Channel Strategy
This is the richest communication channel.
What is face-to-face communication?
A manager opens an email with three paragraphs of background before revealing the deadline is tomorrow. The primary structural mistake is:
What is burying the main idea?
“This email is being written to inform you that the meeting has been rescheduled.”
The primary revision needed is:
What is eliminating a long lead-in?
In the PEAS framework, this step must occur before evaluating data.
What is defining the problem?
Seeking out articles that reinforce your existing belief while ignoring opposing viewpoints.
What is confirmation bias?
This channel is best for routine messages that require documentation but not immediate feedback.
What is email?
An employee announces a controversial policy change by stating the decision in the first sentence, despite knowing employees strongly oppose it. The strategic error is:
What is using direct strategy when indirect was appropriate?
“We were extremely, completely surprised by the totally unexpected decline in revenue.”
The problem here reflects misuse of:
What are intensifiers (or unnecessary modifiers)?
A claim states, “Students learn better with laptops.” No definition of “better” is provided. The flaw lies in:
What is failure to define measurable criteria?
Overestimating the risk of airplane crashes because of recent media coverage.
What is availability bias?
You must deliver bad news to an anxious team and expect strong emotional reactions. This channel is most appropriate.
What is face-to-face communication (or live video meeting)?
A proposal outlines benefits but never clearly states what action the reader should take. The planning failure is:
What is failing to define the desired response (or weak call to action)?
“Sales increased this quarter, profits rose significantly.”
This sentence contains this structural fault:
What is a comma splice?
A company claims productivity improved after implementing a new policy, but no alternative explanations are considered. The reasoning flaw is:
What is confusing correlation with causation?
Continuing to invest in a failing marketing campaign because “we’ve already spent too much to stop now.”
What is sunk-cost bias?
Using email to deliver complex performance criticism often fails because email lacks this key communication feature.
What is high media richness (or immediate feedback and nonverbal cues)?
A supervisor writes, “I think maybe we could possibly consider adjusting the timeline.” The structural weakness reflects poor control of:
What is clarity and confidence in drafting (or excessive hedging)?
“You failed to include the report, so we cannot move forward.”
The revision should improve this element of tone:
What is positive or reader-focused tone?
A proposal jumps directly to recommending a solution without clarifying the root issue. This violates which thinking discipline?
What is structured problem definition (or skipping the first PEAS step)?
Presenting only favorable statistics in a report while excluding data that weakens your argument.
What is bias by omission?
A manager chooses a group chat to resolve conflict between departments. This is strategically weak because conflict resolution requires this type of communication environment.
What is a high-richness, interactive setting (face-to-face or live meeting)?
A team drafts a message without considering how senior leadership might interpret it if forwarded. The failure occurred during this stage of the 3-x-3 process:
What is audience analysis in the prewriting stage?
A document contains dense paragraphs, no headings, inconsistent formatting, and long blocks of text. The primary weakness is not grammar but:
What is poor document design or readability?
A leader selectively cites favorable statistics while dismissing contradictory research as “irrelevant.” The deeper failure is not just bias, but abandonment of this principle:
What is objective, evidence-based analysis?
A manager believes a candidate will succeed because they “remind me of our last top performer,” based on superficial similarities.
What is representativeness bias?