Communication strategies

The first step in using communication strategies to provide work instruction involves presentation methods. More specifically, this means using the appropriate presentation method to communicate information or instructions. Though the two are closely related, there is a fundamental difference between them. Information is concerned with descriptive knowledge, often meant to be learned in passing. On the other hand, instructions are procedural, involving steps and guidance on how something must be done.

Presentation Methods Defined

Presentation methods are the different means through which you provide information and/or instructions to an audience. There are a variety of methods you can choose from, but the most important thing to remember is that your selection must be appropriate to your audience.

As previously stated, your target audience is the intended recipient of the messages you convey while communicating. It is critical to understand your audience since they are the ones with whom you are talking.

One aspect of your audience you must make an effort to recognise is their requirements. Audience requirements are essentially the factors you need to consider when communicating information or instructions. To select your presentation method appropriately, you must consider what would work best for the audience you are presenting to.

Given this, there are three presentation methods which merit further discussion.

Formal Presentation

Formal presentations are a fundamental method of communicating in every business. In general, a presentation is considered formal when you are given time to develop an information pack (presentation) to present ideas or information tailored to the needs and characteristics of the audience. Along with this invitation, presentations are deemed formal when they are conducted in formal situations (e.g. formal meetings, workshops, forums, etc.). Thanks to the internet, formal presentations are no longer limited to face-to-face meetings; you can now have presentations online as well.

As a part of these conditions, you as a formal presenter are given sufficient time to prepare for the engagement and are also made aware of the rules or requirements you have to consider in your planning stage. The formal presentation method follows a strict format and has a defined purpose. Given this, it is important that you sufficiently prepare for the engagement. Steps in doing so would include:

• Establish clearly defined goals

  In line with what has been discussed in the previous chapter, it is important that you set clear goals for your formal presentation. Given the nature of your presentation method, the ability to establish clearly defined goals becomes even more significant. This is because the presentation method is stricter than less formal presentation methods.

• Conduct research

  You are given sufficient time to prepare, and you should use it to conduct research for your presentation. The research you must conduct is two-fold. First, it is important that the materials you present are well-researched. Take the time to guarantee that your information and/or instruction comes from reliable sources and that the content you present is as complete and detailed as possible.

  Along with this, you must take time to research your audience. As has been mentioned in the previous sub-section, it is important to have a key understanding of the audience you will be presenting to. Sufficient knowledge of your audience will enable you to make your presentation as effective as possible. Things you must know about your audience include:

  • number of audience members
  • knowledge level of audience members
  • Cultural factors (i.e. age, race, gender, sex, etc.)
• Organise delivery of presentation

  Formal presentations need to be well-prepared and well-rehearsed. As such, you have to make sure that your presentation follows a well-thought-of outline that flows well. Your presentation needs to be properly organised. This will benefit not only you but also your audience. Having a well-organised presentation makes it easier for you to plan and understand how you will communicate your content. Likewise, your audience will find it easier to understand your presentation.

• Prepare visual aids and prompts

  An integral part of your formal presentation involves the use of visual aids and prompts. These materials will supplement your presentation and make it easier for the audience to understand the points you are trying to make. Perhaps the most popular visual aid used in presentations is the PowerPoint presentation. However, the proper use of this visual aid is often overlooked by most people.

  To improve your presentation, you must be aware of several tips and tricks that will make your PowerPoint presentations more effective and visually appealing. Guidance on this includes:

  Along with the use of visual aids, you must also be sufficiently aware of key techniques in using visual prompts to enhance your PowerPoint presentation. These are techniques that will assist your audience to do something or direct their attention to specific points of a presentation. Visual cues include:

  • Highlighting or underlining key points of slides or presentation
  • Using title cards to indicate transitions in the focus of your presentation
  • Including signs to indicate actions that can be done by the audience
  • Optimise the use of white space.
  • Increase the readability of slides by using no more than three to five bullet points per slide and keeping each bullet point to a line of text.
  • Ensure the relevance of visuals in your presentation; use images only when they aid the text in a given slide.

Informal Meetings and Instructional Briefings

Compared to formal presentations, informal meetings are less heavily planned and regulated. The main purpose of informal meetings is to discuss matters (e.g. issues or announcements) that do not really have a place for discussion in formal meetings. This type of presentation method is more spontaneous and flexible than most.

Different types of informal meetings include:

• One-on-one Meeting

  This type of meeting occurs between two people. For instance, colleagues may discuss ideas and share insights, or a manager may check on their employee to check on how they are doing or discuss any troubles they may be having.

• Informal Team Meeting

  This meeting usually occurs when teams come together to realign and discuss problems they may be experiencing. It is a common occurrence that such meetings are called when an issue arises during the course of an undertaking. The process includes the following steps:

  • Identifying the issue to be addressed
  • Identifying team members/ stakeholders required in the meeting
  • Organising the meeting time and place
  • Discussing the issues and potential solutions
  • Agreeing the next steps as required
• Informational Meeting

  This occurs when people come together to receive or share information or receive instructions such as announcements and news about the company (e.g. changes in organisational processes).

• Instructional Briefing

  This occurs when people come together to receive instructions and guidance about an undertaking. A common example of an instructional briefing is the project briefing, which outlines the objectives and goals of the project and ensures that everyone understands these. During a project briefing, the scope, and key details, as well as the projected timelines, are discussed. Steps in conducting a project briefing include:

Written Instructions

The third and final presentation method comes in the form of written work instructions. These instructions are made to explain relevant processes or procedures for employees. Unlike the other presentation methods which come in the oral or verbal form, instructions come in the written form. This makes it easier to refer to them later on as necessary.

Among the different instructions you may have, perhaps the most common is your standard operating procedures (SOPs). A standard operating procedure is a set of instructions that provides step-by-step guidelines for carrying out different tasks. These tasks are often complex and routine, and SOPs are designed to help employees fulfil these as efficiently as possible.

To ensure that the SOPs you write is effective, you must have a key understanding of the four key components of an SOP. These are:

• Process Hierarchy

  There is a hierarchy for the kinds of SOPs you formulate, and it is represented by this figure:

  

  Procedures describe the processes involved in your SOPs. This is further discussed below.

  Work instructions and checklists provide detailed guidance on how to perform procedures that are less frequently needed and/or critical.

  Process maps enable you to simplify complicated procedures. As the name would suggest, this is done by means of mapping the steps in your process.

  A skills matrix is a table or a grid that outlines the competencies required of different employees in order to complete a given process, task, or procedure.

• Procedure

  Procedures supplement your policies. They enable you to enact the policies which set the tone for how things must be done in your organisation. Among the SOP documents, they are the least frequently updated and the most widely used.

• Process

  Processes further detail the enactment of procedures, catering specifically to different tasks and different people in the organisation to guarantee alignment of all procedures. Your process will mark who is responsible for the different procedures in your organisation. Moreover, processes ensure that the tasks involved are accomplished properly and on time.

• Instructions

  Instructions are your most basic SOP documents. These provide guidance for the enactment of basic work tasks.

  To write clear instructions for your SOPs, you need to perform seven simple steps. These are:

  

  Additionally, you may also need to welcome and incorporate feedback given by co-workers to improve your SOP.

Along with using appropriate presentation methods, you must also use the appropriate communication methods to communicate information or instructions. As it is with presentation methods, the determination of appropriate methods of communication will be done with consideration of the requirements of your audience.

Communication Methods Defined

Unlike presentation methods which are concerned about the ways you can provide information or instruction for your audience, communication methods are all about how you can engage in meaningful interactions with different audiences. Communication methods give your audiences a more active and participatory role in the interaction, and these are essentially the same as the different verbal and non-verbal methods discussed in Section 1.5.

Following on from the previous section, there are a variety of techniques for communicating information and/or instructions. There are different considerations to be made for selecting a communication method, and a major concern is ensuring that your communication method aligns with the requirements of your audience. Communication methods worth considering include the following, arranged by order of the speed at which you can expect responses from your target audience:

Meetings

Meetings are an indispensable method of communicating within the workplace. There are different reasons meetings are held. Meetings may function to create forums, make decisions, or build or strengthen a team. For any type of meeting you may hold, the most important thing to remember is that you keep the needs of your audiences and keep them involved and aware. One way of ensuring this is through sufficiently planning before conducting a meeting. A key output of this stage is your agenda that outlines your plan for the meeting.

It is important to have a clear and structured agenda to make meetings more efficient and timelier while sufficiently considering what is most appropriate for the intended audience. Having a good agenda will enable you to set the right tone and clarify what output is required from the meeting, provide clear topics to ensure that discussion points are all related, prevent the discussion of points that the meeting will not address, and help drive the discussion towards a clear and defined goal.

It is important to ensure that you consider the needs of your audiences when deciding if a meeting is an ideal method of communicating with them. For instance, conducting a meeting is necessary when you need to conduct a training to explain in-depth a new process or change to team members and/or need to gain immediate and detailed insights from your intended audiences on certain matters. Communicating such information through any other means may not only be inefficient but would also make it difficult for your audience. You may not end up getting the responses you need.

Mobiles

This communication method is ideal for quickly reaching out to people you need to quickly and immediately speak to but are unable to interact with in person. This may be due to factors such as logistical concerns (e.g. you are not in the same location) and mismatch in schedules (e.g. although you are in the same vicinity, both of your unable to commit to a face-to-face meeting because you are both otherwise occupied with other commitments).

Sometimes, the information or instructions you intend to communicate is a little too complex or lengthy to jot down. Moreover, it may be more effective to explain such matters verbally so that your audience would better understand you. When such happens, mobile is the most reliable method you can use to communicate.

It is important that your use of mobiles is aligned with the requirements of your audiences. You must keep in mind that this communication method is one that may not be preferred or suitable for many. For one, it is almost impossible to have a phone call with someone with a speech impairment or someone who is deaf or hard of hearing.

Short message services (SMS)

Perhaps the quickest written method of communication, SMS is ideal for reaching out to both internal and external parties from whom you need immediate responses. Unlike the email which gives recipients two to three days to work on a given request, the nature of SMS allows you to demand a response from the receiver as soon as they get and read your message.

The use of SMS is ideal for important and urgent matters that must quickly be addressed. For instance, if you are asking a co-worker working outside the office for a project update and you need the information immediately because you are currently coordinating with a client, you may opt to send them an SMS. This is especially true for instances where you have already sent an email but have yet to receive a reply.

As with the other methods of communication, you must sufficiently consider the requirements of your intended audience in deciding if SMS is the appropriate communication method to use. There are audiences who would rather communicate through SMS than through calls. This could be because of special needs and/or personal preferences.

Emails

This written method of communication is useful for reaching out to both internal and external parties quickly and efficiently. In situations that require sharing direct, detailed information, simple instructions, or providing a status update to one or more recipient, using this method is recommended. Moreover, information communicated via email should not be time-sensitive because, as a rule of thumb, responses via email will take time. The recipients of your emails may not read your emails immediately or at all. For instance, requests sent via email are usually accomplished within two to three days of being made – a response not as instant as the other communication methods.

Situations, where it is ideal to use this communication method, include notifying the team of updates to a process or a document, sending welcome messages to new employees, and submitting deliverables to a supervisor.

Once again, you must base your selection of this communication method on the requirements of your audience. Some audiences may be very responsive to emails, so it is easier and more sensible for you to communicate with them via email.

At the end of the day, you must always ensure that your selection and use of the communication methods discussed above is always suited to your audiences and sufficiently considers any requirements they may have.

Communication Styles

By definition, communication style is the way you interact and exchange information with others. There are different styles you can use, and you must be aware of the styles you and your audiences use so that you can adjust accordingly. In the context of the workplace, there are four different communication styles that merit discussion.

Analytical Communication Style

The analytical communication style is concerned with hard data and statistics and places heavy reliance on numbers and logic. This style values clarity and specificity; its users avoid vagueness and ambiguity. This is the reason that people who use this style may often be seen as cold or heartless.

Using this style is ideal when you need to deal with high levels of data and information. When you are dealing with complex information or instructions that would be difficult to communicate without a factual basis and sound reasoning, it is best to use the analytical communication style. Moreover, if audiences are more concerned about data analyses and technical information, it is best and most appropriate to employ this style.

Intuitive Communication Style

This communication style is concerned with seeing and highlighting the bigger picture. Unlike the detail-oriented analytical communication style, the intuitive communication style focuses on the overview of an entire project or initiative, placing value on meeting the end goal or point. A person using this style is seen as innovative, open to exploring new ideas, and encouraging interaction and creative thinking from audiences. On the flip side, however, people using it are often deemed impatient as they do not make an effort to go over each specific detail involved in processes and projects. This means they may end up overlooking important points.

Still, using the intuitive communication style is necessary when communicating with people who may not be too concerned about the nitty-gritty details of a project. This style compels people to see and appreciate the overall outcomes and bigger picture, making it easier to relate with people who simply want to understand the value of a given undertaking. This style is also quick and concise, so it is useful for situations where time for communicating is limited.

Functional Communication Style

This communication style is concerned with processes, details, and plans that underlie any initiative. Functional communicators are often relied on to implement and enact projects by virtue of their love for the process and the details. They can effectively evaluate the merit of initiatives and easily point out flaws and points for improvement. However, use of this style proves to be the most time-consuming due to the sheer amount of information the functional communicator has to discuss.

Using this style is ideal when you need to provide clear step-by-step plans to complete tasks or achieve goals, explain processes to those who need to know the specific details of a certain initiative, and give clear and constant feedback so that employees are able to improve on their overall performance.

Personal Communication Style

The fourth and final communication style is, as the name would suggest, the most personable one. The personal communication style is concerned about being able to connect with audiences on a deeper and more emotional level. People who use this style are considered relationship oriented. They want to understand their audiences and have meaningful interactions. Personal communicators tend to be active and effective listeners as well as diplomats who help resolve conflict and issues and glue teams together. Likewise, they value and respond better to honest and direct feedback, communicating honest thoughts and feelings and expecting others to do the same.

The personal communication style is ideal to use when you speak in person. It is useful when discussing matters that are less concerned about work and more concerned about the employees (e.g. team building, conflict resolution). This style may also come in handy when you are trying to establish rapport with important people (e.g. potential customers, board members).

The third and final step involved in using communication strategies to provide work instruction is negotiating the expected work requirements with others and clarifying that the instructions you have provided have been understood.

Expected Work Requirements

Expected work requirements are essentially the tasks and roles an employee must fulfil for any given undertaking. Of particular interest are your communication roles which, as mentioned in Section 1.3, refer to the part a person plays in a communication activity. These are important as your work activities will not be properly fulfilled if employees do not know what is expected of them and clarify what such expectation would entail. You must, therefore, ensure that employees are made aware of these requirements and are also given a chance to negotiate their roles, as necessary.

Negotiation Process

The process of clarifying and negotiating communication roles is relatively straightforward. The so-called negotiation that takes place is informal and does not have any strict requirements.

The general steps involved in this process include:

1. Preparation

   As with any endeavour, you still need to sufficiently prepare for the negotiation beforehand. Given your role as the one who is trying to negotiate with an employee, you need to ensure that you are fully equipped with any resources you would need.

2. Discussion

   At this point, your negotiation process begins, and you talk about the matter at hand. In this case, you will articulate the role you would like the employee to fulfil and explain it in detail. Likewise, the employee will share their side and how they feel about the situation. It may be useful to note points of interest during this step so that you can sufficiently bring up and/or clarify these later on.

3. Clarifying Goals and Interests

   Once you have fully understood one another, you are ready to clarify the goals and interests you have; those you share and those you do not. It is useful to rank these in terms of priority to understand how you can adjust to one another and work towards the next step of the process. During this step, you will also clarify any points that are unclear. This is especially important for the employee who may seek clarification regarding the role that is being asked of them.

4. Negotiating Towards a Win-Win Outcome

   Having taken note of the goals and interests of both parties, you can now negotiate towards a win-win outcome. Perhaps, the employee is fine with certain aspects of the communication role such as the work and tasks involved but has issues with matters such as schedule. These are things you must talk about.

5. Agreement

   Once both parties understand each other and agree to compromise and adjust to each other as necessary, you can now come to an agreement. Once again, you must make sure that you and the employee are on the same page. Clarify that they understand the instructions being given to them for their roles and the subsequent expectations asked of them. This will guarantee that they can fulfil the role satisfactorily moving forward.

6. Implementing a Course of Action

   Finally, you can move on to the implementation of a course of action that will carry out the agreement made. In this case, this is the employee’s enactment of their role and the subsequent tasks they need to fulfil.

Scenario:

In the planning process Jacinta has collected all of the information needed, clarified the goals and expectations of her stakeholders, agreed the different roles with those involved in the process and is now ready to implement her communication process.

In the past this has ranged from communicating large program and branding changes across the centre involving formal presentations developed by the marketing team to be communicated to all employees, with a change of centre signage, schedule reallocation, training on new programs and uniforms through to informal updates to the team on new hires that have been added to the weekly team meeting.

The same preparation process was followed, however the size of this varied in line with the size and impact of the communication.

• To ensure that you use the appropriate presentation and communication methods, you must consider the requirements of your intended audience.
• There are different presentation and communication methods – both verbal and written – that you can use to communicate information and instructions.
• The methods available can be used for both internal and external stakeholders.
• It is important to align your selection of communication method with the communication style you and your audience use.
• You must successfully negotiate the expected work requirements with others to ensure that they clearly understand the roles, tasks, and instructions given to them.

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