Know your audience
Before you can begin communicating, you have to figure out who
your audience is.
“A big part of communication is listening and understanding the
needs and expectations so that as you’re communicating or speaking, you are making sure you are delivering a message that is being
received versus simply a message,” Hall says. “You start by understanding what the expectations are of the audience, whichever one
it is.”
In this instance, employees wanted to hear about Hall’s plan to
make the company better. They need to know what the vision is
and what their role will be in making it happen.
“We might start by saying, ‘Here is what I’m going to need from your
area to get there,’” Hall says. “That becomes a joint discussion of,
‘Here’s what we should be taking a look at,’ or, ‘Here’s what our objectives should be.’ Every area, from leadership on down, should have
some overall targets to hit.”
The idea is to get employees setting objectives themselves about
how they are going to accomplish the company goals.
“That’s empowering,” Hall says. “They have to see the passion from
the leader, either through the example that he or she sets or just
through their own energy toward that. It’s developing relationships
and understanding how each person feels rewarded.”
You need to spend time with people, both in group settings and
on a one-on-one basis, to help learn what motivates them, what
they expect out of their jobs and what they hope to accomplish in
their lives.
“I have used lunch to just have a chance to spend uninterrupted
time with people, both at the high levels of the organization and with
drivers at some of the sites,” Hall says. “That’s a chance for them to
get to know you as a person and maybe get to know a little more
about the history of the business.”
Hall will also sometimes go around the table and ask everyone to
share something outside of their work lives with the group.
“Those are attempts to show that we can connect on different
levels,” Hall says.
The idea is to get them to care about your company and feel as
though they have a stake in its future.
“There has to be some time invested,” Hall says. “Hopefully, you can
build a culture where that’s happening not just between the leader
and different people in the organization but also between the next
level of leaders and people in the organization.”
It’s critical that your people feel that they can approach you with
their ideas on the company.
“If you only just share, ‘Here’s where we’re going,’ not, ‘Here’s why
we’re going here’ and, ‘Here’s what I think is going to happen when we
go this way,’ and, ‘Here’s why I think this is the best thing to do,’ and
‘I’m interested in hearing what you think about it,’ those become
blockers,” Hall says. “It’s one-way communication and not listening.”
Along with communication, you need to have a vision.
“A leader has to be able to understand how all the moving parts
come together and work together toward the ultimate objectives,”
Hall says. “That goes back to the communication. That’s what
you’re communicating to everyone on a regular basis so people
understand their role in it and where they are in the process.”
