Do this before you speak
If value in lean communication is anything the listener wants or needs to hear, waste is any work or input that does not contribute to value. As anyone who has endured excruciatingly boring and unproductive meetings (i.e. you, me, and everyone else) can attest, there is waste everywhere in communication: excessive detail, self-serving “chest beating” about how great your company is, inaccuracies, long stories, ambiguous terms, meaningless clichés, etc. In fact, there is so much waste in communication that it would waste your time trying to list it all.
Waste has consequences. Lost time is the most obvious, and in today’s frenetic business world, none of us has much of it to spare for pointless blather. But the deeper and more costly consequence is that it prevents us from focusing on the essential and devoting enough time to making the right decisions based on the information we do glean from the mountain of extraneous words.
Don’t get too efficient
Waste can’t be eliminated from communication, nor should it be. I first titled this article eliminating waste, but decided that’s too crazy. In fact, trying too hard can be wasteful in itself. Hemingway achieved his lean writing style only by going through as many as twenty revisions, but we’renot striving for timeless literature—just effectiveness. The great thing about dialogue is that there is a lot of room for accommodation by both sides. Even if someone is not perfectly precise in what they’re saying, we usually get it. Good enough is usually good enough.
Besides, you need to have slack built into any conversation or presentation, because you can never anticipate exactly how the other party will react—what questions they will ask, information they might add, or perspective they might share. That said, here are some things you can do.
Countermeasures
First, realize that you don’t get to define what waste is; the recipient does. You may think that context is unnecessary because you know the background and the big picture, but the listener may need that context. You may think small talk is wasteful because it takes time away from the task, but the amiable listener may think it’s crucial to sizing you up. That means that the first step in reducing waste is to put yourself into the other’s shoes and see the situation from their point of view. How much do they already know? What’s the minimum they need or care about to use the information? Where are they in their buying or decision cycle?
Second, clearly identify the purpose of the conversation and then apply the Four-I Test: what’s integral to your purpose for the conversation; what’s important; what’s interesting; what’s totally irrelevant? Lead with the first, have the second ready as the conversation dictates, save the third for the discussion over a beer later on, and erase the fourth from your memory.
Third—if you have time and if it’s important enough—rehearse what you’ve prepared to say, preferably with a disinterested observer who can tell you what sounds confusing or ambiguous, spot gaps in our thinking, and tell you what makes them tune out.
Fourth, during the conversation or presentation, pay close attention to the listener’s reactions and be prepared to add or subtract, speed up or slow down as necessary. Let their reaction pull the appropriate information, as we will cover in the next article of this series.
In the introductory post to this series, we defined lean communication as the ability to provide maximum value with minimum waste. I’ll define Value as anything the recipient[1] wants or needs to hear and see.
Speakers deliver value through content and expression; the speaker must deliver the right content in the right way so that the recipient benefits. If you think of a communication opportunity as a product, expression is the package and content is the end product.
Let’s start with expression, because it’s the packaging of your content. Expression consists of making the content understandable without a lot of work on the part of the recipient. You know those products on the market today that are packaged in nearly impregnable plastic shells that endanger your health just trying to get them open? That’s how some presentations and explanations come across. Convoluted structure, meaningless buzzwords, and excessive verbiage are the hard plastic of that listeners struggle to get through to get access to the content.
An end product can fail to deliver the intended value if it’s the wrong product, does not deliver all the needed benefits, or delivers more than the user needs. It’s the same with communication: the recipient expects content that is accurate, sufficient, and relevant. You won’t communicate the necessary value if you have wrong information; or leaves your audience lacking crucial bits of the puzzle to make the best decision; or tell them far more than they need.
The relevance criterion is the most common violation. Assuming you are communicating in good faith, you probably have reasonably accurate and sufficient content for the listener, but it’s easy to give too much information. You may tell a story that’s fascinating but irrelevant, provide too much background detail to someone who is already familiar with the situation, or simply ramble on through undisciplined communication or lack of confidence. Too much information wastes time, but it can also detract from value by making it difficult for the listener to sort out exactly what they need to know—more is usually less.
How to ensure maximum value?
The surest way to deliver value in communication is to think before you speak. Be clear in your own mind what you want the listener to know or do, and why. If that means writing down your thoughts before an important discussion, it’s an investment that almost always carries a positive return, especially in terms of improving the packaging.
The what usually comes easy, but you can only be clear about the why through outside-in thinking, or seeing the situation through the other’s perspective and interests. That takes time, research, and preparation.
Even in a more casual communication, you can impart greater value by applying the So What filter to everything you say: what does this information mean to this listener at this time? The so what might be different for each particular receiver, depending on their needs, and their previous knowledge levels and attitudes.
Finally, you can create more value for the listener by being a listener yourself. Where communication differs from the product analogy is that you have real time control over the product as you deliver it. Pay attention to the effect your message is having on the recipient, and be prepared to add, delete or modify on the spot as necessary.
Tomorrow’s post will examine the many ways you can achieve lean communication by identifying and eliminating waste.
P.S. Although I usually add a picture to my posts, I could not think of one that would add any value at all.
Does this describe your communication approach?
Lean manufacturing is a production philosophy that seeks to deliver maximum value to customers with minimum waste. Companies using it have achieved huge increases in productivity and customer satisfaction.
I contend that you could achieve similar benefits by applying the lean approach to your communications. This article introduces the concept at a high level and subsequent articles will drill deeper into the specific detail.
What are the key concepts of lean and how do they apply to communication?
Value. In lean, value is defined as anything the customer is willing to pay for. By analogy, value in communications is defined as any information that your listener wants or needs to hear. Both approaches require a deep understanding of the end customer.
Waste. Any work or input that does not directly contribute to value. In communication, it may include unnecessary explanation or words, irrelevant details, unclear or ambiguous terminology, and inaccurate data.
Making work visible. Having a clear view of the work process and status helps to expose value creation and waste reduction opportunities. In communication, a clear structure for your message makes your logic easier to follow—for yourself as you think of it, and for your listeners as they hear it.
Pull. Production is driven by the customer’s specific need. For communication, this means two things. First, you prepare by anticipating the listener’s questions and their likely reaction to your message. Second, you don’t just get to the point quickly—you begin with the point and add detail as needed by the listener.
We will look at the specifics of each lean communication concept in individual articles next week
