Creative Communication for Construction Recruiters

How do you keep clients up-to-date in our attention-starved business world?

 

If you’re still sharing information through spreadsheets, multi-page reports, and PowerPoint slides, it’s time to refine your business communication.

 

Visuals and multimedia are the buzz for 2014. Clearly, visuals have been integral to the construction industry long before 2014.

 

Research proves that our minds think in pictures, not words. Infographics have helped us ease into the visual world as hard statistics and facts are blended with interesting pictures and images that grab people’s attention and are easy to digest.

 

The Age of Simplicity

 

Stephanie Tilton has researched the topic of data visualization for SAS, a business analytics software and services company.  Tilton writes in Harness the Power of Data Visualization to Transform Your Business:

 

“Savvy companies are moving beyond static graphs, spreadsheets, and reports by harnessing the power of business visualization to transform how they see, discover, and share insights hidden in their data. Because business visualization spans a broad range of options, from static to dynamic and interactive, it serves a variety of needs within organizations. As a result, those companies adopting business visualization are able to extract maximum value from the information captured throughout their environments.”

Construction recruiters don’t have to get bogged down with researching data and creating infographics.

Let’s go one step further. You can distill data by using basic pie charts or graphs that highlight the key points you want to convey.

Remember, your communication must be succinct, relevant, and nugget-sized.

An Example for Recruiters

You are working with an employer who needs to hire a project manager. You have done your due diligence and narrowed the search to 10 candidates. To keep your client abreast of your progress, use Microsoft Word to create a simple pie chart or graphic.

 A follow-up graphic may highlight the timeframe needed to get through the next phase of screening.

Attention is a Hot Commodity

Business demands that we simplify and communicate key messages that will jump off the page. The visuals you can use are eye-catching, engaging, and break away from the old way of dumping troves of information at people who find it too time-consuming and cumbersome to grasp.

Above all, your clients and bosses will likely be impressed with this new way of sharing and consuming information. These simple visual summaries will distinguish you from others, as the ‘eye candy’ is a nice diversion from static reports. Visuals also show others that you respect their valuable time, as you have sifted through the junk to share the gems.