I’ve written before about applying lean manufacturing principles to business communication[1]. Although manufacturing and communication are two totally different activities, both share the goal of producing maximum value with minimum waste. In this post, I’ve tried to simplify it even further, and I’ve come up with the ABCs of lean communication.
I define lean communication as giving the other person the information they need to make a good decision, with a minimum of time and effort. Ideally, a conversation, presentation or a written communication will meet three tests:
- It must add value, leaving the recipient better off in some way.
- It must be brief, because attention spans are short and working memory is limited.
- It must be clear, so that they can glean useful ideas that they can put into practice immediately.
What does it mean to add value in communication? It’s communicating useful information that produces improved outcomes for both parties while preferably preserving the relationship. This implies three important ideas:
Lean defines value simply as anything the customer will pay for. By analogy, value in lean communication is defined as any information the listener finds useful, usually to take action or make a decision.
Second, while it’s certainly possible to communicate so that only one party improves their outcomes—such as a boss giving clear commands—it’s not sustainable in the long run. The word “both” recognizes that you have your own purposes for the communication, as you should, but you will be more effective and influential in the long run if you develop the habit of focusing on the needs, desires, and perspectives of the other person.
Third, I say “preferably” because sometimes the demands of the business or the situation will necessarily harm the relationship.
Adding value ensures that your communication is effective, but it’s also important that it be efficient, because everyone has limited time and mental resources. It has to be brief and clear.
Adding value begins with outside-in thinking, which the psychologists call perspective taking or cognitive empathy. The usefulness of your communication will be directly correlated to your understanding of the other person’s needs, wants, and existing knowledge. As Stephen Covey says, “Seek first to understand, and then be understood.”
Regardless how useful your message is, if your explanation is too long-winded it won’t add value because it won’t get heard. Being brief is your best chance at ensuring that your message will get through, because time is pressing and attention spans have withered away to almost nothing. But brevity is not just about efficiency—it also improves the quality of your message because it takes deep thinking to be able to distill your ideas into concentrated form. That’s why the paradox is that brevity takes time; you have to do the hard work so your listener does not have to. So, even though brevity is mostly about reducing waste, it’s actually another form of added value. Being brief also makes you sound much more confident and credible, which supports your purpose.
There are two approaches to cultivate the habit and discipline of brevity: BLUF and SO WHAT?
BLUF stand for “bottom line up front.” Give them the main point first, and then back it up with your logic and evidence as needed. It works for two reasons. For you, it forces you a clear conception of your own core message, which you often don’t know until you try to summarize it. For the listener, hearing the point you want them to accept helps them organize the incoming information, and it often creates its own brevity because they will stop you when they’ve hear enough.
In any communication, there is so much that could say, but only a small bit that you should say. Your mind is full of knowledge, some of which is integral to your key message, some important, and much that is interesting but irrelevant. SO WHAT? is your mental filter that ensures the first comes out, the second is available if necessary, and the last two stay in your brain.
While brevity focuses on shaving time from your message, clarity focuses on removing mental effort to understand it. Brevity and clarity can clash or cooperate. It’s possible to be too brief, because of the curse of knowledge. You don’t remember what it was like not to know what you know now, so you might leave out information that the other person needs to fully understand the situation. Besides leading to misunderstanding, the main cost to you is that when the other person does not understand your logic or your explanation, the default answer is likely to be NO, because they won’t make the mental effort to understand and they won’t admit it’s unclear to them.
But brevity and clarity can also cooperate, because stripping out unnecessary detail can make the structure of your thinking easy to follow. But just to make sure, it’s a good idea to surface your logic[2], which is making your logical argument explicit and providing signposts in your conversation. Tell them the structure of what you’re going to say, such as there are three reasons we need to do this. “The first is, the second reason is, etc.”
The second tool for clarity is the language you use. Speak plainly and directly, and don’t try to sound smart by using terms others won’t understand. It helps to make abstract concepts clearer by using concrete examples, but be careful you don’t insult the intelligence of your audience—which brings us full circle to the idea that knowing your audience is key.
Want to be known as a great communicator? It’s as simple as ABC: Add value, Briefly and Clearly.
Lean Communication: Delivering Maximum Value
Lean Communication: Reducing Waste
Lean Communication: Making Work Visible
[2] A wonderful phrase I learned from Bruce Gabrielle in his excellent book, Speaking PowerPoint.
Since reading The Elements of Eloquence, I am seeing tropes everywhere. Unfortunately, most people seem to go for the low-hanging fruit (Boo, badly overused metaphor!), especially in the titles of blog posts.
Numbered lists are probably the most common, for three reasons:
- Someone did some research once and found that they lead to more click-throughs, so there’s at least a pseudo-scientific basis for this one.
- They give the impression of completeness.
- They promise a quick and easy read.
Alliteration is a cheap way to win one’s attention. It’s easy, and personally pleasing to peoples’ ears, even when it results in rotten writing.
Why do rhetorical questions get our attention? Is it because they spark curiosity? Do they exploit our continuous search for meaning in a chaotic world? Who knows?
Hey, smart guy. Yeah, you in the front of the room who are trying to sell me on your product. Cut out the Geek speak!
I get that your product contains extremely advanced technology. I also get that you know more about the technology than anyone in the room.
But I don’t care.
I don’t care because I can’t understand half of what you’ve said; you’re not speaking my language. I don’t speak Geek; I speak the language of “So What?”
I’m not stupid, and I probably could understand if I wanted to make the effort, but you haven’t told me why I should care. You haven’t told me what problem you’re going to solve for me, or how you’re going to make my life better. In fact, you still haven’t shown me that you know enough about me and my company to be able to tell me.
I don’t care because I can’t quite wrap my mind around those multisyllabic generalities you’re throwing out. What’s it like? How does it relate to something I already know? Make it concrete so I can see what you mean.
And those acronyms you’re throwing around? I have no clue what they mean but I’m definitely not going to embarrass myself by admitting it to you. It’s easier just to tune you out.
I get the fact that you’re passionate about your technology, and I applaud that. But if you love your product so much, do it a favor and tell the world about it in plain English. We don’t all speak Geek
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
