Bottomlining

I am practicing the skill of bottomlining, getting to the point, identifying the essence.  

Lyssa Adkins uses this concept in agile coaching circles… generally after some discussion and deepening starts to wind down. She gently probes – What is the essence of that? What matters about this? What is important about this?

I can see that this is also an important skill to call on when “netting” out requests or concerns. We start with an intention. Then we need to get clear around what we want to request of another person.  When we are clear, we can ask explicitly, openly, clearly. Of course, we want first to think about the other person’s position, ask about their needs, where they are at. Successful relationships are two way relationships.

This also applies to responding to a request for status in a bottom line way. Maureen Taylor explains this as “Keeping the answer short,  while still giving information.” 

A great demonstration of bottomlining is a video of Dr Robyn Silverman – Leadership Bootcamp / BottomLining & Challenging.

Gina Cajucom recommends in this article to “Always see and go back to the “big picture”…  How will you resolve this issue or how will you decide if you were the owner of this company?  …”Bottomlining is a C-suite skill that you can learn in whatever position you might be.”

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Tags: bottom, bottomlining, communication