Ep 120 Communication as a Lean Process with Geoff Weinstein

The Edges of Lean

How much time are you spending every day on communication? How effective and efficient is your communication? We live in a swirl of communication – email, instant messages, text messages, and social media posts. And sometimes we even talk to each other! Geoff Weinstein says communication is a real “Edges of the Lean” frontier – one of the places where we can all leverage lean thinking to reduce waste and improve our lives. He joined me at The Edges of Lean to discuss lean communication – and by the way, he has gifts for you that you can download at http://geoffweinstein.com/gifts

Geoff Weinstein:

Geoff Weinstein is a seasoned professional with over 20 years of experience in serving the financial industry. He specializes in regulated industries where individuals struggle to articulate their ideas. Geoff's expertise lies in helping busy leaders align company culture with AI and digital transformation strategies. He works directly with clients to streamline broken communication processes, emphasizing the importance of clear, concise, and influential communication. Geoff's mission is to make lean communication the standard in workplace communication, enabling organizations to thrive in the fast-paced world of digital transformation.

KEY TOPICS IN THIS PODCAST:

00:01:00 - Geoff Weinstein's Background and Public Speaking

00:07:04 - The Mid-Office Communication Role

00:12:37 - Defining Lean Communication

00:15:21 - Communication as a Two-Way Process

00:18:14 - The Importance of Audience-Focused Communication

00:20:34 - Typical Communication Issues in Organizations

00:25:03 - The Evolution of Email Communication

00:27:20 - The Fear of Missing Out in Communication

00:30:23 - Crafting Effective Group Emails

00:35:15 - Example of a Power Paragraph

00:38:27 - Empathy in Communication

00:47:18 - Advice for Young Professionals

KEY TAKEAWAYS:

• Lean communication involves stripping out stumbling blocks that prevent the recipient from understanding the message.
• Lean communication focuses on getting the message across quickly and concisely.
• Email is a common area where waste occurs in communication, such as unnecessary CCs and reply calls.
• Lean communication requires thinking about the value of the message and who truly needs to receive it.
• The length of an email should be kept concise, with a power paragraph summarizing the context, problem, and solution.
• Empathy and understanding the audience's pain points are crucial in lean communication.
• Lean leaders should also focus on effective communication and provide value to their teams.
• Face-to-face communication and presentation skills are important areas to develop for lean professionals.

CONNECT WITH Geoff Weinstein:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/geoffweinstein

Website: https://www.geoffweinstein.com/