- May 9, 2025
The Chatter - Issue #11, 24April2025
- Liz Marion
- 0 comments
Hi there Communicators,
We’re officially into Q2—and if there’s one thing that keeps coming up in conversations with leaders, it’s this: We can’t do it all. And we shouldn’t.
This month, I'm thinking about the power of delegating and elevating—because when leaders empower their team members with clarity, context, and trust, everyone performs better (and productivity soars!).
When teams are connected and aligned, they don’t just check boxes. They collaborate better, solve faster, and show up with more purpose. There’s real productivity power in connected teams—I'll break that down in the stats section below.
I'm also sharing a helpful perspective on how to navigate current events in the workplace. Because when leaders don’t offer direction or space for conversation, the silence fills with assumptions, spirals, and rumors. Clear, timely communication can help your team stay grounded—even when the world feels shaky.
As you move through the rest of the quarter, here are 3 powerful questions:
Are you giving your team the why, not just the what?
Are you creating connection—or letting people fill in the blanks?
Are you building capacity through trust and communication?
Talk Soon,
Liz Marion
Owner & Principal, Liby Works
Key Insights: facts and more
Stat
20–25%
increase in productivity for well-connected teams
(Source: McKinsey)
More Than That
We hear it all the time: “We just need to be more productive.” But productivity doesn’t come from working harder or adding more meetings to the calendar—it comes from improving how we communicate.
McKinsey found that well-connected teams see a 20–25% increase in productivity. That’s not from grinding longer hours—it’s from having the right people looped in, the right context at the right time, and fewer communication breakdowns slowing things down.
Here’s the thing: productivity isn’t just about output. It’s about effective collaboration, clarity of purpose, and giving people what they need to do their jobs without spinning their wheels.
Poor communication? That’s what drags projects out, causes missed deadlines, and leaves people feeling like they’re working hard—but getting nowhere.
If you want to boost productivity this quarter, start here:
Delegate with context. Don’t just hand off a task—share the “why” and how it connects to the bigger picture. Context = confidence.
Make ownership clear. Who’s doing what, by when, and how will we check in? Clarity prevents bottlenecks and finger-pointing.
Close the loops. Communication should be a full circle. Make sure updates are shared, questions are answered, and loose ends are tied up.
If we want to go faster - we need to communicate better.
The Communications Corral: A round up of recent communications news, reports and content.
Elevate Your Team Members
Don't just delegate to them.
When current events affect your operations.
Quips, Quotes and Jokes
We have to have a little fun with communications.
“Communication is the only task you cannot delegate.”
— Roberto Críspulo Goizueta, former Coca-Cola CEO
Also this flow chart from AxiosHQ.
A reminder to make hard conversations and high-stakes discussions about the issue and tying it back to our organization's mission and vision. You'll never regret a hard conversation.
