Communicate better at work
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The document discusses ways to improve communication in the workplace, emphasizing the pitfalls of PowerPoint, email, and conference calls. It offers tips on creating better presentations, sending effective emails, and organizing productive meetings, along with insights on the importance of clear and concise messaging. The speaker encourages a culture of open communication and thoughtful planning to enhance productivity.
Communicate better at work
- 1. How We Can Communicate Better Around Here
- 2. What I’ll Discuss Today ● Pseudo-Intellectual Principals! ● Death by PowerPoint! ● E-mail Atrocities! ● That Thing with Little Buttons and Lights on Your Desk! ● Conference Call Addiction! ● Brief in Name Only
- 5. Winston Churchill “I am sorry I have had to write you such a long letter, but I did not have time to write you a short one”
- 6. David Ogilvy “I searched all the parks in all the cities and found no statues to committees”
- 7. Avoid Death by PowerPoint
- 8. Some Brutal Truths About PowerPoint ● It’s almost always horrible! ● Info overload ! ● Cram your brain, not your slides! ● Are you even needed?
- 9. Some Brutal Truths About PowerPoint ● Consumed with creating “the deck"! ● Forget we’re making a presentation! ● No rehearsal! ● No chance to excel
- 10. Ironic Insight ● If I’m so critical of PowerPoint, why use it to make the argument?
- 11. Tips for Better Presentations ● Text and concept visuals! ● Easy on the charts! ● Commit to an anti-clutter standard
- 12. Tips for Better Presentations ● Present an outline. Hand out the brain dump! ● Animate with your voice and body language! ● Twenty minutes
- 14. Some Brutal Truths About E-Mail In The Workplace ● E-mail overload is #1 killer of productivity! ● 126 received/day (average)! ● Requires 41% of time
- 15. Some Brutal Truths About E-Mail In The Workplace ● 53% of e-mail received is unimportant! ● 20% of important email is overlooked! ● Inboxes contain 70% of enterprise info
- 16. Tips for Effective E-Mail ● Meaningful subject line! ● No DIY attachments! ● Be editors, not matadors! ● Don’t select “Urgent,” be that way
- 17. Tips for Effective E-Mail ● Make one point per email! ● “Reply All” = quasi-spam! ● Specify the response you want! ● Try texting or IM or Salesforce! ! ● And while I’m at it….do you ever send mail containing these vital messages?
- 18. “I agree!”.
- 19. “Same here!”
- 20. “Thank you!!!”.
- 22. “Don’t be silly - I’m the one who should say you’re welcome.”
- 24. Some Brutal Truths About Conference Calls ● Tools make scheduling too easy! ● Definition of Business Insanity – on calls all day discussing how busy you are! ● “Having a good call” is not a meaningful accomplishment
- 25. Tips for Better Calls ● Care enough to prepare! ● Think twice about invitee list! ● Would a memo suffice?! ● Good reasons to meet: Present. Plan. Decide.
- 26. Tips for Better Calls ● Bad reasons to meet: Read through docs.! ● Focus on action items! ● Summarize agreements and next steps! ● Conference report
- 27. That Thing With The Little Lights and Buttons On Your Desk
- 28. Tips on when you should call instead of write ● Truly urgent and time sensitive! ● Still unresolved after three e-mails! ● Requires less than ten minutes (most things do)
- 30. Some Brutal Truths About Our Creative Briefs ● Often non-existent! ● Paperwork, not thinking ! ● Production focused! ● Brain dump!
- 31. Some Brutal Truths About Our Creative Briefs Do you recognize these people? ● Minimal consumer insight! ● Client focused! ● No single-minded idea! ● Source of confusion
- 32. Tips for Better Briefs ● Treat as critical piece of thinking! ● Strategy is sacrifice ! ● First phase of the creative process! ● For the creative team, not the client
- 33. Tips for Better Briefs ● Inspire the solution, don’t dictate it ! ● Crystallize the key, single minded message! ● Concise, ! ● Transferable ! ● Actionable
- 34. Thanks for listening ! Don’t be afraid to communicate!! Greg Curran! g.curran@yahoo.com! 203 837 6000