Leadership Make leadership comms a "call to action"
A critical barrier to effective leadership communication is that communication is often seen as a check-the-box activity. Leaders often tell me, “But I sent the email.” But as we know, just because an email or memo is distributed doesn’t mean it was received or understood.
Truly effective communication is about creating shared meaning, not just sending out information – and that requires dialogue and often repetition.
Our job as communicators is to help leaders understand that effective communication is different from information sharing. Communication is two-way and fosters understanding, which ultimately moves people to action and helps drive business results.
Make sure messages change behavior
There are many simple, yet strategic actions you can take to help your leaders ensure their messages reach employees, are understood and are acted upon. Here are 6 suggestions:
- Do an employee mindset analysis to identify the key audiences you need to influence; identify their current needs and perceptions about the topic at hand or their communication needs, and share it with leaders as you map out the recommended communication strategy. This is important context for the leader. If we know where an audience is coming from, we’re better able to get their attention and influence them.
- Identify what you want your key audiences to think, feel and/or do with the information.
- Work questions into your leader’s talking points to generate dialogue with the audience:
- Use “how” and “what” open-ended questions to check for understanding.
- Ask: “What are your 3 main takeaways from what we’ve talked about today?”
- Clearly communicate a call-to-action: what specific behaviors and actions are expected?
- For mission-critical messages, repetition is critical. Say it again and again.
- Assess the actions that follow the communication to determine how well it worked and what follow-up is needed. Soft measures like a few simple questions to check employees' understanding of the content are an easy way to know how a message was received.
Communication isn't a simple "to do" item that can be checked off a list. When done right, it drives understanding, action and results. You can help your leaders have the right mindset and get things done – and then check that challenge off your list!
David Grossman, ABC, APR, Fellow PRSA
President and principal thoughtpartner™, dg&a
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