Five by five

Five by five is an expression that means your signal (radio etc..) is coming in perfectly strong and clear. It is also referred to as “loud and clear”.

We often forget when communicating to check what message has been received and how clearly. We do not always check that we are “five by five”

In the past I have spoken about asking someone to repeat back their understanding of what we said. Take a moment over the next few days and think about an expectation we have set. Go up to someone on your team and ask them to tell you what that expectation is. If they have – you have communicated. If not, well now we can have a great conversation. Periodically check how your communication is being received by your team. Is it strong and clear enough to stay with them when you check in later? The formula is very simple in this regard – if they know what you intended to send you have communicated that part of it well.

So take some time over the next few days and do a “communication check in” with your people. If you make this a habit the response will soon always be: “five by five”