Have you ever missed the chance to communicate something important to your members?
Many communication leaders will admit that they have completed dropped the ball on communications from time to time. Their intentions were good, but the day got away from them. Some thought about sending a simple note of encouragement to the leadership teams, but that thought came at about 5:30am. Others have been in situations where they have the perfect question to ask their volunteers, but that perfect question came to mind at 11:45pm.
Inspiration for what to communicate often comes at times outside of normal and acceptable communication windows – as in too early or too late for folks. So, what happens? Often, we let those moments pass us by. We miss the chance to communicate, inspire, and influence.
Here are three simple reminders that will help you and your communication teams avoid missed opportunities to communicate with your members.
#1 – Capture the Thought
No matter what time it is, make sure you document the thought or the task you need to communicate. Go old school if need be and jot it down on paper. Just don’t lose the information.
#2 – Consider the Right Way to Communicate
We heard a quote the other day “publishing your message in places where no one else will read them is nothing more than journaling.” Sadly, our emails, blogs, printed materials end up not reaching our members. They just do not get read. Therefore, when you have a great word of encouragement or need to remind folks to take action on a special event, make sure your members will read it. Text it to those who can’t put their smartphones down. Make an old-fashioned phone call to those who aren’t tech savvy. And, cover your bases by sending emails too.
#3 – Choose the Right Timing
Timing matters. Today’s communication tools allow us to easily schedule communications to be made at points of time into the future. This gives us the opportunity to think carefully about the optimal time to send a message so that it has the greatest chance of being read. Using the 11:45pm example mentioned above, that great volunteer question may be best asked at 10am two days from now.
Final thoughts…
After you have captured the message, know the right way to send it and the right time to send it, the only thing left to do is send the message. Don’t miss out on actually communicating by depending upon your personal availability to make it happen. Use appropriate communication tools to stage the message to be sent in the right ways, to the right people, at the right time.
A reminder for QuikKast customers: The “delay sending message” option is available on every message you send. You can choose the date and specify the time the message will be sent. It works for text messages, emails, and voice phone calls. Here’s a snapshot of what the delay option looks like.