How To:-: Should I write or should I phone?; Halve The Time You Waste In Meetings; Redundancy Check

Should I write or should I phone?

What's your preferred means of business communication? Everyone will have a preference for either writing or speaking to others. The general ratio for Brits is that around 65% to 70% prefer a conversation, with the rest preferring to send a letter or email.

But your preference is completely irrelevant.

You'll be most effective if you completely ignore your own preference and just select the best medium for the job.

The first step is to think about your listener/reader – what would this person’s preference be? Does he/she like time to consider ideas? Does he/she ignore the long documents you send and just ask for a verbal summary? Does this person like a record of all your exchanges? Questions like these – which take around 3 seconds to answer – will give you an excellent steer.

And if you’re still in any doubt:

When you want to introduce complicated ideas
You write!

"Rats!" I hear you say, "That'll take forever!"

Well, it may take a while, but it will be most effective because:

Your client will have a document (s)he can read and re-read at leisure until understanding dawns.
Therefore, he or she will not have to look dumb if they don't understand first time during a conversation
He or she will have time in private to consider the ideas before taking a decision
…And the lengthy time needed to do all this can be found at a point that suits the client’s schedule.
Clients who feel needs like these have been taken into account will buy again!

When you want to "close" an act of persuasion
You talk!

Persuasion will always be more effective if the other person is allowed to talk over the variables and options in your idea. Of course, if you're persuading someone of a complicated idea, you may have had to write first!

When it's a sensitive matter
You talk!

That includes everything from awkwardness over a big bill …to drawing your team's attention to infringements of the company dress code.

And unfortunately, yes, that means you might have to have a conversation you really won't enjoy. But hiding behind an email will only exacerbate any sensitive issue.

When it’s not urgent
You write!

Email is perfect for avoiding an interruption to a busy client with a non-urgent, unimportant query or confirmation. At last, a good use for email!

When you need to create a record
You write, of course!

When you’re collecting for Marjorie’s wedding present

You walk round with your collection envelope and the big card, in the time-honoured way, thereby NOT clogging up everyone’s email inbox with non-urgent distractions!

How To Halve The Time You Waste In Meetings

Rule 1: The Chairperson is a sheepdog.

Being the Chairperson at a meeting DOES NOT mean you must talk more than everyone else. Quite often, you speak least - you need your energies for watching and listening.
It's your job to edit the drearily long-winded and the steamily passionate. You're also there to ensure the meeting stays on the agenda and to allow everyone to have their say.
You are not the major contributor, but the facilitator. Keep to time, keep it relevant and keep it fair ... and they'll love you for it.

Rule 2: The Agenda is the Rules, OK?

Have an agenda for every meeting. Make the topics on it specific. Stick to it. Even better, allocate time periods to each topic and contain the discussion within the time frame allowed. If there's a tight agenda to map the meeting, people obey it - because they're British, and it's the rules.

Rule 3: Anything Over An Hour's Wasted

"The length of a meeting rises with the square of the number of people present" (Shanahan's Law)

People get bored. Especially bright people. You can count on their dedicated interest for an hour, but after that they'll be wandering mentally and physically. Really productive meetings take good concentration and are focused on the key issues. So don't invite everyone to everything. Confine meetings to an hour maximum, even if it means you need two meetings with different faces at them.

"Short, tight meetings are 100% more useful than anything twice as long." (Ross's Corollary)

Rule 4: Any Other Business Is 5 Minutes of Trivia

If Any Other Business lasts longer than five minutes, you're doing it wrong.
To avoid an extra hour just when they thought it was all over, make the agenda The Rules. Pre-circulate the agenda and ask people for changes or additions before the meeting. Decide which of these topics you want to include - ban the rest.
AOB then becomes a brief formality. An exchange of information on the date of the next Christmas Party is the largest topic acceptable.

Rule 5: Minutes should take seconds

Minutes should be read in under two minutes. They should be wonderfully brief - preferably not much more than a list of actions - and they need to be issued as quickly as possible after the event.

Redundancy Check

Hands up all those people who have too much time in their day…

The three of you don't need to read any further, but everyone else could save time if they read on. You could save time for yourself: and save time for those people who read what you write. Your readers will doubtlessly love you for it.

This month's tip is how to avoid writing unnecessary text by eliminating "redundant" words that don't contribute anything to the meaning of a sentence.

And yet we LOVE 'em! We use extra words because they tend to come pre-packed in figures of speech, making them so easy to pop into a sentence. They're the ready-meals of the business writing world - they look tempting and familiar but they're full of unnecessary additives.

Here are a few of my favourites:

"Tried and tested" - are those different verbs, really?
"Completely useless" - is "slightly useless" as likely as "slightly pregnant"?
"Final outcome" - well, the outcome has to be at the end, doesn't it?
"Close proximity" - someone once tried to argue that there was such a thing as "distant proximity", but I was unconvinced
"Past experience" - come on, what other type of experience is there?

And the best-ever:

"Forward planning" - what, so there's a retrospective kind of planning?

You wouldn't dream of taking a valued client out for a microwaved dinner. So maybe your writing should be freshly-prepared, too!

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