The Importance of Over-communicating

approx. 4 mins read tl;dr;
  • Over-communication is a crucial element of effective management.
  • During high-impact meetings, clear and consistent updates ensure everyone is on the same page.
  • Failure to communicate adequately can lead to missed deadlines and critical developments being overlooked.
  • Written communication, in the form of concise documents, helps provide quick overviews of situations or projects.
  • Offering both detailed and shortened versions of project information can cater to different needs in a team.
  • Communication frequency matters along with the length; regular updates can prevent last-minute confusion and foster trust.
  • Even though over-communication might seem time-consuming, it improves productivity and is essential in project management.
  • The goal is to balance the amount of information delivered and the attention span of the audience, which is similar to engineering - finding the balance amidst chaos.

In my time as a manager, one very important lesson that I took away was this - there’s never such a thing as over-communicating. There’s an old saying, “Bad news travels fast, but good news takes the scenic route.” Well, in management, all news needs to be a sprinter, not a wanderer lost in the woods.

The Affect in Action

Imagine you’re in a meeting room (or a Zoom call these days) with your team, trying to resolve a high-impact issue, with the clock ticking loudly in the background. Nerves are running high, and in the midst of all this chaos, the last thing you need is miscommunication or misunderstanding.

In these meetings, communication is a skill that elevates from ‘useful’ to ‘critical’. Repeating clear, concise updates - again and again - ensures that everyone is on the same page, steering the ship in the right direction. After all, you wouldn’t want your most reliable engineer working on a solution that is irrelevant because they didn’t catch the latest update, right?

So, while in the throes of an incident, don’t forget to drum out those detailed updates. Who’s doing what? What’s the status? Who needs help? Answer these questions, and you’re half-way through to resolving the issue at hand. Don’t be afraid to repeat, rephrase, and retell until every single team member is on board with the plan. Trust me, it’ll save your bacon more than once in these nerve-wracking situations.

The Risk of Silence

So, what happens when we play the game of Chinese whispers in the workplace instead? We risk sending our projects off the rails. Deadlines might sneak up on us or, even worse, be missed. Next development steps can be missed and forgotten. Whenever you ask yourself “should I raise my voice and clarify something” - the answer should always be “yes”.

This is not only about speaking though - the same should be happening in written communication. Amazon and all the other big tech companies are always highlighting to be concise and write 6-pagers, 2-pagers, or even a 1-pager. The good thing about it is that you can get a quick overview of the situation or the project - but what if you want to learn more? What if you miss some context? What if you want to know how this decision was made? Then you’re lost and you have to put on your Sherlock Holmes hat to figure out what went down behind the scenes.

Can we have the best of both worlds? Of course, just do both - start by writing a long project description, article, etc., and then create a short version for people who only want to read the condensed info.

Likewise, always stick a tl;dr; at the top of every long message you rebroadcast. Be it a status update or the annual report, slap on a concise summary on top. Trust me, your team will thank you.

Being a Regular on the Communication Highway

Call me Captain Obvious, but keep this in check - it’s not just about the length, it’s also about the frequency of your communication. I’ve encountered cases where we had a solid six months to deliver, a seemingly generous grace period. But hell, make use of that time. Instead of scheduling status meetings at the end of these six months, when the project is already in deep shit, schedule meetings from the very beginning. Keep people in the loop, let them ask questions, flag issues or even contribute to the project. Consistent communication builds trust.

Now I hear you wondering, “But doesn’t all this take up a lot of time?” Well, yes and no. Instead of booking an hour-long sync every week, why not try bite-sized but frequent updates? Trust me on this one, sporting the hat of the ‘chatty Cathy’ may reduce your popularity, but it does wonders for productivity - people will eventually notice the improvements and even if they’re annoyed, they will appreciate it.

In Closing…

Over-communication might seem like a bore or a chore, but it’s a lifesaver in the realm of project management. And while you’re at it, remember to be concise. It’s a bit like walking a tightrope - balancing information and attention. But hey, isn’t that what engineering is all about - finding balance amidst chaos?