Topic: Small Team Communication
Summary: Learn how to minimize communication costs and maintain efficiency in small teams with actionable tips on identifying unnecessary communication, effective information sharing, and combining text and verbal communication.
Communication costs are often invisible, but they can be the most expensive aspect of running a team, especially for small teams.
When you have a small team, say, around five people, you likely engage in frequent brainstorming sessions. While brainstorming, discussions, and idea sharing are essential, as your team grows, communication costs can quickly escalate, becoming an invisible yet costly issue. Your once efficient, small team may struggle to maintain productivity due to daily communication costs, and you may not even realize why.
Communication costs can be the number one killer of young, small entrepreneurial teams. They're an invisible demon. In extreme cases, daily communication time can consume more than 60% or even 70% of the workday, leaving little room for progress or effective teamwork. Remote work may become impossible, and communication costs may ultimately be the downfall of your team and business.
From my experience, a healthy communication cost is around 20% of the daily work time, if not less. All other information sharing should be based on online tools or services.
#Actionable Tips:
1. Identifying unnecessary communication:
For small businesses, instant messaging software, occasional audio calls, and an online sharing document are usually sufficient.
For larger companies, dividing the workforce into smaller teams is an effective approach.
Limit meetings to one-way information broadcasting, avoid meetings with more than three decision-makers, and ensure meetings have a clear topic.
2. Effective information sharing:
Emphasize using text-based communication.
When sharing information, especially during discussions, always have a document to guide the conversation and improve efficiency.
Make use of real-time collaboration documents extensively.
3. Combine documentation in discussion:
Use verbal communication for in-depth explanations, and rely on text to keep the topic focused.
The right way: text + talk. Relying solely on verbal communication (audio, video, or meetings) is highly inefficient, while using only text can be insufficient.
4. Enhance communication effectiveness with thorough preparation:
Before engaging in conversations, ensure that all participants are well-prepared, which will lead to more efficient and productive communication.
Communication costs are the hidden killers of your team, particularly during the initial stages and when your team is small. I hope my methods can assist you in improving communication effectiveness and overall team efficiency. Implement these actionable tips to cultivate a more productive and successful work environment for your team.
