I am having a great journey in the product management role and I cannot emphasize how important communication is. There are a lot of blogs out there which will help you plan your roadmap, strategy, vision, workflow, budgeting, etcetera., but no one talks about how to be successful in propagating the message you really want to convey. Is every team member understanding the vision and strategy? Do your peers really know what's the goal you are working towards? Is your final product turning out to be something you did not expect? Are your meetings effective enough so that you don't need to clarify your thoughts again? Trust me, the message sent is not always the message received. The First thing to do here is to acknowledge a problem exists and have an effective framework to help you overcome this. Over the past few months I read communication books, attended some online courses, got myself a mentor and after experimenting with some strategies, I think I have started to see some success in my daily communication routine and believe me, now I am having structured meetings, productive one-on-ones', and impactful presentations. Well, obviously I will start listing what I am doing but proceed with caution -- there is not such thing as a framework or formula that will help you succeed. I had to do a lot of trial and error, list down what's working and not, analyze patterns, get feedback and go back with the mindset that you will do better next time. This is a process and I would highly recommend reading it with an open mind and imagining if you were to do this in your meetings, how would you go about it.

1. Before every meeting or presentation or even business conversation, spend five minutes thinking why you are having this meeting and what is the outcome you want out of it. If you read this too fast, go back and read it again -- your clarity of thoughts during speech or conversation depends on whys and whats and, soon enough you will realize how much you are now involved and participating. Make it a habit, start setting goals and cherish small wins.

2. Take some time to understand who your audience is -- the way you would present to your peers would be at a different pitch and tone compared to higher ups. Keep in mind, your message should be catered to the audience interests, otherwise your message is not well-received. The whole effort you have put in goes in vain. People only listen to what they want to hear -- so make sure you are doing this right!

3. Listen to the other person -- This is the hardest skill to acquire. I always used to interrupt other people while talking and this can really backfire depending on whom you are talking to. Make a conscious effort to listen to the other person and then wait for two seconds before you start talking. Our brain is hardwired to respond faster to things we already know and this results in frequent interruptions in which you are just acknowledging the same fact. Think about situations in which you don't understand what the other person is actually talking about -- do you exert the same behavior? So Listen, Pause, and Respond!

4. Content is the King! People generally have very less time to listen to you, so make sure you are getting their 100% attention. Many of us have the habit of beating around the bushes before we make an actual request or pitch something -- the best practice I discovered is to tell the actual content and the request or suggestion you are making upfront in first one or two minute of the conversation. This sets up the stage, and you have full attention of your listener. Obviously, this is not best suited for all situations, but it is for most of them. Even during the presentation, generally we see a lot of unwanted slides at the beginning only to find some obvious solutions at the end of it. While listening to you, people might even lose attention to some online content or emails -- the best way to avoid this is to make your pitch in first five minutes. This is when you have maximum attention in the room. Your follow-on slides can be detailed with all the technical content you want.

I have created a framework for you to work on your communication skills. It takes practice and persistence, but doable. Try this and email me if you have any questions at contactme@dkarpur.com.