When you communicate with a group of people on a project, watch that you don’t leave anyone out of loop at any time.

For example, a sales rep with whom I was working was in the process of selling services to a client.

The rep sent me an E-mail saying: “Could you please contact my client? I’d like you to discuss technical matters X, Y and Z. Please get back to me and let me know the result.”

E-mail was the client’s preferred means of communication, and I sent him a message, with a copy to the sales rep to make sure everyone was kept in the loop. The client responded to me, answering my questions about the technical matter.

Next, the sales rep met with the client face-to- face and, based on the technical information I had provided, they agreed on terms.
The sales rep E-mailed me that the client intended to go ahead with the project but wanted me to send him a final outline of the tasks that we were going to perform. I E- mailed that list of tasks to the client and I copied the sales rep once again.

The client responded to me by E-mail, “O.K. looks good,” so I began work on the project. Then the sales rep called me a few days later: “Wayne, what’s going on? Has the client replied? Is he waiting for anything from you? What stage are we at?” I was shocked; I had made the fatal assumption that the sales rep was staying in touch with the client and that when the client said, “O.K., looks good,” that the project was a go. Unbeknownst to me, they had yet to wrap up the terms of the contract and the payment scheme. Our information loop had fallen apart.

That was not effective communication!