Communication
Video: Core Communication Truths
A few days ago I published a post about communicating with people, not to them. Just today I came across a terrific video slideshow from Les Landes that reinforces this point. Landes is an expert in marketing communications, employee engagement and alignment. Check out his video: Closing the Distance below.
Communicating Change Case Study: Part 2
Earlier this week I posted about a successful workshop I and several colleagues ran for 800 managers as part of a major transition. My previous post was about senior leader involvement. Today, I will address the topic of training.
For this particular transformation effort, our client recognized that mid- and frontline managers would play a pivotal roll in communicating the details of the change to employees. Therefore, the client hired my colleagues and I to facilitate over forty 4-hour workshops for managers. The response to the workshops was overwhelmingly positive – which surprised a lot of people because the change the organization is introducing is highly sensitive and counter to the way things have been done in this organization for more than 30 years.
After running 19 workshops myself, I reflected on what made the sessions work well. Here are my thoughts:
Communicating Change Case Study: Part 1
I disappeared from this blog for most of the month of January. No, I wasn’t on vacation. I was working with several colleagues on a large change communication project. Our client is in the middle of transforming their compensation structure. Our job was to lead 800 managers (20 at a time) through a 4-hour workshop. The workshop covered the purpose for the transition and the specifics of how the new compensation program would work. The overall objective of the workshop was to equip managers with information that they would need to communicate the change to their employees. Of course, before that could happen, the managers themselves needed to understand, accept and support the change personally.
Because the response to our workshops was overwhelmingly positive, I decided to take time to reflect on what worked. Over the next few posts, I’ll explore what we learned from this rollout and the lessons that it illustrates for all change communicators.
Topic #1: Senior Leader Support
For this organization, the rollout of the new compensation system has been a multi-year process. The internal HR/Comp/OD team worked closely with each division’s top leader and his/her direct reports on every aspect of the transition. This was not simply a process of getting surface-level “buy-in.” The division leaders personally made critical decisions at each point of the transition.
The involvement of the senior leaders ended up being incredibly powerful when it came time to introduce the new system to managers and employees. We ran most of the workshops with managers in intact teams. Each team heard from their division’s most senior leader at the start (and sometimes also the end) of the class. The next-level leaders who had been involved in the decision-making participated in the sessions along with managers who were hearing the details for the first time.
In every session that we ran, it quickly became evident that the involvement of senior leaders at every stage (decision making, planning, and communication) was the most powerful factor in getting front-line and mid-level manager support for the change. You could visibly see resistance levels being reduced at three points in the workshop:
Is Your Energy Exhausting Other People?
I’ve been told (more than once) that I can be hard to take. While that’s hard feedback to hear, over the years I’ve learned what it means and am starting to learn what to do about it. You see, my energy level is usually pretty high. It’s more than just being extraverted – essentially I am happy, upbeat and expressive. While these characteristics are things most people like about me, I’ve come to realize that my energy level can also turn people off. People that I am meeting for the first time sometimes think, “Wow – what a phony. Nobody can be this positive.” Over time many people realize that it really is me and that I am not faking it.
Great Presentation Skills Resource
Two colleagues of mine here in Colorado Springs, Howard Stableford and Michael Gardner, specialize in helping leaders improve their presentation skills. Their company is called Authentic Communication Training.
Authentic Communication Training uses cutting-edge learning technologies and proven presentation strategies to easily and effectively help clients become authentic and extraordinary presenters–in small and large groups, on-stage and in front of the media.
Looking for a taste of what Howard and Michael offer? Check out their free audio book, “Six Things You Must Know before Being on TV or Video.” I learned a lot from it. My favorite tip: Don’t wait in the green room for your interview – hang on on set instead and observe others.
Keep the great tips coming guys!
Increase Communication to Ease Employee Anxiety
If you want to dispel the anxiety growing in your workplace, build a foundation of trust built on communication. When times are tough, the workplace rumor mill swings into action, so act quickly and communicate openly and honestly with your employees to stop rumors in their tracks. Here are a few tips.
Be Accessible
As a senior leader, you need to be accessible and visible to your employees. When there is a problem, don’t wait until all the details of the solution have been fleshed out before informing your workers. Instead, inform them of your progress along the way as the decisions are being made. In uncertain times, it is more important than ever to be accessible. You’re not just there to share information with the workforce, but to build trust with them along the way, and dispel rumors as they spring up.
Don’t Hide From Bad News
Strategies for Dealing with a Bad Boss
Are you dealing with a absentee boss, a tantrum thrower, or a control freak? Good news, there are two brand new books out that can help you manage up more effectively!
- Working for You Isn’t Working for Me, The Ultimate Guide to Managing Your Boss by Katherine Crowley and Kathi Elster
- Tame Your Terrible Office Tyrant by Lynn Taylor
Read about both books and get some quick tips from Wallace Immen’s career column in TheGlobeandMail.com.
Two oldies but goodies on the topic are the Managing Conflict with Your Boss from the Center for Creative Leadership and my all-time favorite, Dealing with People You Can’t Stand by Dr. Rick Brinkman and Dr. Rick Kirschner.
You might also want to check out my February post on Dealing with Big Egos in the Office.
Your Yearly Offsite – to Hold or Not to Hold?
Companies are doing everything they can to cut costs this year. Meetings and events are being slashed. Conferences are going virtual.
Given this focus on savings are you wondering about your yearly management team offsite? Should you hold it or skip it?
For help weighing the pros and cons, check out this HBR blog post from CEO coach, Melissa Raffoni:
This Year’s Management Off Site: Necessary or Negligent?
In addition to the posting, I recommend that you skim the reader comments. Main themes seem to be that the management team needs to be more aligned that ever and that offsites can help to accomplish that. At the same time, executives should remember to take the time to communicate why they are having the offsite and what the results/outcomes are.
I believe that employees are craving more direction from their senior leaders. They want to know where your company is headed, what the plans are for getting there, and how they can help. Before you can communicate these answers to your frontline, you’ll need shared understanding, purpose, and alignment across your management team.
The Thought-Action Connection
My colleague Beth Papioano sent me this quote today:
I have always thought the actions of men the best interpreters of their thoughts.
- John Locke
The timing could not have been more perfect.
This week I am teaching a dialogue skills class and working on the course has given me a chance to think about the conversations we dread and the conversations we simply don’t have. One theme that keeps coming to mind is the importance of the stories we tell ourselves.
So often we avoid difficult conversations because we tell ourselves a “story” that gets in our own way. If I tell myself that another person is being impossible, that he or she won’t listen, that there is no possible resolution, or that bringing up an issue will forever destroy our relationship – those thoughts dictate my actions. I avoid the person. I stay silent. I stew and simmer. When anyone tries to convince me to talk with the person, I count of the score of reasons why nothing will help.
Morph Your Communication to Match Needs
Last week I posted about my experience with jury duty and mentioned that good communication should meet the audience where they are. I recommended three phases when communicating with people in tough times.
#1: Empathize with the emotions people are feeling
#2: Inspire by appealing to a sense of purpose
#3: Provide information on the details
I was pleasantly surprised yesterday when I came across an article by leadership expert John Baldoni describing how President Obama is using a similar approach. Baldoni writes:
In the months since Barack Obama has taken office, a curious thing has occurred in his communication style. He has toned down the rhetoric and geared up the details. As Don Baer who once worked for President Bill Clinton put it, Obama is now “the Great Explainer.”
