Communication Skills and Ethics cheat sheet

Key terms

To inform

Passing facts to people who need them: a maintenance notice, a status update, a password policy.

To instruct

Telling someone how to do something: a step-by-step guide to connecting to the Wi-Fi, a work order to a junior technician.

To persuade

Moving someone toward a decision or action: a proposal to management for a server upgrade, a request for budget.

To motivate

Encouraging effort and commitment: recognising a team that restored service overnight.

To build relationships

Maintaining trust and goodwill with colleagues, users and suppliers, so that the next difficult conversation is easier.

Source

The originator of the message decides what needs to be communicated and to whom. A vague purpose at the source produces a vague message; the sender must know what outcome they want before choosing words.

Encoding

Converting the intended meaning into words, symbols, numbers, gestures or images the receiver can understand. Encoding fails when the sender uses jargon, an unfamiliar language or an ambiguous phrase: 'reboot the box' encodes nothing for a receptionist.

Channel

The medium the encoded message travels through: face to face, telephone, email, memo, a ticketing system, a poster. Each channel carries some cues and loses others; a phone call carries tone but not facial expression, an email carries neither but leaves a record.

Decoding

The receiver interpreting the encoded message into meaning, filtered through their own knowledge, language, attention and expectations. Decoding fails when the receiver lacks the background to interpret the symbols, or when noise has corrupted them.

Feedback

The receiver's response, confirming whether the message was understood as intended: a reply, a nod, a question, an action taken. Feedback closes the loop and turns transmission into communication; without it the sender cannot know whether to re-encode and try again.

Formal channels

Follow the organisation's official structure and procedures: memos, reports, official emails, scheduled meetings, the ticketing system. Formal communication is recorded, authoritative and slower, and it is what an audit or a dispute will rely on.

Informal channels

Occur outside official structures: corridor conversations, chat groups, the grapevine. Informal communication is fast and builds relationships, but it is unverified, easily distorted and leaves no record. A good manager listens to it and corrects it through formal channels rather than trying to suppress it.

Downward

From management to staff: instructions, policies, decisions, feedback on performance. Fails when it is one-way and nobody checks understanding.

Upward

From staff to management: incident and status reports, suggestions, grievances, requests. Fails when staff fear the messenger will be blamed, so bad news arrives late.

Horizontal (lateral)

Between peers or teams at the same level: coordination between the network team and the applications team. Fails when teams protect their own turf.

Diagonal

Across levels and departments at once: a technician briefing the finance director directly about a payment-system outage. Fast and useful, but must not bypass the people who need to know.

Oral communication

Spoken exchange: face to face, by phone, in a meeting or a presentation. Immediate, allows instant feedback and carries tone, but leaves no record and can be misremembered. Best for discussion, persuasion and sensitive matters.

Non-verbal communication

Meaning conveyed without words: facial expression, eye contact, posture, gesture, tone of voice, distance, and even punctuality and dress. It accompanies oral communication and often carries more of the real message than the words; a user who says 'fine' with folded arms is not fine.

Written communication

Letters, reports, memos, emails, tickets and documentation. A permanent, referable record that can reach many people accurately, essential for change and incident documentation, but slower, without immediate feedback, and easily misread in tone.