Last week, I wrote about how to assess the effectiveness of your organizational communication, but I didn’t talk about how to improve it. This week, I take that next step. If you would like to improve organizational communication (and I’m guessing, you do) – here are five places to start.
Have a clearer message
No communication can be effective if the message itself and the rationale for it isn’t clear. We all know this. And yet, when communicating messages across an organization, we’ve all seen this mistake made. Spend more time clarifying what the messages are (and aren’t) and the intention behind them. Doing this will hone the message for (much) clearer reception.
Create more pathways
One of the biggest mistakes made in communicating across an organization is assuming that since you have said it, it has been communicated. Creating more pathways means having more ways and methods of sharing messages. Townhall-type sessions are excellent but limited in value. Emails and slide decks can help but aren’t enough. Cascading communication can be helpful (especially to increase frequency – see below), but can lose clarity (see above) if we aren’t careful. The solution isn’t finding one communication pathway but using more of them more often.
Allow more feedback loops
Even one-on-one communication is hard without a feedback loop. While we know that, we don’t often create the sort of feedback loops we need in an organization. Do people have ways of asking meaningful questions? If they do, are they used (and are the questions answered)? Make sure people at all levels have more chances and ways to ask a question, share a concern or make a point and feel safe in doing so. With more feedback loops you will have more effective communication and will have information to know that it has been successfully received.
Communicate more frequently
Once is never enough. Organizations create ad campaigns knowing that messages need to be repeated, but often shy away from repeating internal messages often enough. Research shows that message need to be heard at least seven times to be assimilated. Leaders must communicate their most important messages over and over. Don’t just repeat the message exactly but connect the important messages to other issues and situations. Create an overarching message that is part of all communications. And regardless of message, communicate more often, keeping items 2 and 3 above in mind.
Reduce the risk of assumptions
The first point above is about the message. This one is about the audience. Leaders often (unintentionally) make assumptions about their audience. Common ones include assuming people understand the strategies they are talking about, know the competitive forces in the same ways they do, wondering if people care, and generally assuming people see and think about things in the way they do. You reduce the risk of assumptions when you spend more time with the teams and folks on the front line. Go work in the store, answer the phones, ask people what they see. The better you understand the perspectives of everyone in the organization, the fewer assumptions you will make and the stronger your communication will resonate with your audience.
Advice for Leaders at All Levels
These are powerful suggestions that mostly focus on leadership and how they facilitate communication. If you are reading this as a lower level leader or an individual contributor, you might be nodding your head and wondering why don’t they take my advice. If that is you, stop.
Communication is only effective when both the sender and receiver are active in the process. When receivers are passive, even the best efforts of senders may be lost. If you want to be better informed and aware, ask more questions, share your opinions, and listen thoughtfully. Ask in a curious, non-demanding way, and share with a helpful collaborative spirit. And make sure you are listening carefully and thoughtfully. Work hard to understand what leaders are saying without immediate judgment. When you do these things, you are doing your part to improve organizational communication.
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Looking for ways to do this assessment or want help in improving the communication success in your organization? Reach out to us in any of the ways listed here. We would be happy to have a conversation to see how we might be able to help.
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