Agile is sometimes heralded as the process which requires “no documentation” but as we know, this is not the case. Some documentation is obviously required to provide specifications for the design and development team, provide information to management for review and approval, but documentation of what we are doing is also a way to put together ”a placeholder for a conversation”. Communication is key in making sure these conversations take place.

So which communication tools or skills are needed in an agile environment?

People learn in different ways and therefore we need to make sure that the types of channels we use to communicate, are appropriate for our User or Audience. Principals of change and adult learning stress the need to ensure that the way you deliver the message is appropriate to the target audience. This is where the communication channel becomes important as we need to understand the user’s preference for Visual, Auditory or  Kinaesthetic types of communication.

• V= Visual (Something ‘seen’ or had visual stimulation). These Users need a graphic representation of the material
• A= Auditory (A ‘sound’ memory or related to a sound). Here, users need to hear the explanation of how things work
• K= Kinaesthetic (Has a ‘doing’ memory & you thought of yourself feeling the emotion or activity of the memory). These users need to use the system to understand.

Users and stakeholders will all be different. To avoid the trap of delivery project documents that are “shelfware” and not understood by your client stakeholders and users, you need to target the communication channel to their preferred way of learning and communicating information. We may use all of our senses; we simply have a preference for one or more of these channels.

Below is a summary of how each type of user learns, how you can support the on projects and what tools are a best fit for this type of communication channel.

	Visual	Auditory	Kinaesthetic
How they Learn	Learn by seeing Have strong spelling & writing skills Find spelling mistakes distracting Not talk much & dislike listening for too long Will be distracted by untidiness and movement	Learn by listening Love to talk Appear to daydream whilst ‘talking’ inside their heads Read in a talking style Love the telephone and music	Learn by doing Move around a lot, tap pens and shift in their seat Want lots of breaks Enjoy games Don’t like reading, but doodle and take notes
Support Learner by using:	Posters, charts & graphs Visual Displays Booklets, brochures, & handouts Variety of colour & shape Clear layouts with headings & plenty of white space	Question & Answer Sessions Lectures & Stories Discussion Pairs/Groups Variety in tone, pitch, rate and volume Music or slogans	Team activities Hands-on Experience Role-plays Note taking Emotional discussion
Best Tools for these Learners	Context Diagrams Process maps Presentations (animation and diagrams) Prototypes Storyboards	Discuss User scenarios (their story) Presentations Podcasts	Prototypes Workshops UAT (User Acceptance Testing)

Of course, there are now many more options to communicate in our networked world.  These new ways of communicating and reaching out to others help us to access a greater body of knowledge (in people’s heads, not in documents) and communities of practice.  Matthas blogged recently about  a Web 2.0 workshop stragegy game he developed to help uncover what web 2.0 social media tools would be of most value to the organisation. This helps determine the type of medium for teh message (eg traditional media vs social media or a mix of both).

So just as the type of message or medium used is important, making sure you are using the right learning tool for your user is critical in getting your message understood.

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