Perhaps communicating is the most important skill when working with other people, and it is required for greater success. In this blog post, I list my thought process: before, while and after communicating.

Why should you read my thought process?

• I value and take action to deliver high-impact solutions simply and quickly.
• I received (and continue to receive) the same feedback at school, university, work and personal life: “Baran, your communication is very clear and effective to get shit done quickly.”.
• I value engineering and automation to the point that they are no longer valuable.

My thought process on effective communication

Plan (before communicating)

1. Acknowledge that you are talking to a human like yourself, so communicate with the recipient as you would like to be addressed by empathising.
2. Keep it simple to maximise clarity and focus.
   • E.g., Each letter/word/sentence is a spent resource of time and energy, so find a balance between sharing nothing at all and sharing everything. A question I ask myself is “What value does this letter add to the sentence?”. If the added value is negative, then I remove that letter.
   • I.e., When the message is longer, then the recipient will be less motivated to read, or more likely to miss some details.
   • I.e., Use active voice (e.g., “I completed X.”) instead of passive voice (e.g., “X was completed.”) because active voice is easier to understand than passive voice.
3. Expand your knowledge to understand the assumptions, parameters, dependencies and the core problem.
   • E.g., Understand the problem by listening to or reading the recipient’s problem.
   • E.g., Research the problem on your own to understand the problem, and where this problem stands in the bigger picture/problem/aim/domain.
4. Explore the impact of the problem to prioritise.
   • I.e., Time and energy are sacred resources. Most challenges are not impactful, and because I want to have the most impact, I drop/deprioritise/delegate not impactful problems.
5. Know your audience to speak at their level:
   • How knowledgeable is the recipient?
     • E.g., If the recipient is not technical, then they won’t understand a technical language.
     • E.g., If the recipient is not from the same company, they will most likely not understand the company-wide terminology (e.g., acronyms).
     • E.g., If the recipient is not from your problem’s domain, perhaps you are talking to the wrong person.
   • What culture is the recipient from?
     • If the recipient is from a different culture, they might prefer communicating in different ways; because different cultures have different values.
       • E.g., The Western culture values productivity/straightforwardness over kindness; whereas the Eastern culture values kindness over productivity. Furthermore, values like kindness have different meanings in different cultures.
6. Select the right communication channel to get the quickest and highest-quality response.
   • E.g., Escalating every issue will damage relationships in the long run; so get their minimum attention at the level that is required to make the most impact to solve your problem.
   • E.g., Verbal communication has a higher impact which resolves the problem quicker compared to written communication.

Deliver (while communicating)

1. Follow a message structure to keep the communication flow organised:

# Greeting (optional)

# Listen to the recipient (if the recipient started the conversation)
- make the recipient feel safe, understood, accepted and encouraged (e.g., by giving validations/appreciation with genuine/sincere desire)
- don't interrupt the recipient since they might mention something you want to ask and being interrupted is frustrating from the recipient's perspective
- don't speak for the recipient (e.g., You like doing X.); instead, ask questions (e.g., So, you are saying you like doing X?)
- ask for anything unclear to improve clarity
	- i.e., ask questions (e.g., What is X?) if you are unsure about anything
	- i.e., mirror the recipient with a question (e.g., So, ... ?) to let them confirm your understanding

# Provide Background/Context/Bigger picture (optional)
- don't use subjective words (e.g., very, good, bad)
- don't criticise/complain/share negativity
- stick to statistics/proofs/proven methods/past experiences
- if you want to give your opinion, make it clear that it is your opinion (e.g., _Perhaps_ we shouldn't do X, because Y?)
- list any assumptions/dependencies/risks

# Current problem that you are facing
- communicate 1 problem at a time
- use examples (sentences/images/videos/diagrams) if valuable

# Expected solution/Aim/What you want from this communication
- communicate 1 aim at a time
- use examples (sentences/images/videos/diagrams) if valuable

# Solutions that you have tried but failed
- use (listed) bullet points if more than one
- use examples (sentences/images/videos/diagrams) if valuable

# Questions
- use (listed) bullet points if more than one
- ask a maximum of 1 step ahead of the original question if possible
  - E.g., Did you finish doing X?
    - If so, could you also do Y?
    - If not, how can I help you to finish X?
- ask for feedback (e.g., "What do you think?") to improve for next time
- the least you can ask is "What do you think?" so the recipient feels in control and motivated enough to continue the communication

# Give your suggestions on your questions (optional)

# Make it clear that the conversation ended (optional)

• If communication is written, use automated tools to proofread any spelling or grammar mistakes to decrease overhead.

Click here to format your own messages with this structure using ChatGPT

Real-world examples

Follow up (after communicating)

1. Agree on action items (if any) and a deadline to catch up (if necessary).

Wrapping up

That is it from me. What did I miss? Comment below and I will read it.

Further reading:

• “Never Split the Difference”, a book by Chris Voss.
• “How to Win Friends and Influence People”, a book by Dale Carnegie.
• “How do I learn to communicate effectively”, an internet discussion on Hacker News.