Last week I shared some ideas to help you think differently about time.

If you haven't read it, you can find it here.

This week I tease that out further in relation to preparing your communication.

We can take advantage of both diffused thinking and focused thinking to cut the work and lift the impact of our communication.

Here's how I do it.

1. Flush out the strategy early. Involve others in a quick conversation before you write anything. We call this a roadmapping session. Our goal is to think through the purpose and audience collaboratively so we can get our heads around the communication context. This helps you stop procrastinating and also kick-start the diffused thinking mode, which I mentioned in last week's email.
2. Firm up the messaging as a one-pager in short bursts. One client sets 30 minutes at the start of the day to get as much as he can done for major papers. Then he leaves it until the next appointment he has made with himself. This way he makes progress, isn't stressed by the deadline and can allow the ideas to marinate in the background. This marination is key, and helps you take advantage of diffused thinking.
3. Iterate around the one-pager until the messaging lands. Test it yourself and also with peers and your stakeholders.
4. Prepare your doc or deck only after the messaging is clear. Otherwise you will spend significant time in Track Changes and fending off your managers' red pen.

I hope this helps. More soon.

Dav

Elevate, the book – helps leaders set their teams up to set up a new dynamic across their team that will elevate everyone’s skills, helping the team get better, faster decisions.

Engage, the book – helps individual contributors prepare papers and presentations that leaders can approve without reworking.

Engage, the self-paced course  – supports both individuals and leaders prepare more insightful papers and presentations for senior leaders and boards.

Extreme Clarity, the 2-hour workshop – introduces techniques for structuring your messaging.

Board Paper Bootcamp, the 2-week program – helps you clarify and convey complex ideas to senior leaders and boards.

WANT TO LISTEN?

1. Risk Management = Change Management
2. Richard Medcalf – Making Time for Strategy
3. Baking Learning & Growth into BAU
4. Helping Leaders ‘shift testing left' to derisk projects
5. A Case Study in Digitial Transformation
6. How to help a senior leader come back from a misstep
7. How to hit the ground running in a big new role
8. How to communicate during great change
9. How to turbo charge your transformation

RELATED POSTS