Business Communication Articles

Cheat Sheet / Updated 03-25-2022

To get people talking about you, your company, or your product, you need to develop a good public relations (PR) plan. Applying some PR fundamentals, knowing how to deal with the media, getting your press release to stand out and your blog noticed are all key steps in your public relations campaign.

Cheat Sheet / Updated 03-22-2022

Are you looking to change behaviors in employees and create productive and dynamic team players? Critical conversations are a way to do just that! Staying ahead of possible conflicts and intervening when issues do arise are what critical conversations are all about. They are the best way to keep employees motivated and ensure productive teamwork.

Cheat Sheet / Updated 03-03-2022

Even though some make it look easy, public speaking requires effort. But you don’t want the audience to see that effort. You want your voice to be the same one you use when talking to family, friends, and colleagues. You can develop your own style and sound like yourself. However, many issues can arise while preparing for and during your speech. You may be afraid, your body language may make you look and feel shaky, or your breathing may not be helping you as much as it could be. All these things can be addressed.

Cheat Sheet / Updated 02-25-2022

Effective communications involves listening as well as speaking. When you speak to a group, how you deliver your message plays a part in how it’s received. In the workplace, effective communication techniques can help foster positive relationships — just be sure to avoid some communication pitfalls so that you don’t undermine your good work.

Cheat Sheet / Updated 02-10-2022

If you’re a small- to medium-sized business owner, a salesperson, or a lone proposal writer, this Cheat Sheet provides you with a helpful reference for writing commercial business proposals. This information will help you understand how to write customer-focused, persuasive proposals that win more business. If you boil down a good proposal to its essence, you can take away four overarching principles that will significantly improve your ability to write winning proposals.

Article / Updated 12-01-2021

You are about to end a negotiation, either by closing a deal or walking away from it. If you are going to close the deal, be sure that the deal is positive for both parties, producing a win-win situation. If you are thinking about walking away, be sure that you aren't overlooking some way to achieve a mutually satisfying outcome. This may be the most valuable moment in the entire negotiation. In the commonly used sense of the phrase, a win-win negotiation is a deal that satisfies both sides. In an ideal world, a win-win agreement is the only kind of deal that would ever close. Nevertheless, even in today's world, the vast majority of negotiations end in win-win situations. Win-win negotiating does not mean that you must give up your goals or worry about the other person getting what they want in the negotiation. You have your hands full looking out for your own interests. Practice honesty and respect in all of your negotiations, but looking out for the other side isn't your job. It's theirs. Recognizing a good deal A good deal is one that is fair under all circumstances at the time the agreement is made. It provides for various contingencies before problems arise. A good deal is workable in the real world. To be sure that you have a good deal and a win-win situation, ask yourself the following questions just before closing: Does the agreement further your personal long-range goals? Does the outcome of the negotiation fit into your vision statement? Does the agreement fall comfortably within the goals and limits that you set for this particular negotiation? Can you perform your side of the agreement to the fullest? Do you intend to meet your commitment? Based on all the information, can the other side perform the agreement to your expectations? Based on what you know, does the other side intend to carry out the terms of the agreement? In an ideal situation, the answer to all six questions is a resounding yes. If you are unsure about any one of them, take some extra time. Review the entire situation. Assess how the agreement could be changed in order to create a yes answer to each question. Try your best to make the change needed to get a firm yes to each question. Then, close the deal. Don't go for any more changes even if you think that the other person wouldn't mind. You never know! When you work in a culture other than your own, being sure that you have a win-win solution takes a little extra effort. During a cross-cultural negotiation, be thorough in your investigation of what is and isn't acceptable. If you can't alter the deal so that you can answer yes to each question, be very thoughtful about closing. If you decide to go forward, write down exactly why you are closing the deal anyway so that you don't become part of that army of people with tales of exploitation. This exercise is particularly helpful to your state of mind if the results don't work out; you have a record as to why you took the deal. You won't be so hard on yourself. Knowing your counterpart Remember that the people you are dealing with are more important than the paperwork you draft. Know your counterpart very well before you enter into a long-term relationship. No lawyer can protect you from a crook. Lawyers can just put you in a position to win a lawsuit. People do bad things all the time. Checking out references is one of the most overlooked resources. You can learn a great deal from checking out references, even from the most obviously biased sources. Some people tend to be overly concerned about the other party's welfare in a negotiation, smothering their own goals in the process. When you're engaged in a negotiation, you must allow other people to take care of themselves. You don't have to make things "nice" for everyone. That's not a negotiator's job. Your job as a negotiator is to get what you want. Remaining true to that objective may involve upsetting someone. Part of negotiating well is having the strength to take that risk.

Cheat Sheet / Updated 10-28-2021

In today’s workplace, influence is more important than ever. When you know how to exert influence at work, you can control and more rapidly advance your career than others can. Four basic steps can help you achieve influence, no matter where you are in your career; if you’re higher up in your company, consider leadership best practices to further boost your impact.

Article / Updated 04-15-2021

You may be under the impression that you don’t write business letters and never need to in today’s fast-paced world. Think again. You are probably writing letters without realizing it. Don’t be fooled by the fact that you’re using an electronic delivery system and don’t need a stamp. Acknowledge that your missive is a letter, and you do a much better job of achieving your goal. When something important is at stake, recognize that what you produce merits extra care in terms of its content, language and visual impression. This doesn’t necessarily mean you need to find your old stationery. In many cases, it’s perfectly fine to send your letter as an email. In other instances, a physical letter serves you better. If you’re a nonprofit manager writing to elderly donors, for example, relying on email is risky. As always, consider your goal and audience in deciding on the best mode of delivery. Here are some of the business-world occasions when you should think “Aha! This calls for a letter!” Introducing yourself: If you’re the new veterinarian in town writing to the patient list, or need to explain why a VIP should give you ten minutes of their time, or why people should vote for you, you’re courting the reader and must make the best possible first impression in order to secure what you want. Making a request: If you want a referral, a recommendation, an invitation, an informational interview, a special assignment, a corner office, a favor of any kind, write a letter. Pitching something: If you sell a product or service, one effective way is with a sales letter, either via the post office or email. When you market anything, you must apply your best strategizing and writing. Presenting formal applications: When you apply for a job, submit a proposal or compete for an educational opportunity, nine times out of ten, you need a cover letter. If it’s optional, leaving it out is a mistake. Sometimes the letter must accomplish the goal on its own—when a job posting specifies a letter and no résumé, for example. Saying thank you, I’m sorry or expressing sympathy: Such messages are important and should be carefully personalized and meticulously written and presented. If they don’t look as if you have given thought to such a message and taken trouble, they don’t communicate that you care. A personal letter is much more effective than a greeting card. Expressing appreciation: If someone gives you a wonderful break, takes a chance on you, offers significant advice or makes an introduction for you, a letter from you to that person will be treasured—trust me. People so rarely do this. And it’s worth considering a retrospective thank you to anyone in the past who inspired or helped you, too. Congratulating someone: Supervisors, coworkers, subordinates, colleagues, suppliers—everyone welcomes a graceful congratulatory note when reaching a milestone or achieving something significant. Documenting for legal purposes: Letters can be called for as official records in relation to job offers, agreements, performance reviews and warnings. These formal records may have legal implications now or in future. A binding contract can take the form of a simple-looking letter, so must be scrupulously written if you want them to protect you. And know what you’re agreeing to when sign those written by other people! Seeking redress: If you have a complaint about a product or service, how you’ve been treated or how a print or digital publication has misrepresented you or your organization, to be taken seriously, write a letter. Expressing opinions and concerns: Yes, Virginia, just as there is a Santa Claus, newspapers and other publications still run Letters to the Editor—and those editors know that this section is usually the most read feature of all. But it takes a good letter to be heard. Letters to local government and legislative offices reap a lot of attention, too. Inspiring people to care: If you want friends and colleagues to actively support a cause you believe in, with money or time or connections, a letter bears much better testimony to the depth of your own commitment. Valuing privacy: Letters carried by the postal system are privileged documents protected by the “secrecy of correspondence” principle. In many countries, it is illegal to open letters in transit. The privacy of digital communication remains murky, and you obviously risk disaster by communicating private information in an email or social post or text. Printed-and-delivered physical letters offer a last bastion of privacy. If you search online, you’ll find a ton of prewritten and preformatted letters for every occasion. You may draw some ideas from them, but almost never will a cookie-cutter template work as well as your own well-crafted letter. Often the tone is wrong and the content is bland and impersonal. This totally undercuts the reason you’re writing a letter. Therefore, I won’t give you a formula for every letter. Rather, I want to stimulate your imagination as to what a good letter can accomplish for you in your professional life and beyond. I have personally used this skill in situations ranging from a need to establish my (at the time, somewhat uncertain) credentials for a major purchase, build ongoing relationships with VIPs, and more than once, obtain a refund for a disappointing purchase or when a major deposit was withheld. To show you the impact a letter can have, here are some actual examples with details altered). In each case, instead of leading you through the planning process that leads to a good message, I first give you the final product and then follow with the analysis. Situation 1: You hear a major renovation is to commence on a house down the street—a peaceful, well-kept, private-feeling street where children play outside and residents share a community spirit. You find the following letter on your doorstep. Dear Neighbor: As you may be aware, the Bennet family will be venturing into a home renovation/addition project shortly. As the family’s general contractor and representative, I wanted to take a moment of your time to introduce myself. My name is Allan James and for the most part, I, or one of my project managers, will be on site every day. Having completed numerous projects in the area over the years, I am familiar with the town and sensitive to the effects a project of this scope can have on the neighborhood. It is my intention not only to deliver a quality, on-time project to my customer, but to ensure the least amount of impact to your environment. My subcontractors are very much aware of my expectations in regard to respect for your neighborhood, the town by-laws and the need for utmost common courtesy and respect. It is inevitable that there may be some minor damage to the town-owned grass strips between the sidewalk and the street. Any such damage will be restored at the end of the project. To ensure that this occurs, a surety bond has been levied with the town. Please feel free to contact me in person, by cell phone or email if some aspect of this project is affecting you adversely. With best intentions, Allan James, AIBD, CPBD, UCSL President, AJ Builders, Inc. How would you react as a resident? It’s hard to imagine a negative response. However, even though the business strategy is so effective, I have never seen or heard of another contractor taking the trouble to write and deliver such a letter but. Even if the idea does not seem relevant to you right now, notice how this letter aligns with the planning process, which is the heart of this book: Goal: Smooth the way for a process that is naturally disruptive and forestall likely complaints. Audience: Homeowners who fear damage to the street and a potential flood of unsupervised workers and subcontractors to the quiet neighborhood they value. Content points: Communicate . . . High sense of responsibility and caring as company owner Active direction of workers and subcontractors Knowledge of protective bylaws and commitment to them Acknowledgment of probable damage and commitment to repair it Ensurance of legal protection via surety bond Credentialed company president (no matter what the acronyms stand for) Accountability: Direct contact information is given in case of a problem (or should readers want to inquire about services for themselves!). Tone: Low-key, respectful, sincere. Why it works: The writer understands the neighbors’ worries based on their prior experiences with construction and directly addresses those fears. In doing so he generates trust: He makes the coming interaction personal. He reassures residents that he will respect the street they share and care about. But there’s more: The thoughtfulness of the letter conveys that this is a caring, capable and intelligent person who will do an excellent construction job. That’s the magic of what you can accomplish with good writing. Of course, the writer must follow through on all counts. Outcome: Beyond accomplishing a collegial environment to work in and forestalling complaints, the contractor received several queries from other local homeowners who were inspired to pursue their own renovations. Situation 2: Here’s an example of how good business writing carries over to non-work needs. You are relocating and have put your house on the market. Happily, you soon receive a number of offers that move over the asking price. You’re ready to accept the highest bid when this letter arrives: Dear X: My name is Donna Whitman and I am writing to you to express how important it is for me to purchase your lovely home. I have dreamt of living on a lake for more than 20 years. When I was transferred from Minneapolis to Charlotte this past year, I hoped to make my dream come true. I have spent time with colleagues in the Arborville community and knew it would be exactly right for me. When I saw your home listed, I knew I had to see it! And when I walked in the door, I told Jim, my broker, that this was the home for me! I love the location, layout and of course, the lake. My 15-year-old cat, Cappy, will also love your home. She will have so much happiness sitting with me on the splendid deck (her joints don’t allow her to sit on windowsills any more). I’m excited that the dining-room set I inherited from my dear grandmother will fit perfectly. And I love that my parents will have a beautiful place to stay when they visit in March, should I be lucky enough to purchase 45 Lakewood. I truly hope I will be chosen to be the new owner of your home and finally have my dream become a reality! With the utmost sincerity and gratitude for your consideration, Donna As the seller, how would you react to receiving this letter? Donna may not consciously have followed the process I recommend for all your writing, but here is why it succeeds as a message. Goal: To win the bid, without knowing what other offers were received. Audience: Someone who has loved the home herself, apparent in its cared-for condition, furnishings and decoration. Content: To accomplish this goal, with this reader in mind: Personalize the interaction to stand out from other potential buyers. Express high enthusiasm for the chance to live there. Communicate appreciation for potentially being “chosen.” These points are backed by citing specific benefits to the writer and communicate a personal vision—Cappy the arthritic cat on the deck . . . the beloved grandmother’s dining-room table in place . . . the happy visiting parents. Tone: Enthusiasm! I suspect your reaction in this scenario would be similar to the seller’s: a little skepticism at so much excitement, overridden by feeling gratified that her long-term home will be appreciated, enjoyed and cherished. Outcome: The writer had not, in fact, made the highest offer, but the seller wanted her to have the house. Donna agreed to meet the slightly higher price of the offer above hers and everyone left the table feeling very good. The point: Think about what well thought-out letters could accomplish in your own life. Adopt that mindset and the opportunities will come. Consider at times the value of a real letter—the kind that you can hold in your hands, reread at will and keep with your important or treasured documents. Do you have a shoebox of letters that connect you with important events or people of your past personal life? Letters relating to our professional lives can also have strong associations for us, especially if they make us feel good. Digital messages are fleeting—some are even meant to disappear in a few minutes. But a physical letter is real and tangible and (relatively) permanent, like a photographic print. I know several professional colleagues who make a habit of handwriting their messages to clients and other important connections on notepaper: thank you for the help or referral, happy holidays, happy birthday, congratulations on your award or your son’s graduation. These savvy professionals look for opportunities to write notes like these. Don’t laugh. When they visit these recipients’ offices and see these notes prominently displayed on the contact’s bulletin boards, the strategic value of this small effort is reinforced. These friends are all very successful.

Article / Updated 04-02-2021

Essentially, when you use the tools of persuasion, you are asking people to change in some way. The challenge is that human beings don’t like change. We may enjoy deciding whether to travel to Paris or Rome, but change a long-held conviction? Give up a skill we took years or decades to develop in favor of the new? Cheerfully accept a company reorganization that transforms patterns and habits and relationships we’re used to? Even talking people into changing their brand of coffee is an uphill battle, let alone asking them to take a risk. We are emotionally invested in the choices we’ve already made, from our coffee to our political leanings to our work patterns. No wonder persuasion is hard. Let’s start with some general ideas about that art and a few fun shortcuts to generate your own enthusiasm, because your own conviction is a first essential. Draw from psychology From the golden age of Greece on, persuasiveness has absorbed plenty of attention. The philosopher Aristotle described the formula for a great speech as combining ethos (establishing authority), logos (logical argument) and pathos (swaying an audience emotionally). Today, techniques of persuasion obsess marketers, communicators, psychologists, neuroscientists and even economists, who created the field of behavioral economics with breakthrough analysis of how humans make decisions. Their opinions are backed by research that ranges from brain imaging to big data crunching. Consensus is that Aristotle knew what he was talking about but according to today’s thinkers, the balance of factors—logic, authority and emotion—has shifted toward the last. The key takeaway: While we may believe we make choices based on information and logic, in truth, our decisions are usually driven by emotion and then justified with rationality. Analytic thought consumes enormous amounts of brain energy, so we typically call on it only when we more or less force ourselves to take the trouble. For business writing, the key lesson is: Whenever possible go for both the heart and the mind. When it’s important that readers respond to your message in a particular way, create an emotional connection. Relate to your audience’s hopes and aspirations, or perhaps feelings like worry and anxiety. Use language that produces positive associations, builds trust and shows empathy. Find ways to capture people’s imagination. Give them a vision. But back it all up with evidence that speaks to your claims and your own authority or expertise. The emotional connection draws people in and encourages them to stay with you, but most people will look for backup information that justifies trust. Also, some people typically approach decisions more rationally, so the facts, and signals of authority, are dealmakers for them. In short, covering all three elements makes perfect sense. Drawing on the resource of techniques and strategies that follow can improve all your communication, from emails to proposals, presentations to interviews, websites to speeches to sales pages. I can’t cover every need you encounter to write or speak persuasively. So read this advice with an eye toward adapting it for your use according to the goal and situation. Communicate with conviction Identifying and understanding your audience is the key to succeeding with every message. But the other side of the equation is you. You must speak and write from a sense of your own value and the value of whatever you’re pitching. When persuasion is in order, your own belief is your best friend. One corollary of the self-belief principle: When you craft an important message to introduce yourself in person or in writing, remind yourself of your own value and relevance. If you’re pitching a product or service, soliciting a donation or asking for peoples’ votes, take a minute to reinform yourself of why you believe that what you represent is worthy and why (I presume) you’re making it your life’s work. What drew you to do what you do? Why does it matter to you? Is it a passion? A commitment to solve a problem or help people? Why are you certain that knowing about your service or product or yourself will benefit others and/or their own audiences? Why are you the ideal person for the opportunity? A popular quote often attributed to Theodore Roosevelt sums it up this way: “People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.” Enthusiasm is the best convincer. Few will review your facts and figures if you don’t project enthusiasm and generate it in others. If you aspire to a leadership role, few will follow you if they don’t sense your enthusiasm. To bring confidence to your writing as well as to face-to-face situations, experiment with techniques that actors, presenters and salespeople commonly use to set the stage for a good performance. When you’re about to work on an important message or make an appearance, energize yourself by assuming an assertive but comfortable posture and walk around that way for a few minutes. This technique exploits the mind-body connection, signaling to your mind that you are capable, resourceful and knowledgeable. Another strategy from the psychologist’s repertoire: choose a photo or other image that’s associated with a proud moment in your life when you felt on top of the world, and relive that moment as vividly as you can. Perhaps you won an award, were congratulated on something, finished a marathon or celebrated another personal achievement. Employ all your senses to re-create how you felt, stood, held your shoulders, moved. Practice recreating this glow in your mind and body several times and you’ll be able to trigger your confidence just by calling up the image!

Article / Updated 04-02-2021

For everyday sharing, reports, project-hunting, client correspondence and more, you need email. For the ongoing back-and-forth between team members, you may depend on Slack or another instant messaging channel that is restricted to a group. The difference in how we use email and work chat today is that we need to help counter what is lost through the growing absence of in-person contact. Make email more personal As you depend on email to help bridge the gap between yourself and the rest of the world, consider thinking about more conscious, strategic use. One appropriate adaptation, in line with the more isolating lives many people now lead, is in the tone of your messages. An upbeat, positive tone is always more than welcome and supports relationship-building. A few specifics: Avoid giving your message a negative vibe with statements like these: “This is not what we agreed on”; “It worries me that . . .”; “I don’t really like . . .”; “You seem to have forgotten that . . . .” Frame even a critical message in a positive spirit: “I appreciate how quickly you provided the report”; “I have some ideas for clarifying the data next time around”; “You make a lot of good points. It led me to think about how we might improve . . . .” Use positive sentences that lead people to feel good—it costs you nothing! “I appreciate that . . .”; “What a great job on . . .”; “I really liked what you said about . . .”; “I enjoyed working with you on . . . .” And always and perennially, “Thank you for . . . .” Humanize your messages. Use people’s names in the salutation (“Dear Sarah”) and/or the body of the message (“Thank you, Sarah, for crunching the data so quickly.”) Use a conversational and somewhat personal tone to make yourself real to people, rather than coming across as an efficient, narrowly focused work machine. Take space to connect emotionally: Show empathy, or interest, in the other person on an appropriate level. Rather than Dear Al: To follow up on the plan to print flyers . . . try Dear Al: I hope this finds you and your family well. Are the west coast forest fires affecting you much in Nevada? It’s sad to read about what’s happening in California. I’m writing to see if this is a good time to follow up on the plan for the flyers . . . Even if you spend just a sentence on the weather or sharing how you spent the holiday, you can warm up a virtual relationship incrementally over time. Use writing deliberatively to stay connected with clients, collaborators, prospects and more. Develop a list of people important to you and check in on them via email—and/or consider whether to increase your social media and blogging activity or use teleconferencing and other channels, such as an e-newsletter. Using team chat to your advantage There are numerous instant messaging apps to facilitate collaboration on a company-wide or team scale, including Slack, Google Chat, Skype and Microsoft Teams. They are at the top of the informality scale for business communication, so I won’t advise on writing style, except to remind you that clear and concise is always in season. Issues with chat media for business revolve more about protocols. If the organization does not provide guidelines, set your own with group discussion, and consider these: Don’t: Deluge coworkers with a steady shower of messages and notifications that are irrelevant to them. Write messages that are rude or inconsiderate in tone or substance, air grievances or criticize people, especially in an all-staff channel. Tell jokes or include any humorous material that could offend anyone. Attend to chat so much that you are distracted from the project or goal—team chat is not a social media tool. Use chat to communicate about complicated matters that demand nuanced conversation. Use chat as the constant default channel. When you need an immediate response or need to discuss something personal or sensitive, pick up the phone! Note that you can create channels or rooms to accommodate specific teams and projects. Separate public channels can be set up for non-work interactions, so social life is supported separately from work needs and people can elect whether to participate and to what degree. Some groups see this as a water cooler stand-in; other groups dedicate channels to recipes, personal news and so on according to group interest. If you’re not team leader, suggest a conversation about setting such rules at a meeting or via teleconferencing. How to use teleconferencing effectively Videoconferencing tools like Zoom, Microsoft Teams and Skype are not a simple substitute for live events. They impose different demands. Meeting by video takes more planning to succeed, and this depends on solid written preparation and less improvisation to be productive. Far more than in-person meetings, videoconferencing depends on good written agendas, plenty of informational materials and thorough documentation. Beyond serving as the new meeting rooms for groups and teams, videoconferencing has become indispensable for interviewing job candidates and interacting with clients. In these situations, too, writing is prime. When you compete for a job or contract virtually, your written credentials need to do a lot more speaking for you, and you need to be extremely well-prepared to make your case. Therefore, to use videoconferencing tools to your advantage, call on the tools of good writing: analyzing your goals and audience to writing clear and concise emails; developing résumés, elevator speeches and presentations; creating stories and using talking points to field questions and challenges. Here, I focus on some particularities of teleconferencing that require rethinking the usual approaches. Videoconferencing limits When a group of people gathers for a purpose in person, the experience is three-dimensional. We see each other and interact subtly through body language, facial expression and reactive glances. Side comments arise. A comment can tip the conversation in a more creative direction. A group spirit develops—enthusiastic and goal-driven if the meeting is well planned and managed. But these elements don’t naturally happen with a video meeting. Videoconference-style conversation is linear: We speak one at a time to many, which has a different effect than addressing one person. We learn not to interrupt a speaker and may even be asked to raise our hands to speak. We avoid making even a sound of approval or interest. Body language is basically absent, since we typically can’t see anyone’s hand gestures, and subtle facial expressions are hard to discern. There is little small talk or interplay, and the natural bouncing off each other that good meetings generate is typically absent. It is hard to promote a conversation or debate that leads to a creative solution. The experience is more akin to watching a series of speeches and giving our own, rather than participating in an interactive meeting of minds. On a personal level, people are self-conscious and less forthcoming when they talk into a computer screen rather than a live situation, especially since it’s hard not to fixate on our own face or how visible we are to everyone else. Small talk is minimal and generating trust is difficult. In short, the impersonality of the videoconference experience does not easily lend itself to camaraderie, flights of imagination or creative brainstorming. To counter the agreeableness that meetings tend to fall into, some companies deliberately foster conflict. They present a goal or idea—for example, what should we change about X—and channel people to take sides. More commonly, many organizations react to videoconferencing shortfalls by making meetings briefer and more structured, tightly focused and efficient. Structuring meetings with agendas If it’s up to you to plan and run a meeting, remember that many people feel “Zoom fatigue.” Acknowledge this by scheduling meetings only when you need to accomplish something specific, rather than hold them for the sake of it or because you always meet on Monday mornings. For many enterprises, experience with videoconferencing is leading them to backtrack on how they approach in-person meetings as well. The new-normal agenda is the key. A central principle: Build each agenda around a concrete and clearly expressed objective. That objective—which may be to generate ideas, decide on an action or solve a problem—can often be framed as a question, such as: “How should we counter online criticism of our customer service?” “How can we trim $X from the department budget so we can support more training?” Once an objective and the outcomes you want are clarified—which isn’t always easy—you can determine the process needed to achieve the outcomes specified. This too should be spelled out: who will speak on specified topics and which components are to be involved—brainstorming, SWAT analysis and so on. In “earlier times,” an agenda might include a whole series of decision-oriented items or just list topic areas or people’s names (“John Smith, update on HR)”. But given our shorter patience with teleconferenced events, savvy organizations are finding it better to hold short, more closely focused meetings with a single purpose. To make the most of group time, create and distribute all relevant informational materials and written input from team members in advance of the meeting. When everyone prepares for the session by reviewing everything before the meet, they need not sit bored through a tiresome on-the-spot grounding. When they think through their own part of the discussion in more depth, they come up with ideas, commit them to writing and are prepared for a more useful discussion. This enables the group to accomplish the goal in a tight timeframe. If your organization dictates a format for agendas, which might require following Robert’s Rules or a company protocol, you may need to cover a range of items such as approval of minutes and categorize topics under labels like “new business” and “old business.” Then just fit your objective, process and outcome into the format. Don’t be surprised if a good agenda—one that engages everyone in addressing a specific situation or problem—takes time to create. It forces you to think the challenge through much more thoroughly. Do not depend on open-ended brainstorming, where everyone is asked to throw in bright ideas on a subject, on the spot. This can occupy a lot of time and yield little concrete results. It’s better to have team members brainstorm their own ideas and commit them to paper before the meeting. Should you start meetings with a touch-base or socializing time? Research shows, as you probably know from your own experience, that the most successful teams are characterized by mutual trust. Ideally this is achieved through some light-hearted activities or personal sharing, which deepens over time. Teleconferencing, however, does not offer a warm atmosphere that invites personal confidences—participating feels more often like being a deer caught in the headlights. An intermediate approach is to make an opening exchange less personal—for example, go around the table asking each person to remark on the best and worst of their week. Better if possible is to devote a session to getting acquainted before launching the collaboration. In general, stay aware of realities and show some flexibility: a work-at-home parent may have children at home and an occasional guest appearance may be hard to avoid. If a home is small, it’s hard to silence the sound of a barking dog. Technical glitches happen. Take advantage of the breakout room feature of some teleconferencing apps and build that into your plan, or use it impromptu. The larger your online group, the harder it is to focus on specifics. Breakout rooms offer a good way to assemble people in smaller groups to work out an aspect of the shared challenge. Reporting on meetings These are often called “minutes,” which understates their value and influence. I recommend calling them “reports” and assigning this role to someone with good judgment who thinks fast enough to take good notes and also writes well. The report’s format can vary as long as it’s clear, concise and complete to the right degree. Distribute to all—these reports are indispensable documentation. Without them, team members will have entirely different memories of what occurred and what needs to be done. Trust me on this. An agenda gives the notetaker a healthy head start on creating the report efficiently. It can follow the same structure, and most include discussions and approval of proposed actions and follow-up. It should always detail responsibilities, deadlines and a next-meeting alert if called for. How thorough should a report be? In most cases, as complete a record as possible will provide a good resource for the immediate future and beyond. It’s also an official record that belongs to the organization. The questions that arise usually center on how much of an open discussion to report. Minutes may need to be publicly posted, and in controversial or sensitive situations, a discussion can be specified without necessarily including details.