Your inbox is overflowing. Slack never stops pinging. Meeting invites pile up faster than you can decline them. Sound familiar?
You're drowning in communication — and so is everyone else at your company. But here's the problem nobody wants to admit: most organizations keep adding new ways to communicate without ever removing the old ones.
The real issue isn't bad communication — it's too much communication.
Think of your company's messages like an emergency room. Not every piece of information needs immediate attention. Some messages are urgent and critical. Others can wait. And many shouldn't exist at all.
Start with ruthless elimination
Before you craft one more email or schedule another meeting, ask yourself: What can I stop saying?
Look at your regular communications. Which reports does nobody read? Which meetings could be emails? Which emails could be nothing at all?
Apply the triage test
Every message you send should pass this three-part test:
Is it urgent? Does someone need to act on this immediately? If not, it can wait or combine with other updates.
Is it useful? Will this information help someone make a decision or do their job better? If it's just an FYI, question whether it needs to go out at all.
Is it unique? Are you saying something that nobody else is saying, or that isn't covered elsewhere? If it's duplicate information, kill it.
Choose your channels wisely
Stop using every communication tool for everything. Pick specific purposes for each channel:
Slack for quick questions and immediate needs. Email for decisions that need a paper trail. Meetings for complex discussions that require real-time collaboration.
When you use the wrong channel, your message gets lost in the chaos.
Make space for what matters
Every unnecessary message you eliminate makes room for the important ones to breathe. Your team will thank you for respecting their time and attention.
The goal isn't perfect communication — it's purposeful communication. Sometimes the most powerful thing you can say is nothing at all.
Start tomorrow. Look at your scheduled communications and cut half of them. Watch what happens when you give your important messages room to land.