Those of you who are at the top of your game, know that communication is key. Most of the time in life, the way we produce massive results is through people, which of course requires communication. And quite often we want the results right away.

When we want results now, we tend to communicate more quickly, after all, it is urgent. The problem is that efficiency (speed) and effectiveness (quality) don’t always go hand in hand.

When dealing with people, it has been said before that “Fast is slow and slow is fast.” While that seems completely counterintuitive, it does actually make sense. When we communicate fast, we may be in such a rush that we leave out details or the message isn’t completely received.

In the first situation, the other person may ask for more details, in the second, they may think they have all the details and act on incomplete information causing ineffective performance that may have to be redone. That is why it can be critical to slow down, especially on important items.

I know for many this can be a challenge because it is important, we have energy, and we want to get it done. But by slowing down, which seems backwards, we can actually speed up our results.

Can you slow down too much? Absolutely. So we have to find that balance of efficiency and effectiveness. So pay attention to the feedback you’re getting from your people. If they can handle a quick pass, great. If they need you to do a handoff, pay attention to that and you’ll score touchdowns not only more frequently, but faster as well.