Cobra Principle in Communication: The Power of Brevity
Adding more words, qualifications, and caveats often weakens communication. Learn why clarity and brevity outperform volume and how to write and...
All Communication At Work in Work Skills
A complete A–Z index of every Communication At Work article on When Notes Fly, part of our Work Skills coverage. New to the topic? Start with the foundational explainers, then move on to case studies and applied frameworks. Returning for something specific? Use the list below to jump straight to it.
For the latest pieces newest-first, see the Communication At Work section. For related ideas across the section, see the Work Skills archive. How we research and review articles: editorial standards.
Browse All Communication At Work Articles
Communicating Clearly: Science and Practice of Clarity
The cognitive science of clarity, from the curse of knowledge to the Pyramid Principle: what research shows about why communication fails and how...
Conflict Communication: Navigating Workplace Disagreements
Conflict communication: Address issues directly not passive-aggressively, focus on problem not person, seek understanding first, maintain...
Cross-Team Communication
Cross-team communication fails due to different priorities, jargon barriers between specialties, territorial silos, and misaligned goals.
Crucial Conversations Framework: Key Insights and Scripts
The Crucial Conversations framework from Kerry Patterson and VitalSmarts explained with scripts.
Effective Communication: The Science of Being Understood
What effective communication really means: the Shannon-Weaver model, the 7Cs, active listening research, non-verbal signals, and how communication...
Enhancing Your Inquiry Skills with Better Questions
Asking better questions is a learnable skill backed by research. Explore Socratic questioning, the SPIN framework, open vs closed questions, and...
Executive Communication Explained
Executive communication: lead with conclusion, use business impact language about revenue and risk, be brief, provide clear action items.
Giving Feedback Effectively
Effective feedback is specific not vague, timely not delayed, behavior-focused not personal, and actionable with clear improvement paths.
Giving Upward Feedback: Telling Your Manager They're Wrong
A research-backed guide to delivering critical feedback to your manager. Scripts, timing, and framing for the conversations that managers actually...
Guide to Giving and Receiving Feedback Effectively
Research-backed guide to giving and receiving feedback: the SBI model, radical candor, Kim Scott's framework, common mistakes, and how...
How to Effectively Disagree With Your Boss
Scripts and framing for pushing back effectively on a boss's decision. Research-backed guidance from the psychological safety, negotiation, and...
How to Push Back on Unreasonable Deadlines Professionally
Scripts and framing for pushing back on unrealistic deadlines without getting labeled difficult.
How to Stop Being Talked Over in Meetings: Scripts and Strategies
Research-backed techniques for reclaiming your voice in meetings. Scripts for interruption recovery, pre-meeting preparation, and the specific...
Making Memorable Presentations That Stick
Most presentations are forgotten within days. Learn the research on what makes presentations stick: structure, story, slide design, rehearsal, and...
Managing Workplace Conflict: Tools and Strategies
Workplace conflict management: the Thomas-Kilmann model, when conflict is healthy, task vs relationship conflict, difficult conversations...
Meeting Communication Mistakes
Meeting mistakes: no clear purpose, missing agenda causing aimless wandering, wrong attendees, and no decisions or action items after discussion.
Navigating Micromanagement: Strategies to Cope
A research-backed playbook for working under a micromanager. Scripts for reducing check-ins, building trust, setting boundaries, and distinguishing...
Negotiation Skills: Research Insights for Better Outcomes
What decades of negotiation research and practice reveal about anchoring, BATNA, tactical empathy, salary negotiation, and the principles that...
Science of Better Feedback: Models and Mindsets
The science of effective feedback — from Kluger and DeNisi's meta-analysis to the SBI model, growth mindset, and why the feedback sandwich does...
Strategies for Crafting Emails That Drive Responses
Research-backed techniques for writing emails that get opened, read, and answered. Covers subject lines, optimal length, cold email tactics, and...
Strategies for Managing Difficult Coworkers Effectively
Evidence-based strategies for dealing with difficult coworkers: passive-aggressive behavior, chronic complainers, narcissistic traits, workplace...
The Benefits of Asynchronous Communication
Async communication allows deep work and respects time zones with written records. Sync communication builds relationships through real-time...
Things Emotionally Intelligent People Never Do
Twelve workplace behaviors that emotionally intelligent professionals avoid, drawn from Yale, Harvard, and four decades of peer-reviewed EQ research.
Understanding Communication Hierarchies in Organizations
Organizational hierarchy shapes communication: information flows down easily but up with friction.
Understanding Public Speaking Anxiety and Solutions
Why public speaking anxiety is so common and what actually works — from the spotlight effect and physiological reappraisal to deliberate practice...
Understanding the Bystander Effect in Workplaces
The bystander effect causes employees to stay silent when they should act. Learn the psychology, workplace examples, and how to build a culture...
Understanding the Psychology of Saying No
The psychology of saying no — people-pleasing, the fawn response, time economics, assertiveness research, and how to decline gracefully without...
What Is Empathic Listening: Beyond Just Hearing Words
Empathic listening means understanding both the content and the emotional meaning behind what someone says.
Why Professional Miscommunication Occurs and Recovery
Workplace miscommunication happens from different contexts, unstated assumptions, and ambiguous language. Recover by clarifying intent quickly.
Workplace Communication Explained
Workplace communication uses formal channels through hierarchy, informal channels through relationships, shared context, and feedback loops.
Writing Clearly at Work
Clear workplace writing: Lead with conclusion not buildup, use short sentences easier to parse, eliminate jargon unless audience knows it, be...