4 Basic Communication Rules

at Etcetera

At Etcetera we pay huge attention to communication. We believe it is one of the most crucial aspects of successful projects, happy clients, and mutual understanding within the team.

That’s why we all follow 4 basic rules in our work both with the other team members and with clients on Upwork. Every team member learns those rules during onboarding. And while they might seem obvious to some people, it’s really a miracle how much those 4 small things can turn to make such a huge difference in achieving great results and avoiding conflicts.

4 communication rules at Etcetera:

Ask again if you don’t understand. You won’t look stupid if you ask and you’ll save a lot of time if you need to redo something later if you misunderstood the task in the first place.
Clarify if it doubts. Different people often have a different understanding of the same things. If you have even the smallest doubt that your understanding of things is different from the expectations of the other person – always clarify that you are on the same page.
If you have a problem – tell about it before solving it. It is essential to validate and verify with your team the problem and let them know BEFORE you start solving it. Together with the team or client, it is possible to assign adequate status to the problem and set priorities on how and when to solve it. Solving problems, in any case, will lead to using time or other resources. So, such decisions need to be taken by the team even if you know that you’ll be the one solving the problem.
If a project is burning – shout before it’s too late. If you have a personal emergency that will cause a delivery delay or other possible issues – you need to communicate about it as soon as possible.

Those rules will help everyone in work and life. But the reason why they work miracles for our agency is that every team member knows them, follows them, and expects everyone else to follow them. And while occasional fires or problems can still occur, the communication becomes so much easier and more clear for everyone.

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