How to Lower Noise by "Stratifying" Communication Across Multiple Platforms [Picture]
It's 11 p.m. I'm literally pulling the comforter up when my phone rings.
It's an "urgent" call from my (then) boss.
"Matt!! There's no spots on the calendar for tomorrow!"
My only response is a half-hearted, "Why are you calling me at this hour?" while in my head I'm simultaneously thinking, "Who is this guy? Does he think he OWNS me?"
That is EXACTLY what is going through your employees/contractors heads when you violate the expected boundaries of communication. It's also exactly how you lose A-players.
In this article, I'm going to teach you how to "stratify" your communication across multiple platforms so your own entrepreneurial brain can keep producing ideas at 1,000 mph, without making your team feel like you're changing direction all the time or violating their boundaries.
Let me first start of with defining another concept. "Replying in-line".
Replying in-line means to respond in the same thread and/or on the same communication platform. Undoubtedly, you have people around you, unlike yourself, who are extremely structured - to the point that it both frustrates and fascinates you. And you KNOW these people are CORE to keeping your business systems running...
Well, the number one way to piss off those people is to reply to one train of though across three communication platforms (or more).
How are they supposed to catalog your thoughts if they don't even have context for the conversation?
Easy fix. Just reply where the conversation already is happening. It's worth the extra second to open the appropriate app.
Okay. Now for the good stuff.
Stratify means to "arrange or classify". In practical application, we will be choosing different communication platforms for the purposes of specific types of communication relative to the type of message being sent and the turn around time needed.
Here's how I stratify my communications across all interactions with everyone in my life.
Slack: Slack is the primary communication platform for those inside of your organization. *Clients should never be added here at the risk that they would vastly muck up vital pathways of team communication.
Email (work): Email is the primary communication platform for those outside of your organization. Expect a slower response cadence.
PS: Please please please, don't send "Hey check this out" emails. When is someone honestly supposed to look at that? Is it an assignment or an assigned distraction?
Trello: "Cards" within the Trello project management system represent projects. If you have project updates, post them in the comments on the project.
Email (personal): Send off topic, long form stuff or personal communications here.
Phone call: Primarily personal, but also business extreme urgent. If someone isn't responding in Slack and you need a quick answer during work hours, a phone call is a valid option.
Zoom: Business calls. Screen sharing. (Pro tip: You don't have to schedule a call. You can just go to the Zoom website and click in the top right and start the call instantly.)
SMS: Send off topic, short form stuff or personal communications here.
Voxer: Voxer is an app that allows you to send voice, text, and picture messages. It's free.(You could also sub in Google Voice or Telegram here)
Facebook Messenger (personal): Use Messenger to start conversations with prospects, but get them over to calls and emails as fast as possible. It's very difficult to keep track of conversations or delegate conversations to team members here.
Facebook Messenger (chat bot) or Intercom or ActiveCampiagn's 'Conversations': My experience has been that most customers are not savvy enough or do not trust chat bots enough to use them as a primary point of communication. But if your customers are savvy and you can get them using this as a default line of communication, it's a fantastic, scaleable, long-term solution.
Instagram Direct Messages: Prospecting and some bantering. Transition to appropriate platform ASAP. No team communication here.
LinkedIn Messages: Prospecting and some bantering. Transition to appropriate platform ASAP. No team communication here.
Ideally, you'll want to pick just 2 or 3 as your primary platforms.
BONUS TIP: If you need to send voice messages in Slack, use the iPhone app Recordify.
Voice Messages... Love/Hate Relationship:
WARNING: Voice messages do not scale. They cannot be glanced at. Imagine getting sixty 1-minute voicemails. Welp. There goes an entire hour of your time.
The same applies for communicating to your team members in business. 3-minutes of productivity plus the distraction of a notification...
The science says it takes people between 17-25 minutes to refocus on a task, so how many times can you hit someone with notifications before they're getting nothing done? (The answer appears to be about twice.)
Here's how I choose to use a voice message or a text message:
If I am talking about something "ideological" with lots of descriptors or only have a vague picture of what a particular strategy might look like... I use a voice message.
100% of my ask assignment is text based, or verbal and then immediately, literally within my eyesight, entered into the project management system upon
Here are your action steps.
If nothing else, just get Slack set up for your business. Set up the notification hours under preferences. Get all of your team members on it and have them get it on their phones.
Slack is available for Windows, Mac, iPhone, Android, Linux, and Windows Phone and it's free.
And if you liked this...
If you liked what I talked about here, and you're looking to scale your business up the RIGHT way, without headaches, check out my free 3-part video series on The Top 3 Things that Prevent Companies from Being Massively Productive and Put a Glass Ceiling on Profits here!