Ask any worker where their company could improve, and I bet you a lot of people would say “communication”.

Different people communicate in different ways. Where some people like to send and receive short, concise messages, others prefer to talk things over in person and extract as much information as possible. For this reason, most of us are a long way from implementing an effective communication policy.

What we can do, however, is to manage our workplace communications in a way that makes us as efficient as possible.



Inc. 500 entrepreneur and author of Video Marketing for Dummies, Kevin Daum, suggests setting a routine for your communication…

“It’s frustrating to spend time chasing other, not knowing when you will get a response. Generally, when available, I respond to texts within 20 minutes, phone messages within an hour, and e-mails within 24 hours.”

To follow this workplace hack, identify all the types of communication you receive in your work. Aside from face to face conversations, set a response time for each type of communication and stick to it. It might be worth letting co-workers know about your response schedule and adding something to your email signature to let people know your target response time.

How do you manage communications in your workplace? Share your experiences in the comments below.

This hack is part of a series of weekly workplace hacks that teaches you about collaboration, productivity and time saving tips. Published every Wednesday.

Photo Credit: Fey Ilyas