Communication Audit
Trace every interaction to expose overload, channel switching, and attention choices
- Difficulty
- Easy
- Time to result
- ~days to results
- Steps
- 5
- Confidence
- 96%
The Communication Audit is a short observational exercise. For 20 to 30 minutes, record every incoming and outgoing message across direct messages, email, text, phone, video calls, and face-to-face conversation. Note who is involved, the topic, direction, and channel, then review how often attention toggles among people, threads, and modalities. Brooks says students commonly notice both the sheer volume of communication and the mental cost of repeatedly adjusting to different modes and subjects. The audit is not meant to declare digital communication worthless; email can be effective for transactional exchange. Its purpose is to expose the braided structure of modern communication so a person can make more deliberate decisions about attention, channel choice, and which interactions deserve protected presence.
Origin
Alison Wood Brooks runs this exercise in her Harvard class and describes it on The Diary of a CEO as a way to inspect modern conversational life.
Core principles
- 01Communication load is easy to underestimate
- 02Each channel switch requires mental adjustment
- 03Different channels serve different purposes
- 04Attention allocation reveals relationship priorities
- 05A short complete sample can make invisible patterns visible
How to run it
- 1
Select a sample
Choose a representative 20-to-30-minute period. Include normal work and social activity rather than manufacturing a quiet window.
Pro tip Pick a period when several channels are normally active.
Watch out One short sample cannot represent every day.
- 2
Capture every interaction
Record incoming and outgoing DMs, emails, texts, calls, video calls, and face-to-face exchanges. Include overlapping interactions rather than only the dominant one.
Pro tip Use brief labels so documentation does not become the main task.
Watch out Protect other people's private content; categories are usually enough.
- 3
Map the switches
Mark each change of person, topic, thread, or modality. Notice where one conversation is interrupted by another portal of attention.
- 4
Review channel fit
Identify which exchanges were transactional and which required richer engagement. Note where the chosen channel helped or weakened the interaction.
Pro tip Distinguish efficient information exchange from relationship-building rather than ranking all channels the same.
- 5
Change one attention rule
Choose one practical adjustment, such as removing a device from a face-to-face conversation or batching a transactional channel. Repeat the audit later to see whether fragmentation changes.
Pro tip Start with the most frequent disruptive switch.
In the wild
A manager records a face-to-face discussion, two incoming messages, an email reply, a quick call, and several notifications during one 25-minute period. The review shows that the in-person exchange was repeatedly interrupted by unrelated threads.
→ The manager chooses to silence notifications during short one-to-one meetings and batch email afterward.
Common mistakes
Recording only screen activity
The exercise requires both digital and face-to-face communication to reveal how they overlap.
Treating every channel as equivalent
Different modes can serve transactional exchange and relational engagement differently.
Auditing without changing anything
The map becomes useful when it informs one concrete attention or channel decision.
Is it for you?
Best for
It is best for people who feel communication overload but cannot see which channels, threads, or attention choices create it.
Not ideal for
It is not designed as continuous surveillance or as a complete measure of relationship quality from one short sample.
From the transcript
“do a communication audit of like 20 to 30 minutes in their life”
“that mental adjustment is really exhausting”
From the episode
Harvard’s Behaviour Expert: The Psychology Of Why People Don't Like You!