How's your communication?
When you sit with employees and give them feedback, are you providing feedback on how to change? By the time they get up, are they clear on their next steps. If they're not, it's not actionable.
When you write those great emails that share with your team the “state of the union” and paint that vision of where you're all going, is there a clarity on next steps? If not, it's not actionable.
Do you write blog posts – providing helpful tips and tricks? If so, are there specific steps to follow and a clear understanding of pre-reqs? If not, they're not actionable.
A simple example
Maybe you don't know what I mean by actionable.
Nine years ago I asked Melissa to marry me. It was simple. I shared my feelings. But I didn't stop there. I added a question at the end that she had to answer. “Will you marry me?”
Now it turns out I wasn't fantastic at being someone who always communicates in an actionable way because she was silent for a bit. But after she got past the shock and surprise that it was happening right then, she gave me my answer.
You could say my question engaged her. (I know. Sorry.)
How engaging are you?
I've already shared with you how I have staff write me emails so that they cause me to respond (and respond quickly). But what can you do to increase the engagement level of your customers, staff, and even friends & family? Here are three quick tips:
- Make sure you end every bit of writing with a call to action (CTA). It doesn't matter if it's an email or a blog post. Tell your reader what you want them to do next.
- End every meeting with a clear understanding of ‘next step' assignments. If people are leaving a meeting without anything to do, why were they there in the first place? Make sure they know what you expect.
- Give yourself next step reminders. Nothing helps you get into the routine of CTAs like your own to-do list. I use Astrid. And if want to create Astrid reminders on your WordPress site, you should check out the plugin we worked on.