THE TOOLKIT
The Reportback
The Reportback is a communication template that helps you organize and share your message as a messenger of information. This can be used when you have to summarize your observations, experiences, organizational vision, or trends in the marketplace. This tool uses a combination of summarization and synthesis to delivery a clear, action-oriented message. There are five key elements:
- Set-up: Set the foundation by providing some context. Begin your message by being transparent and sharing what you’re about to do. Reference the location, time, environment, etc. to help paint a picture. For example, “I want to provide you an overview of what was shared in our executive meeting this morning… ” or “Here’s a quick snapshot of where we’re at with distribution and what was shared by marketing during our Q3 team check-in…”
- Recall: Describe what stood out most which may include the most critical pieces of information or what is most relevant to your audience. Give details describing what was said, heard, or written. For example, “Sidra said a couple of critical items including the top three things that we need to consider beginning with…” or “The items that stood out to me most in the executive update included…”
- Interpretation: Provide your perspective and add your own color commentary. Give your translation of the items recalled. Don’t just recall what was said: rather, provide your opinion on the situation to help people understand how to think about what transpired. For example, “As a result, I took that to mean…” or “I believe this is really telling us that we should begin considering…”
- Implications: Provide a judgment or value statement regarding the information. Describe a solution, consequence, benefit, or general idea regarding your interpretation to show you understand the impact of the information. For example, “Moving forward, I believe this means…” or “As a result, we should focus our attention around…”
- Action: Suggest an action, decision, or next step. Offer your listener or reader concrete ideas to take action and move forward. For example, “As a result, our next step should be…” or “To get things moving, I believe we really need to…”
Objectives
Employees seem to always be asking for more communication and information. Rarely do you hear, “We communicate enough; we don’t need any more information.” This tool helps organize your message when you are the buffer or conduit of information. It helps accomplish the following objectives:
- Summarize and synthesize your thoughts around key events, presentations, meetings, or decisions.
- Share observations using engaging storytelling techniques.
- Encourages engagement and creates buy-in around action items and next steps.