:

We need to send out a message to our remote team, emphasizing that we need to follow certain rules and communicate efficiently with each other. If we write something like this:

“In order to achieve the desired outcome of this project, it is imperative that we adhere to the established guidelines and protocols that have been set forth by the relevant authorities and stakeholders, and that we communicate effectively and efficiently with each other and with our clients throughout the duration of the project.”

This sentence is way too long, has too many words. It is unclear about what we need to do and why. Instead:

“To succeed in this project, we must follow certain rules like attending the daily scrum at 10am EST, communicate well with everyone in the team, and let everyone know if you are facing any blockers so that we can work collaboratively on solving it.”

This sentence is short, simple, and clear. It tells the reader what we need to do and why in a few words.

Consideration

Being considerate means stepping into someone else’s shoes, taking another person’s viewpoints and feelings into consideration. When working in a team, we communicate with several people. We need to understand their mindset, where they are coming from, and their current emotions.

Communication without thoughtfulness may sound rude and hinder the relationship between the sender and the receiver.

For example:

When we are in a meeting discussing about a major feature. A developer keeps constantly interrupting everyone which is making everyone else frustrated or angry. You don’t want to come across as rude and arrogant, but the person is disrupting the meeting decorum. What you can say here is:

“Hey Dave, I understand that you are excited about this feature, so are we. Let’s make this discussion more interactive and allow everyone to keep their opinion out here as well. We can circle back to the details once everyone has put out their ideas. How would you like that?”

This way, you do not hurt their feelings and keep the enthusiasm going while also keeping the meeting balanced.

Concreteness

Concreteness refers to being particular.

When you are discussing among your team, it is necessary that you give specific facts and figures. Similarly, when you are asking for help, your message should be straight, not fuzzy statements that might confuse your recipient. Concreteness in communication helps to reduce misinterpretation hence there is less room for misunderstanding.

For Example:

You need a document from a team member so that you can share it in a presentation the next day. You also want to review it and make necessary changes before the presentation. So, you tell her,

“Emma, can you create a document about the feature you were working on last week? Share it with me soon.”

Now, Emma does not know what soon is: an hour, a day, a week or a month? She might not make it available for the next day. Also, she might have worked on multiple features last week. So, she is confused as to what you want and when you want it. To create a better understanding you should have said:

“Emma, I need a document from you about the payment integration feature you worked on last week. Please make it ready in the next 1 hour. I want to review it and present it in the meeting tomorrow. Can you make it happen?”

Clarity

When communicating with someone about something, the message must be clear.

This implies emphasizing on a specific message rather than jumbling up several messages at a time.

This makes understanding clear and easier while also making you a good communicator. Unclear messages are the root causes of misunderstandings and chaos.

For Example:

Suppose you send your boss an email saying:

Hello Roy,

I’m sorry for the delay, I was busy with the project, but I have some questions, can you please answer them, also I need your feedback on the report, and can you please approve my request, thank you.”

This email will confuse him since it has no structure or clarity. The boss might not know what to focus on and might miss some important action items. Instead you can write:

Hello Roy,

Thank you for waiting for my response. I was occupied with the project, hence the delay. I have some queries that would require your attention as soon as possible. I will forward it to you right away. I also needed you feedback on the report. We can discuss this when you have time.

Thank you

Now, the boss can prioritize the information and create less delays in the work process.

Courtesy

Courtesy as we know is about showing someone respect.

When communicating in a professional setting, it is essential to show respect and sincerity to your colleagues, be it, seniors, juniors or any stakeholders. Your language must be polite, judicious, and reflective. Like the saying goes “When you give respect, you get respected.” This stands true during every type of communication.

When you speak with someone, the tone of your voice, how you address them, your body language is visible. But when you are working with a remote team, messages may not be received as intended.

For Example:

You need your team member to prioritize a certain task. So you ask them,

Hey, I want you to work on Sticky note feature before anything else. If you need anything, let me know.

This message, although written with good intentions, may be received as rude and arrogant. You can sound kinder by saying:

Hey Max, I hope you are not very occupied right now. We needed to prioritize the sticky notes feature before any other tasks this sprint. I am sure would be the right person to work on it given your experience. Let me know if you have any concerns. I am always here.

The person now feels valued and appreciated. You get the message across without offending anyone.

Correctness

Correctness is essential in all types of communication, but more so in written format. Your messages and emails should not have grammatical errors. The message must be exact, and well-timed. Also, when speaking, it is important to have precision in the things you speak about. Correctness helps to build greater impact on the audience and also builds credibility for the speaker.

For Example:

You need to add more resources on your team to meet the deadline. You are asking your engineering manager to provide you a senior developer.

I need a senior developer to complete the module of the application. My deadline is approaching and we have only completed so much. If we don’t add a resource right now, I don’t think we will be able to meet the deadline.

This message, although gives the information out loud, does not make sure it is based on facts. The engineering manager, may or may not take your request seriously. While you can say:

My project is in need of a senior mobile developer. The deadline is in next 2 months, and with all the junior resources on the team, we have only been able to complete 40% of the work. Major modules are still a work in progress. Please look into this matter and provide me with an answer by the end of day today.

Now, with the facts provided, they can look into what type of resource would fit best. They would also be able to prioritize the action item with the given deadline.

End Remarks

Communication is essential in every aspects of our life, and even more so in a professional setting. Being able to present idea across is a super power! With these Seven C’s of communication you can be effective among your team and stake holders who are right next to you or seven seas across.