Kent Ingle is president of Southeastern University, author of several leadership books and host of the Framework Leadership podcast.
Communication is a two-way street. It involves the communicator and the receiver. When the information leaves the speaker, the true meaning of the message can often get lost in transmission. It’s like when you played the game telephone as a child. The phrase you started with most likely changed because language is complex. One word can have several meanings, and people can misinterpret what they hear.
This often happens in a work environment. When you send an email, someone can read and understand it completely differently than you intended. Communication affects everything we do in an organization—impacting whether the organization runs smoothly. A Grammarly report, in partnership with The Harris Poll, found that “effective communication drives higher internal and external performance, with increased productivity.”
While there are many ways to communicate a message—and leaders should choose the right channel based on context—it’s critical that leaders learn how to transmit information efficiently through email. After all, email is the most preferred form of digital communication, and people tend to prefer email over in-person meetings for internal communications.
From my years in leadership, here are three ways to sharpen your email communication before you click “send.”
1. Keep it simple.
Bigger isn’t always better. Emails with descriptive language and big words don’t necessarily make your communication sound more professional. Flowery sentences can often detract from the main points and take longer to decipher. I had a professor who always said to write for an audience with an eighth-grade education. Why? Because it’s easier to read, and no one feels left out on what’s being communicated.
Write your email as if you are the reader. Imagine you have never heard the message before. Think through how you can make your communication more straightforward. I often ask someone who is not involved in the process to review what I write. If they can easily pick out the points I am trying to communicate, I know that others will too.
When you are ready to start your email, simplify your sentences and clearly state key takeaways or action steps. Keep in mind that the more complex your communication is, the more confusion you can create amongst your team. A lack of clarity can lead to anxiety, disorder and stress.
2. Establish your voice.
Your communication lays the foundation for how your employees will see you as a leader. From your emails to the meetings you hold to chats in the hallways, the impressions you make stick with them and build their perception of you. This is why the brand (or voice) you build is critical. It not only constructs their view of you but of your organization and its values as well.
While you want to be direct with your message, don’t minimize your personality and refrain from trying to be someone else. Many leaders get so lost in the details that they forget their voice can influence others. One tip I heard a leader say, and I try to keep in mind, is to be direct in the messaging but kind in the delivery.
The same Grammarly report discovered that “most workers (62%) say a positive tone drives a faster response” and can lead to higher-quality work. The tone you set in your communication can inspire or hinder others’ views of what is being said. Occasionally I will embed a video of myself within the email because I want my audience to understand my tone clearly (and with email, tone can easily get lost).
Remember, your message must connect with you first before it can connect with others. Be authentic, show vulnerability and don’t be afraid to use humor. You want your employees to view you as approachable and genuine.
3. Talk to the individual.
Effective leaders can make their employees feel as if they are speaking directly to them through email. It’s similar to how they would set up a one-on-one meeting. They cater their approach to the individual so that person can best retain the information being presented.
Recognize that the type of communication you create will need to vary for each member of your team or group of people. The tone and approach I take for email communication varies based on my organization’s constituents. As a university president, I wouldn’t write the same type of email for board members that I would for our students.
It’s critical that you understand the needs of your team members. Some people on your team need every detail because they want to understand the “why” of your communication. Others on your team may work best with summarized bullet points and bolding important content. Craft your email so that your team can understand what you are saying. And make sure to end your email with how the individual’s role specifically supports your message.
Lastly, if you want to be a good communicator, you need to be a good listener. Listening to others will help you find your best ideas on how to evolve your communication habits to maximize your potential influence. Once you have sent out your message, allow opportunities for your team members to provide feedback so you can ensure the clarity of your communication. Having good communication is not just about what you say but also what questions you ask. And remember that communication (even in emailing) is a skill that you never finish developing.
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