The biggest hole today in terms of communication is the fact that many people don’t communicate well. They tend to mesh all the kinds of rules of communication into one formal rule for themselves and this is a large fail for people they are trying to communicate with.  There is nothing worse than getting an email using horrible short hand abbreviations like  ‘Wud U look at sum docs 4 me pls’ and continue the conversation into the email using the same kind of language.

Two words: NOT EXCEPT-ABLE

Or how about giving a team the low down on a project but then never putting the words down in a document and instead expecting that they just GET IT. The other way around is to write up a document for a project and never getting together to review.

I’m in the business of communication. Everything I do is dependant on how well I communicate. In order to communicate well I need to understand even better and detail so much more.

Thing is that YOU are also in the business of communication. Poor communication and failure to follow simple rules will leave holes in the details and likely at a cost of making life harder on yourself and those around you.

Rules I live by:

1. Every project needs a spec document, no matter how large or small. This doc NEEDS to contain visual direction such as wireframes and flowcharts.
2. Every project requires an overview of the spec doc in person, Skype or whatever.
3. Set expectations at the start and throughout the project with staff and clients. This helps leave less room for error.
4. Twitter might be 140 Characters, but there is no need to use poor english or too much ’short-hand’
5. Use Twitter’s DM feature when I can with whom I can to send small messages and connect with people. Short is sweet.
6. When possible use point form in emails but they need to always be professionally written, even those to friends and family.
7. Facebook, Linkedin and Twitter are separate social mediums, treat them and the content you post in each as such.
8. There is NO such thing as over-communication when it comes to business – just poor communication.
9. ALL digital forms of communication should contain NO emotion. Just words explaining or asking about something.
10. Follow up is key, always follow up.

Now to visit the title of this post, Digital VS. Natural Communication. What we feel is natural is not always the best way to act when communicating. Since we can operate business around the world without ever leaving our home office or seeing the person face to face it is clear communication has changed and for the good. Life is more flexible, we can connect with more people simply all the time vs less people less often. To do this effectively you NEED to live by some rules to get you through it.