Having trouble mastering your internal communications plan? Organization may be the missing ingredient.
One of my favorite lifestyle books is “The Everygirl’s Guide to Life” by Maria Menounos. Her book includes tips on everything from saving money by doing your own home improvements to navigating an airport more efficiently.
Reducing stress with better organization in your personal life
One of her keys to success is organization. If you’re not organized, you’ll just pile extra stress on yourself and waste money in the process. I was particularly impacted by the section on having your own home office and the importance of creating “The Black Book.”
The Black Book is basically a guide to how everything works in your life; it includes any and all important information you (and others) can use both as a daily reference tool and an emergency checklist.
It’s easy to put together your own black book. Maria suggests buying a cheap, three-ring binder and some plastic pages, which you then insert with examples of the following info:
- Photocopies of bills
- Emergency contact info
- Passwords and usernames for various accounts
- Medical information (doctors’ names and addresses, prescription info, etc.)
- Important phone numbers of anyone that helps you live your life (i.e. plumber, babysitter, hairdresser, vet)
Think of the black book as your personal, internal communications plan to mastering the running of your life.
As Maria writes, “having this information so readily available is also helpful for those times you are sick, injured, or traveling. A friend, assistant, or parent can easily step in and make the calls for you. Your life is so much easier, and the stress just evaporates.”
Take the time now to organize the necessary information, and save yourself (and others) loads of stress down the road.
If it’s that important to have an organized information plan in your personal life, it should be just as important to have an organized, internal communications plan in your professional one.
Making sure you don't underestimate the impact of your communication style
We underestimate the way our communication style impacts both ourselves and the people we work with (or those who work for us). Disorganized, sloppy communication produces confused, stressed-out coworkers and employees.
For example, during times of change at work (i.e. replacing the CEO or changing the company's benefit plan) employees need regular, clearly communicated information to get on board with the new goals and plans. If you don't have a plan for communicating essential info, or if your current plan is disorganized and unclear, expect rumors, gossip, and fear to spread among your staff.
On the other hand, organized, thoughtful, professional communication produces confident, well-informed coworkers and employees who ultimately generate more profits (because effective communicators and business profits are directly related).
Internal Communication, Information Satisfaction and Sense of Community: the Effect of Personal Influence by White, Vanc, and Stafford emphasizes that strategically cultivating internal communication produces a number of positive results, both internal and external:
“The competitive advantage of strategic internal communication comes not only from the obvious benefits of employee satisfaction and productivity, but also from the positive contributions that well-informed employees can make to a company’s external public relations efforts.”
So if you're wondering why your office (or your life) isn't running as smoothly as it could or even succeeding the way it should, the missing ingredient may be your organization efforts.
Today's blog post by Rebecca Whittenberger
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