Communication Tips
February 2008
By Joan Craven
www.joancraven.com

Communication Checklists

There was a recent study that said surgery checklists can save lives. Airline pilots have successfully used them for years and I believe that if people implement communication checklists, better relationships between co-workers and colleagues will occur.

Good communication is all about building trusting relationships with everyone you come in contact with each day. How many times have you been proceeding on a project only to learn that another person or team is going down the same path? Frustration and even hurt feelings immediately occur.

“What we have here is a failure to communicate,” to quote the famous line uttered in Cool Hand Luke. Could a checklist have saved both teams incredible frustration? Yes!

Begin with formulating a standard communication checklist to go through at the conclusion of each meeting you hold. While each situation may be unique there are some standard questions to consider.

Who needs to know what? Come up with two or three key points each meeting attendee must pass along to each member of their team. It is imperative that each person says the same thing so everyone hears the same message. There will be less chance for misunderstandings. Agreeing to the statements to share might be an eye-opener as you may find as meeting attendees you came to different outcomes!

Define when you will inform the various groups you’ve identified and then establish how. Will you use email, face-to-face, phone, post it on the internal website etc.

Answering the above two questions will work around key decisions you have come to at any meeting. Don’t kid yourself that employees are not interested in what went on at your meeting. They are, and if you don’t share the information they will come up with their own conclusions, most times incorrect and usually with a negative spin. That’s how gossip begins.

If the meeting is around how to proceed on a project, create a checklist to identify what needs to be done, by when and who is doing it. Also look at approvals needed, at what points in the project progress and when. Brainstorm around times that have been aggravating in the past to help identify key times to connect and check-in.

If a news release is going out it’s been my experience that employees must receive it at the same time (if it is time sensitive) or before it goes to the media and other stakeholders. Create a checklist around who is going to hear when and how. Nothing breaks down relationships more than having employees hearing ‘the news’ while driving home or to work. At one spot I worked, we posted them in the elevators as way to reach employees who did not read email.

While you may be thinking I don’t have time to create checklists, my question to you is, do you have time to build a relationship once it’s been broken? The time spent upfront will have enormous payoffs.

Joan Craven offers workshops, seminars and personal coaching on various communication topics, including Effective Meetings.
She can be reached at joancraven@shaw.ca or (403) 286-7721 or
toll free 1-888 -376-4386 (US and Canada).