Streamlining communication can definitely increase your personal productivity.

In the NBC Sitcom “The Office” at one point one of the characters, Kevin Malone, decides to increase his productivity. Much to the chagrin of his coworkers he does this by eliminating what he deems to be unnecessary words. As he says, “Why waste time say lot word when few word do trick?”.  

While Kevin’s approach probably isn’t ideal, streamlining communication can definitely increase your personal productivity.

Here are three ideas that will help you communicate more efficiently:

Establish common language

Misunderstandings are probably one of the most common productivity thieves. If one individual uses a term to mean one thing while another understands it to mean something even slightly different, this can lead to misunderstandings and lost time.

So take some time to define certain key terms with your team or family and this will pay off dividends in the future.

Learn to use group messages the right way

Group messaging can be a great time saver, it’s a quick and easy way to communicate with multiple people without taking the time to address them individually. Unfortunately group messages can often become unnecessary and annoying when the information being relayed isn’t relevant to everyone. To avoid this pitfall make sure that the message only goes to those who really need to see it.

Plan specific times to check your email or text messages

You’ll find it’s much more efficient to respond to five emails in one sitting than to respond to five emails at separate times in the day. This will help you keep a better work flow.