All communication related checklists...

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Topics: Email | Communication | Checklist

Email Etiquette Checklist

 
Checklist to be used as a reminder of the small details that make your emails effective and professional commuinicatio.
 
  • Mark all that apply.
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  • Did you include a relevant subject heading?
  • If your email is a "forward" or "reply" did you modify the subject heading if appropriate?
  • Have you appropriately sorted recipients between the "to" and "cc" classification? The latter designates the email is for information purposes only for "cc"'ed recipients, and that no action or reply is required.
  • Have you removed any recipients that do not need to receive your message?
  • Does your email have a courteous greeting and salutation?
  • Have you spell-checked and reviewed for grammar and clarity of your message?
  • Is your tone appropriate for the recipient(s)?
  • Are there any attachments for the email? Do you refer to the attachments in the body of your message so they do not get missed and to provide explanation and context for the attachments (if necessary)?
  • Have you included your email signature with contact info (if appropriate)?
  • Have you remembered that email is not private? Once you write something down and click "send" it can be examined, stored, and forwarded to the rest of the world!
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    Writing Elements of Style Checklist

    Writing Elements of Style Checklist

     
    Checklist to be used to write with style and structure.
     
  • Mark all that apply.
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  • Have you used the paragraph as your unit of composition?
  • Have you begun each paragraph with a topic sentence?
  • Have you written in the active voice?
  • Have you written statements in positive form?
  • Have you omitted needless words?
  • Have you avoided successions of loose sentences?
  • Have you expressed related ideas in a similar form?
  • Have you kept related words together?
  • In any summaries, have you used only one tense?
  • Have you placed the emphatic words of sentences at the end?
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    William Strunk, Jr. "The Elements of Style (Revised)". The Elements of Style Press (2011).
     

    Writing An Executive Summary Checklist

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    Topics: Executive summary | Checklist | Communication

    Writing An Executive Summary Checklist

     
    Checklist to be used to write an effective Executive Summary for a project or other business document.
     
    • Mark all that apply.
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      • Does your Executive Summary need to bring together several business documents? For example on a project, your Business Case and Project Brief?
      • What is the goal of writing this Executive Summary? Is it simply to summarize work activity that has taken place for your specific audience? Or is there a strategic goal with the act of summarizing, such as influencing an executive decision or course of action?
      • Is the audience internal to your company, external (e.g. clients, shareholders), or both?
      • Is the content appropriate for your target audience?
      • Is the style of writing appropriate for your target audience (e.g. word choice, tone)?
      • Does the Executive Summary begin with a description of a business problem from your business document?
      • Does the Executive Summary include analysis from your business document?
      • Does the Executive Summary include the conclusion(s) or outcomes from your business document?
      • Does the flow of content of the Executive Summary mirror that of your business document?
      • Have you included a high impact visual or chart that supports the main argument of your business document?
      • Is your Executive Summary short enough that it can be read quickly and result in a solid understanding of your business document? Suggested length for an Executive Summary is one to three pages or five percent the length of the business document you are summarizing.
      • Should your Executive Summary be included in the front of your business document or should it stand alone?

       

    7 "C"s of Communication Checklist

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    Topics: Communication | Checklist

    7 "C"s of Communication Checklist

     
    Checklist to be used as a general guideline when communicating a (formal) message in any medium (written, spoken, or otherwise...)
     
  • Mark all that apply.
  • Is my message CLEAR? Will the purpose be evident to the audience?
  • Is my message CONCISE? Is it short, sweet, and to the point?
  • Is my message CONCRETE? Will the audience have a clear picture?
  • Is my message CORRECT? Are the facts straight?
  • Is my message COHERENT? Is it targeted and suitable to the audience and logical?
  • Is my message COMPLETE? Is all necessary info included (and nothing more!) and is there a call to action for the audience?
  • Is my message COURTEOUS? Is it honest and friendly?
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    Knowledge Communication Problems

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    Topics: Knowledge | Communication | Problems

     

    Have you ever found yourself in a situation in which you needed to get to the bottom of something and then convey the results  to a person or group of people? Did everything go as planned? Did "they" get it, or not?

    If not, next time you may want to use the following checklist (including some problems to be aware of when checking them off):

    CHECK

    BE CAUTIOUS OF
    Do I have the right expert(ise) to analyze this?
    • Prophet syndrome
    • In group out group problem
    Did I articulate clearly what I need to know?
    • Anomalous State of Knowledge
    • Big Picture Problem
    • Common Ground
    Did I elicit the right insights?
    • Paralysis by analysis
    • Information overload
    Did I (you and your expert) optimize our mutual understanding
    • Hidden Profile
    • Cassandra Syndrome
    • Groupthink
    • Expert Paradox
    Did we assign the right actions?
    • Knowing Doing Gap
    This checklist will certainly not solve all your knowledge communication problems but will at least make you aware of some of the issues, problems and challenges you may face!

     

    Prophet syndrome: managers have a preference for outside experts. [Menon & Pfeffer, 2003]
    Ingroup-outgroup: managers prefer to consult with like-minded peers rather than other professional groups [Blau, 1977]
    ASK (anomalous state of knowledge): Managers often do not have the terminology to articulate their needs to experts [Belkin,1980 ]
    Big picture problem: managers and experts deviate from the main issue and get lost in details. [Harkins, 1999]
    Common ground: managers and experts are not aware of their differing background knowledge. [Clark and Schäfer, 1989, Olson & Olson, 2000 ]
    Paralysis by analysis: experts have difficulties in concluding their analysis and proposing solutions [Langley, A. (1995) ,Lenz, R. T., Lyles, M. A., 1985, ]
    Information Overload: experts are inundated with detail information and loose sight of the main objectives of their assignment [O’Reilly, 1980].
    Hidden Profile: managers and experts only focus on their already identified mutual knowledge and neglect new insights. [Stasser & Titus, 2003]
    Cassandra Syndrome: the managers ignore the experts’ warning and advice, but later on blame the expert if losses occur. [Mikalachki, 1983]
    Groupthink: managers and/or experts ignore evidence or do not use available knowledge fully in order to preserve group cohesion. [Janis, 1982]
    Expert paradox: the experts are not able to convey what they know to managers because they cannot articulate it in terms that management can understand. [Johnson, 1983]
    Knowing-Doing Gap: managers and experts know what to do, but cannot execute it due to internal competition or wrong incentives [Pfeffer & Sutton, 2000]

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