Page 42 - Becoming a Successful Manager

The Staff Mosaic—Working Together 33

standing of those factors, then, and only then, can you deliver a
message that will be understood as you intended it to be.
Design a message that will be clear to the receiver, not just
convenient for you. How can you do that? First determine the
point you intend to make. The members of your staff don’t need
to know everything you know, but they want to know what is rel-
evant and important to them for their success. That means before
sending your messages, you must edit them. Make your point,
and move on. Unless there is a good and compelling reason to do
otherwise, include only the following items, and sequence them in
this order:

• What you want them to do or to know
• Why it is important
• How they might do it

Once again, make your point and move on. If members of your
staff need or want more, they’ll ask for it.
Don’t assume everyone wants everything. That can lead to
excess verbiage. If you present too much data you increase the
potential for confusion and inaccurate interpretation.
In constructing messages ask yourself these four questions:

1. What do I want to convey?
2. What must I do or use to do that?
3. Who is getting this information?
4. What does he or she need to accurately
understand it?

The only way to answer these questions is to think about your
staff members before you structure your message and select your
delivery medium.