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1. Tell them what you're going to tell them. 2. Tell them. 3. Tell them what you told them.
by arctangent 16y ago
1. Tell them what you're going to tell them.
2. Tell them.
3. Tell them what you told them.
- stcredzero 16y agoSomehow, I was thinking there are people out there smart enough, where you have enough of a rapport or common understanding, where you don't have to tell them in triplicate.
- arctangent 16y agoI'm unfortunate enough that I don't work for a company where everyone else is smarter than me. (How cool would that be?!) My solution to this is to be extremely specific in what I communicate (while avoiding condescension) and and to make my communications as easy to filter for other people as I possibly can.
- stcredzero 16y agoHow you do this, and keep it worthwhile to delegate -- something I'm still working at.
- endtime 16y agoThis seems like a kind of platitude; it hearkens back to writing 101 but it doesn't actually solve my problem at all.
- arctangent 16y agoSorry for that. It is a kind of platitude... and perhaps I should originally have stated that it wasn't my own invention. That said, I do find it useful to use this presentational pattern in meetings and also in formal conversation. Using this approach in my email has also served me well and this is why I suggested it in response to you.
- endtime 16y agoHmm, I could have been clearer...I can write a basic email, but when I have to write a long, detailed, technical email (i.e. here's what you proposed, here's how to make it work, here's the cost, here are the three problems we'd need to solve, here are the two design questions I need you to answer) the problem is getting people to pay attention to all of the detail. I don't think repeating it three times would solve that.