Welcome to the Research Assistant Weekly Newsletter - a subscriber-only resource for insight into emerging compliance challenges, details on peer calls, and links to new Research Assistant reports, documents, tools, and more.
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Consider how your team responds best to communications.
Assess how you communicate and evaluate if that style is working. If you’re not sure if your communication style is working, reach out and ask for feedback. Ask questions such as, “How do you like to receive compliance updates?”, or lead with an observation, “I know I seem to be sending a lot of compliance updates, is there a more effective way to distribute this information to you without risking it getting lost in the mix of everything else?”
Be pre-prepared for critical feedback, and make the appropriate changes.
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Keep written communications short and to the point.
When communications are sent in writing, refrain from writing a full synopsis of the problem, risk, and solutions. Instead, get your point across in the first 2 sentences; organize your communication with a description of the issue and how it impacts the reader and/or the company. Follow that up with what you need from them. Then close the email with the additional supporting content. Organizing your thoughts in a bullet point list can communicate direct points more effectively.
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Avoid over exaggerating risks.
Don’t be Chicken Little, I know it can feel like the sky is always falling but we lose our effectiveness when we exaggerate risks. Prior to presenting compliance risks answer these questions:
What is the financial impact for non-compliance? (fines, lawsuits, cost to correct, etc.)
Is inventory being left unworked as a result of a compliance issue? (e.g., disputes not being responded to with proper verification docs)
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Formalize communications and frequency.
Consider limiting your communications to specific formats and times to the extent you can. For example, set up regular compliance meetings with cross-departmental stakeholders. Set an agenda beforehand with the compliance items you plan to discuss and provide the attendees with any materials they should review beforehand. If a solution to a problem involves an operations counterpart, be clear with them ahead of time, so they are prepared to discuss the solution. Your meeting should then be focused on making decisions based on the agenda topics.
Follow-up in writing the agreed upon next steps, and decisions.
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Identify when communication is breaking down and pivot.
Make a rule for yourself that if an email or text goes back and forth more than two times regarding a specific issue, you will pick up the phone, or have a quick teams or zoom meeting. This will help you manage misunderstandings and frustration on both sides.
