Part of your role as a leader of others entails the delivery of structure or direction. Because you are responsible for the output of others, you are often necessarily accountable for an alignment of expectations—aligning their expectations to yours.
The most effective method of doing this is through a logical pattern of communication—a template that can be followed consistently, either in spoken words or in writing. Three elements offer the best communication pattern for delivering structure:
- 5 plus or minus 2. One or two ideas are rarely enough, and eight to ten are far too many. At whatever level of complexity or detail you find yourself, three to seven messages are ideal—enough for understanding but not too much for execution.
- Who, what, when, and how. In most cases, providing structure includes some variation of who’s involved, what results are desired, and probably most importantly how they might be achieved.
- Bullets or numbers. When you record the message in any written form, consider whether to use bullets or numbers. If you require a specific sequence or priority, use numbers. Otherwise, bullets are all you need. Try these to deliver structure.
About the Author: Don Brown
Don Brown is the developer of ‘The Leader’s Daily’ and author of “Bring Out the Best in Every Employee” (McGraw-Hill), “What Got You Here Won’t Get You There – in Sales” (McGraw-Hill) and “Situational Service® – Customer Care for the Practitioner.”
Don has spent 30 years ‘helping people with people’ for the likes of Anheuser-Busch, Ford Motor Company, United Airlines, Harley-Davidson Motor Company, Jaguar Cars, McLaren Health, and Hilton Hotels. You can email him at Don@DonBrown.Org.
