15 Principles of Effective Communication

1. Listen First, Then Ask More Questions – especially when you think you understand, ask another to clarify.
2. Never Let Them Guess – make everything clear, over-communicate expectations, overstate actions, and always focus on next steps.
3. Be Proactive, Tell Before They Ask – if they need to ask for an update, we need to be more proactive.
4. Make It Easy For Them – make it simple, make it standard, repeat often.
5. Always Follow-up – do not wait for them, keep all stakeholders up to date.
6. Take Your Time – respond fast but don’t rush the answer, slow is fast, fast is slow.
7. Stay Relevant – stay on topic, focus on what needs to be solved.
8. Schedule Routine Client Communications – YES!
9. Consider Their Comfort Zone – the more you think about them, the fewer errors will be made.
10. Add a Personal Touch to Your Client Communications – be professional but still be a human.
11. Push Back (The Right Way) – our clients trust us for our expertise and care, show them you are an expert and care about their success by helping them avoid disasters.
12. Self-Correct – own your mistake: fix, apologize, keep going.
13. Speak Their Language – use their words.
14. Be Clear, Be Concise – short as possible and long as needed.
15. Answer Then Teach – when responding to a question, most of the time: give the answer then explain, not the other way around. Teach after they feel they have been heard. (Unless you need to ask clarification questions)