10 General communications advice


This is a list of general best practices, applicable to all 4 players of an organization.

There is no priority order, so they are not numbered.

- Create context. At the very least make sure everybody is clear about why you are communicating.

- Be aware of who you are talking to: a specialist, an integrating specialist, a specialized integrator or a main integrator. Also: be aware of who you are and talk accordingly.

- If possible don’t take part in situations where people are rewarded in any way based on how much they talk

- No matter how strong the urge, don’t repeat the same thing in the course of one conversation; if you feel you must make a point of articulating why you feel you must repeat a particular point

- No matter what business you are in, if you tend to talk fast, be aware of it, and talk slow. This works of course only if you understand why this is important.

- Never interrupt; even if somebody doesn’t make sense, repeats what was just said, makes statements about things everybody knows or makes other mistakes: never interrupt. These mistakes make sense in that they communicate a message if you listen in context. Also, it’s not worthy of a gentleman/lady to interrupt.

- Even if (and especially when) everybody is fast-firing different points, and you also have a lot to add to each and every point, remain calm, and think in structure, i.e. listen in context: what question are these points answering? OR: how are these points answering the question we are dealing with?

- A conversation, even a discussion, but especially a dialogue: is not a competition. Think and listen in context

- Not everything that comes to mind by way of association to something you have just heard must be said out loud. In fact when it comes to associative thought, it is always uncontrolled, thus better left unsaid.

- Don’t worry about missing an opportunity to make a point. If you think in context, you’ll never forget the point; …you’ll always have a chance to make a point when it’s obvious that it’s important. If you control your impulses, people will in fact ask you to make THE point: as the only one who is entitled to do so.

plus one

- never make statements about things that are well known to your audience!

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