We live in a society that gravitates around information, so there is no doubt about the importance of communication skills and abilities today. Regardless of the type of project, service or activities, knowing how to transmit information effectively and efficiently to those responsible and interested agents is undoubtedly a critical aspect.

Undoubtedly, communication is an essential process of any organization, capable of propelling and revaluing other strategic or primary processes. In the professional field, an important part of this communication is materialized in the reports, due to their more formal nature and element of transmission of information both vertically and horizontally. For this reason, they must respond to the usual principles of communication: transparency and accessibility according to the information classification model, so that they are available to all interested parties; suitability, so that their contents are relevant to the recipients; credibility, providing true, exact and appropriate information; and clarity, being understandable and avoiding all ambiguity. Beyond these variables, it should never be forgotten that reports are often used as decision support tools.

Undoubtedly, all of you will know the famous American statistician William Edwards Deming, a strong advocate of the need to transform American industry in the last third of the 20th century and who, at the same time, would develop a prosperous and relevant professional career during the reconstruction of post-WWII Japan.

In all likelihood, most of you will be familiar with Deming’s “14 Principles of Total Quality,” the fourth principle of which states that:

Don’t award business based on price; minimize total cost by having single suppliers on long-term relationships of loyalty and trust

In other words, something like: “end the practice of doing business based on price; instead, minimize total cost through a few suppliers based on long-term relationships built on loyalty and trust.”

Naturally, a principle is a fundamental idea that should govern a thought or behavior … which does not mean that it is possible to put it into practice at all times and under all circumstances!

The current pandemic situation caused by the infamous COVID-19 (or Coronavirus) is impacting all areas of society: the first and most important, that of public health and the individual’s inherent primary survival instinct. Probably, the second concern is the economic impact that, as a worker or as an entrepreneur, the epidemic is causing in the operations and forecasts of companies and corporations of any sector and nature.

But the world does not stop … and organizations cannot afford to stop their business operations either!

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