Communicate clearly
It doesn’t do an organization any good ifa leader has a bunch of great ideas, but heor she is terrible at communicating thosethoughts to employees. Daniels avoidsthat problem by making sure her messagemakes it to the employees in a precise andorganized form.
She starts by thinking about what hergoals are for the communication, towhom she is communicating and whatkind of response she would like to seefrom individuals.
“I think it is important to be veryorganized and to think about the wordsthat you choose and how you’re going toshare them with others,” she says.“Then, of course, there are the otherday-to-day communications and theopportunities that you have to reinforcewhat the company is working on —what’s important, recognizing people forperformance above and beyond. I thinkyou have to prepare yourself to do that.You have to think about the time that ittakes, and it has to be much morethoughtful the more levels of communication you have to have happen fromyour perspective.”
Each year, the company’s senior teamgoes on a retreat where they spend a lot
of time thinking about the strategicdirection of the company and lining upwhere they need to go.
“When we come back from that, there isa very large communication that I putout,” she says. “It’s almost always in writing, usually followed up by a shortervoice-mail message. I spend a lot of timethinking about what are the key pointsthat need to be made. Who’s going to listen to this? What will they know or notknow (and) trying to determine the levelthat I need to write it at.”
To make sure you get the point across,you have to make sure managers andemployees understand the message. Thatliterally means making sure employeesunderstand the words being used. InDaniels’ case, her company deals with alot of technological changes. Therefore, ifshe is communicating a message abouttechnology, she has to think about thepeople who may not be as technologicallyliterate as others.
“That might include putting a glossaryof terms so people can feel comfortablereading it or hearing me talk about it,”she says.
Daniels also sends out companywidecommunications after her monthly seniorteam meeting. Before sending it out companywide, she sends it to the managersbelow the senior level to get their feedbackon it. You have to get feedback from managers and make sure they understand themessage because those managers will getquestions from their subordinates andhave to be able to give an informed explanation.
“I think the leaders in your organizationare critical linchpins to helping communicate to the organization,” she says. “It’s
on
ething to get a message from me, but all thehundreds and thousands of employeesaround the world are not going to pick upthe phone and ask me.”
Daniels says some employees will contact her directly, but most go to their directmanagers for answers.
“So, if I have a whole bunch of managersthat don’t understand what the message is,it’s a problem,” she says.
She spends about 45 minutes constructing the message and sends it to the approximately 60 managers first, asking them tochallenge her on it. She wants to knowwhat doesn’t make sense to them or whatcould be left out. Daniels gives managersabut 36 hours to respond but will give themmore time for longer messages. Normally,she hears from about 10 managers byphone or e-mail giving her feedback, whichis correct about 90 percent of the time.
“They are usually chiming in on a partthat they know better than even I wouldabout what it is or the way that it might beperceived,” she says. “There are timeswhen I go back and say, ‘Did you knowthis?’ or, ‘Let me clarify why I said it thatway.’ Sometimes, I pick up the phone, andsometimes (because of) time differencesor whatever, I’ll just do it by e-mail, andthen we’ll communicate back and forththat way.”
Once the message is set with all the managers, Daniels waits for employees to givetheir feedback. Previously, Daniels wouldgive the message to only the managers andleave it to them to tell the employees, butthat wasn’t working out.
“I feel like coming from me, because of allthe changes we have going on, it’s one consistent message to the whole organization,”she says.
If she hears back from an employee, shewill always copy the manager of the personon the response.
“Most of the time, they’ll go to their managers and have the conversations,” shesays “The reason I know that is, [the manager] will write me back and ask some clarifying questions or let me know that soand-so received the message well or hasconcerns about some action we’re taking.”
While it’s important to focus on what youare saying, it’s just as important to showthat you are hearing the feedback.
“You have to be able to share a messageand speak,” she says. “But, equally important, if not more so, is that you have to beable to listen because, particularly in this dayand age, no one person can own all the organizational intelligence or all the things thatare happening in the marketplace. So, theability to really listen to others is important.”
Overall, communicating effectively andleading with integrity helped create a trustingenvironment with an engaged work force.
“We have a very engaged work force —people that are willing to work very hardbecause they feel like they are appreciated,(and) that they have a chance to developand make a difference in the organization,”she says. “In this day and age, I thinkemployee engagement is a very importantpart of success.”
HOW TO REACH: AchieveGlobal Inc., (800) 566-0630 orwww.achieveglobal.com