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One of my favorite non-fiction books is The One Thing by Gary Keller and Jay Papasan. It’s a simple but important guide about the power of focus—in the world of business, our personal lives and yes, the business of communications. I must admit, I’m kind of obsessed with this idea. My colleague Kelly knows that this is one of my go-to questions. “I know what you’re going to say, Molly—’What’s the One Thing?’”

“There can only be one most important thing. Many things may be important, but only thing can be the most important.” – Ross Garber

Why it Matters

Recently, I was asked by a client to help communicate an important new initiative to her teams; let’s call it Project X. The problem? The background documentation she provided to me contained 8 objectives, 12 workstreams and 3 new technologies. When we met,  I explained that it would be much more impactful to her teams if she could crystallize the focus of the project. I don’t mean just one talking point or one workstream. I mean the one thing that everyone needed to understand in order to make the initiative successful. After all, although Project X was certainly important, it wasn’t the ONLY thing that her teams were working on. If she wanted THEM to focus, then SHE had to focus.

How to Make it Happen

So how did we get there? I asked her to pretend that she had just presented Project X at an all-hands meeting. Everyone was exiting the room. Quick! What’s the One Thing she wanted them to remember? It took a few tries—this is hard—but we were able to nail a succinct, focused message that set the trajectory for all other communication tactics. It helped her to tell the Project X Story quickly and crisply and it helped her teams to deliver on this important work.

The next time you have something important to say or communicate, I challenge you to ask yourself: What’s the One Thing? It will take a few tries—maybe more than a few—but I promise, it will be well worth the effort.

“Your daughter has suffered a ‘mild concussion’,” said the attending physician after examining my 12-year old. We were assured that she would be OK but would have to spend several days at home with no screen time, limited reading and lots of brain rest for a week or two. Off we went to settle into our new, decidedly-not-normal routine.

As any parent of a child with a concussion will tell you, managing the idle time was as challenging as the injury itself. We downloaded audio books, pulled shades and closed curtains, took walks, and tried to manage hours that typically were filled with hectic schedules, multi tasking, and rapid fire information exchange through text, email, and social media.

Sometimes my daughter was tracking with our usual fast pace of communication. Other times, she’d need to catch up. Her responses were delayed, and I could see her struggling to understand or to try to remember a word. More than a few times she would look at me apologetically and say, “I’m sorry, what?” That’s when I realized she literally wasn’t understanding what I was saying to her: It was too much, too fast.

So I slowed my conversation down. I didn’t give her more information than she needed. I watched her reaction closely, to see if she needed me to try again. And I’d break a message down into smaller bits until she said, “Got it.”

Then it dawned on me: sometimes the communications we receive in the workplace can be equally overwhelming. Employees are expected to absorb and act on multiple streams of “important information and news” on a daily basis. Often that information is delivered too quickly and without the right context.

Just like my daughter, employees can sometimes be overwhelmed trying to process it all — especially during times of change or uncertainty. Do you need to slow it down for your team? Here are 3 ways to do that:

1. Keep messages crisp and simple. Remember, it’s not their job to get it; it’s your job to help them understand.

2. Provide the right context. Yours is not the only communication they’re getting; make things easy by helping them to know the why and what of your news.

3. Check for understanding. Did they “hear” you? Are they taking the appropriate actions? If you’re still hearing “I’m sorry…what?” You need to break it down and slow it down until you hear “Got it!”