Newsletter - Real-Time Messaging - 2024-05-31

tags:: #output/letter Asynchronous Communication The Calm Company

Subject
Most business rely on real-time communication (and it's messed up).

Body
I learned this the hard way leading a theater...

Being an actor as a teenager truly changed my life for the better.

When I became old enough, it was time to "graduate" and become part of the leadership.

Only...

Almost all my predecessors left the non-profit right when I entered.

And I had absolutely no clue what to do.

But I was determined to make this work and better than it had ever been before.

After all, if I hadn't joined this group, I would still have been a shy awkward nerd who couldn't speak to save his life.

It was my duty to pass this on.

So I was going to fix this problem—forever.

You see, when we're working in a team, we know what to do and we know who to ask for help.

So maybe I go ask Alex for the sponsorship logos and he sends them to me.

But what if Sarah needs them as well?

She's got to ask Alex as well, wait for his response, and he has to send them again. (This is even worse when everyone is spread out across projects.)

The logo's are now dispersed across 3 computers.

If one needs to be changed or added, this quickly becomes a logistical nightmare.

Now, in real life each of us has probably 10-200 of these situations to deal with in any given week.

Just imagine the time lost...

Multiple hours each week—easily.

The solution, surprisingly, is very easy.

Stop hiding things.

I'm serious.

Think about it: is there really a reason why I HAVE to be the ONLY person to receive those logos?

If Sarah could see the conversation between me and Alex, she would...just already have the logos.

Time spent: 0 minutes.

Make as much as possible visible by everyone, by default, unless there's a good reason not to.

I hear you sputter: "But Marcel, all the chatter of the entire company...no way anyone's going to find anything in there."

That's where the next two changes are needed.

First, files should be in a shared location, structured in a way everyone agrees on and understands. This takes training, practice and oversight.

Second, a "group chat" isn't going to cut it.

A big WhatsApp group, a Slack channel—they're meant for quick, time-sensitive conversation.

When we treat most communication as an asset (which it is), we need to be more diligent in structuring it from the very start.

You'll have to force message threads to have a topic and a category. That way, the team instantly sees what they should care about, what they ignore and how to search for information.

What it comes down to is this.

Shifting from "quick fixes" to permanent solutions.

In our theater, we started making documents where we described our entire process.

We made videos explaining things to each other and stored them for the next generation.

And now—all they have to do is read and watch.