Think of how often you communicate with people during the day. You write emails, facilitate meetings, participate in conference calls, create reports, devise presentations, debate with your colleagues… the list goes on.

We can spend almost our entire day communicating. So, it stands to reason that communicating clearly and effectively can boost productivity. The 7 Cs provide a checklist for making sure that your communications are well constructed and clear – so your audience gets your message.
Communication needs to be:

1. Clear.
2. Concise.
3. Concrete.
4. Correct.
5. Coherent.
6. Complete.
7. Courteous.

1. Clear
When writing or speaking to someone, be clear about your goal or message. What is your purpose in communicating with this person? If you’re not sure, then your audience won’t be either.

To be clear, try to minimize the number of ideas in each sentence. Make sure that it’s easy for your reader to understand your meaning. People shouldn’t have to “read between the lines” and make assumptions on their own to understand what you’re trying to say.

2. Concise
When you’re concise in your communication, you stick to the point and keep it brief. Your audience doesn’t want to read six sentences when you could communicate your message in three. Ask yourself:

• Are there any adjectives or “filler words” that you can delete? You can often eliminate words like “for instance,” “you see,” “definitely,” “kind of,” “literally,” “basically,” or “I mean.”
• Are there any unnecessary sentences?
• Have you repeated the point several times, in different ways?

3. Concrete
When your message is concrete, your audience has a clear picture of what you’re telling them. There are details (but not too many) and vivid facts, and there’s laser-like focus. Your message is solid.

4. Correct
When your communication is correct, your audience will be able to understand it. And correct communication is also error-free communication. Make sure your message is correct by asking yourself the following questions:

• Do the technical terms you use fit your audience’s level of education or knowledge?
• Have you checked your writing for grammatical errors? (Remember, spell checkers won’t catch everything).
• Are all names and titles spelled correctly?

5. Coherent
When your communication is coherent, it’s logical. All points are connected and relevant to the main topic, and the tone and flow of the text is consistent.

6. Complete
In a complete message, the audience has everything they need to be informed and, if applicable, take action.

• Does your message include a “call to action,” so that your audience clearly knows what you want them to do?
• Have you included all relevant information – contact names, dates, times, locations, and so on?

7. Courteous
Courteous communication is friendly, open and honest. There are no hidden insults or passive-aggressive tones. You keep your reader’s viewpoint in mind, and you’re empathetic to their needs.