How To Make A Communication

Communications don't have to be complicated, but most people make them harder than they need to be

I used to spend hours drafting internal communications for project teams. The result was always the same: people skimmed past them, missed the important parts, and asked the same questions over and over again. The problem wasn't that the information was wrong. It was that the format did more harm than good. A communication is simply a structured piece of information sent from one party to another with a clear purpose. In practice, that means an email, a memo, a status report, or a project brief. The definition sounds obvious, but most people skip the step where they actually figure out what the communication needs to accomplish before they start typing.

How To Make A Communication That People Actually Read

Start with the end in mind. Before you write a single word, ask yourself: what do I want the recipient to know, feel, or do after reading this? If you can't answer that in one sentence, your communication won't land either. Here's the practical breakdown. First, determine your audience. A status update to your direct manager requires different detail than a company-wide announcement. Second, pick the right channel. Slack is not a replacement for a formal memo. Third, structure the content using the BLUF method — Bottom Line Up Front. State your main point in the first two sentences, then provide supporting context below it. Fourth, keep it scannable. Use headings, bullet points, and short paragraphs. Fifth, include a clear call to action or next step so the reader knows what to do with the information. The BLUF approach cuts response time significantly. I tested this on a team of about twelve people working across three time zones. When I switched from paragraph-heavy emails to BLUF-formatted updates, follow-up questions dropped by roughly sixty percent within the first two weeks. That translated to about forty minutes of my time per week that I no longer spent clarifying the same points repeatedly.

One thing nobody tells you about writing communications: context matters more than content. I once sent a detailed status report to a stakeholder who had zero background on the project. The report was technically accurate but completely useless to them because I hadn't included the necessary context. They thought the project was behind schedule when it was actually on track. The fix was straightforward — I added a two-sentence background section at the top of every future communication, explaining the project's current phase and what success looks like. That small addition eliminated most of the confusion and sped up approval cycles considerably. Here are some common mistakes people make when writing communications. The first is overloading the message with unnecessary details. Your reader does not need to know every data point you considered. They need the conclusion and the reasoning behind it. The second mistake is writing in passive voice throughout. Passive constructions make it unclear who is responsible for what. The third is omitting deadlines or expectations. If you need a response by a certain date, state it explicitly. Another thing that trips people up is assuming that sending a communication is the same as ensuring it was understood. It isn't. I learned this the hard way during a product launch. I sent a detailed communication to the marketing and engineering teams about the new release timeline. Everyone confirmed they received it. Two weeks later, both teams were working from different assumptions about the launch date. The communication had been read, but not understood. The workaround was simple: I started asking recipients to confirm their understanding, not just their receipt. A simple reply like "I understand the launch is scheduled for March 15th" took five seconds and saved countless hours of misalignment afterward.

Templates are useful but not a cure-all. I use a basic template for weekly status updates that includes sections for completed work, upcoming tasks, blockers, and resource needs. It saves time and keeps things consistent. But templates become a liability when you fill them in without thinking about what each section actually means for your specific audience. A template that works for your team lead will likely miss critical information for your executive sponsor. Adjust the template for the reader, not the other way around. There are tools that can help streamline the process. Microsoft Word has built-in communication templates for memos and reports. Google Docs offers similar functionality with real-time collaboration features. For more complex communications involving multiple stakeholders, platforms like Notion or Confluence provide structured templates and version control. These tools reduce the overhead of starting from scratch every time. But remember: a template cannot compensate for unclear thinking. If you are unsure what you want to communicate, no software will fix that. The biggest limitation of formal communications is that they often fail when the relationship between sender and receiver is weak. A well-written memo will not build trust. A carefully formatted update will not replace a quick conversation when things are going wrong. Communications work best when they supplement existing relationships, not when they try to create them from scratch. If you are dealing with a sensitive or high-stakes message, consider pairing the written communication with a live discussion, even if it is just a five-minute call.

Word count matters more than you might think. Communications above four hundred words tend to lose reader engagement sharply, especially in digital formats. Aim for two to three hundred words for routine updates. Go longer only when the topic genuinely requires it, and use subheadings to break up the text. Every extra sentence beyond your core message is a chance for the reader to tune out. If you want to get better at this, practice is the only real shortcut. Write a communication every day, even if it is just a short note to a colleague. Review your own communications a week later and ask whether you would have understood them if you were reading cold. The feedback loop is how you improve. Most people never do it, which is why most communications are forgettable.