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Write You - How to Communicate with Your Employees
In the contracting meeting, the department head reviewed my proposal and slid the contract back across the table at me, shaking her head. “Too much,” she said. “I’ll give you 20% less.”This was more than a decade ago, when I was just starting out in private practice, and one of my first big opportunities was to help a large department work through a long-standing state of unrest that was getting in the way of operations. Here I was, sitting with the head of the department, attempting to finalize the contract proposal I'd so carefully constructed.Pleasantly, I explained that I hadn’t deliberately inflated my proposed fees to come in with a highball offer or play negotiating games. The proposed fee was a real number based on careful consideration. I further explained that while my hourly rate was not negotiable, perhaps she and I should revisit the scope of the work to be done to see if that could be scaled back to bring the cost down.She shook her head again, this time rolling her eyes ever so slightly, as though she couldn’t quite believe she could be talking to such an imbecile. “Everything’s negotiable,” said she, “even hourly fees.”Now, I had just finished a book cautioning new consultants not to negotiate their rates (assuming their rates were based on something real, like
The Three-Step Staging Process
In many companies, internal communication plans are a loose collection of seemingly random communication activities. There will be a video here, an email there, perhaps a memo to all hands, an informal employee survey, or a town hall meeting. But while these activities are indeed the activities of internal communications, results occur when these events are staged according to a simple, three-step plan.
Stage #1: Creating a State of Awareness
I
'Management and leadership', frequently these terms are heard together.Are they interconnected?Are there any differences between them?This is a conversation that has been going on for some time and will be around for some time to approach. It is a general topic for debate in all places. The fact is that you cannot escape this topic if you are working.A leader is a person who leads whereas a manager is one who manages. This is not funny, but we have to start somewhere and what better than the basic definitions. The biggest difference as supposed by others is the way in which they motivate people. In life nothing is black or white, everything is a different shade of grey. In the same way a manager can be a leader and vice versa. So, we can have a mixture of both.Management will tell you that managers have subordinates. Managers are given some powers by the company and the subordinates have to do as they are told. The incentive for a subordinate to do what the manager says is the reward that is given. So, if the subordinate does as he/she is told they are going to get their pay. They are not blind robots but the incentive makes them behave like that. In contrast leaders have followers. And following is a voluntary activity. Leaders do not tell people what has to be done, inst
You realize that the first step requires you to acknowledge that change is needed - your organization's survival depends upon it. People need to know that you've got a plan for making that change happen. But the truth is, effective internal communication has never been one of your organization's strong suits. Worse yet, you may not even be certain what it is that you need to communicate or how to measure it.
What makes this problem even more alarming is that yours, like most modern organizations, seems armed to the teeth with the kind of technological instruments that are supposed to make the process of internal communication relatively easy. But too many organizations are confusing the media with the message. As a result, content often takes a back seat to speed and quantity. And neither of those elements is necessarily critical to orchestrating an effective internal communication campaign. To the contrary, speed and quantity can be what makes your message fall on seemingly deaf, if not overloaded, ears.
So, how DO you communicate to get workplace change?
Make internal communications a key element in any strategic plan requiring people to behave differently. The need for different behavior may come from a realization, for example, that service teams are not providing the results that customers value. Or, it may result from a strategic shift where certain employees have new responsibility to deliver a strengthened promise of value.
In any case, organizations should think "program and process" as they map out their internal communication effort. And while the effectiveness of your communications will depend, to a large extent, on the power of the content, the real magic will come from effective frequency and timing of the messages.
To be effective, internal communication should be tackled like any other organizational task, with a defined process and according to a relatively rigid execution schedule.
The Three-Step Staging Process
In many companies, internal communication plans are a loose collection of seemingly random communication activities. There will be a video here, an email there, perhaps a memo to all hands, an informal employee survey, or a town hall meeting. But while these activities are indeed the activities of internal communications, results occur when these events are staged according to a simple, three-step plan.
Stage #1: Creating a State of Awareness
In
Savvy event producers follow the Golden Rule: know thy audience. When they set out to create a special event, the first thing they do is slip into the shoes of a typical guest. Understanding their audience helps them choose the right location for the event, determine ticket prices, and select the proper advertising and promotional vehicles.The same measured approach should go into selecting the entertainment. The right band, comedian or speaker will drive ticket sales, help secure sponsors and generate the right amount of excitement, glitz and glamour for the occasion. Indeed, the most carefully considered entertainer can reach far beyond the event, generate a great deal of publicity, and build equity for your client or cause.Such was the case when we booked Jessica Simpson at a corporate event for Chicken of the Sea. Most of America had seen, or heard about the episode of MTV's "Newlyweds" in which Simpson, while eating out of a can of Chicken of the Sea, wonders aloud whether it is tuna or chicken. This, along with many other gaffs, helped cement Simpson as America's favorite ditz.By agreeing to appear for Chicken of the Sea, Simpson showed she could laugh with us. And Chicken of the Sea laughed all the way to the bank. We secured her services for less than
What makes this problem even more alarming is that yours, like most modern organizations, seems armed to the teeth with the kind of technological instruments that are supposed to make the process of internal communication relatively easy. But too many organizations are confusing the media with the message. As a result, content often takes a back seat to speed and quantity. And neither of those elements is necessarily critical to orchestrating an effective internal communication campaign. To the contrary, speed and quantity can be what makes your message fall on seemingly deaf, if not overloaded, ears.
So, how DO you communicate to get workplace change?
Make internal communications a key element in any strategic plan requiring people to behave differently. The need for different behavior may come from a realization, for example, that service teams are not providing the results that customers value. Or, it may result from a strategic shift where certain employees have new responsibility to deliver a strengthened promise of value.
In any case, organizations should think "program and process" as they map out their internal communication effort. And while the effectiveness of your communications will depend, to a large extent, on the power of the content, the real magic will come from effective frequency and timing of the messages.
To be effective, internal communication should be tackled like any other organizational task, with a defined process and according to a relatively rigid execution schedule.
The Three-Step Staging Process
In many companies, internal communication plans are a loose collection of seemingly random communication activities. There will be a video here, an email there, perhaps a memo to all hands, an informal employee survey, or a town hall meeting. But while these activities are indeed the activities of internal communications, results occur when these events are staged according to a simple, three-step plan.
Stage #1: Creating a State of Awareness
I
Many are always asking me what are the simple tips to creating career satisfaction and life fulfillment? My experience tells me there are five important factors necessary to creating these realities.1. TIME: Determining your career vision and plan is not a “fast food” endeavor. In this era of speed, this is one area that requires your time and attention. I have had some people work intensively for several days and reach their vision and plan.I have had some spread the process out over several weeks and spend several hours each week in pursuit of this vision and plan. Either way, it takes time. The first step is to give yourself permission and patience to take the time you need to create a vision and plan based on wisdom, not speed.2. AWARENESS: The amount of time you need is directly related to how aware you are of your wisdom. If you have not taken much time to listen to yourself. OR, if you are like most of us and have not had a clue what to listen to, you will need more time. In the process of awareness comes the need to be open to ourselves about what we need, want, know and desire.3. ARTICULATION: From the awareness comes the next step which is to articulate our awareness. About what, you say? We need to understand and articulate what we know in the following ar
So, how DO you communicate to get workplace change?
Make internal communications a key element in any strategic plan requiring people to behave differently. The need for different behavior may come from a realization, for example, that service teams are not providing the results that customers value. Or, it may result from a strategic shift where certain employees have new responsibility to deliver a strengthened promise of value.
In any case, organizations should think "program and process" as they map out their internal communication effort. And while the effectiveness of your communications will depend, to a large extent, on the power of the content, the real magic will come from effective frequency and timing of the messages.
To be effective, internal communication should be tackled like any other organizational task, with a defined process and according to a relatively rigid execution schedule.
The Three-Step Staging Process
In many companies, internal communication plans are a loose collection of seemingly random communication activities. There will be a video here, an email there, perhaps a memo to all hands, an informal employee survey, or a town hall meeting. But while these activities are indeed the activities of internal communications, results occur when these events are staged according to a simple, three-step plan.
Stage #1: Creating a State of Awareness
I
Successful Network Marketing requires many things but one of the most important of all is to get started.A lot of people put off prospecting and making contact calls because of FEAR.Well fear really means false evidence appearing real so just do it and make those calls .The more you make the easier it becomes to the point where you actually enjoy making new contacts and prospecting calls.One of the best ways to think about prospecting is to liken it to fishing. You have to have various lures in your tackle box and which particular fish could be caught with each lure. I’ve learnt how important it is to have several “lines in the water” because we simply don’t where our prospects will come from or what will pique their interest.There are countless lures you can throw out there, including:Initiating conversations with people you know, face-to-face Telephoning people you know Sending a personal letter to people you know Running a small, classified ad directing people to your voicemail Purchasing lists for a direct mailing Asking friends and family members for referrals Posting flyers Conducting an opinion survey Leaving business cards everywhere Participating in a lead co-op Operating a booth at a fair or convention Sticking audio tapes under windsh
In any case, organizations should think "program and process" as they map out their internal communication effort. And while the effectiveness of your communications will depend, to a large extent, on the power of the content, the real magic will come from effective frequency and timing of the messages.
To be effective, internal communication should be tackled like any other organizational task, with a defined process and according to a relatively rigid execution schedule.
The Three-Step Staging Process
In many companies, internal communication plans are a loose collection of seemingly random communication activities. There will be a video here, an email there, perhaps a memo to all hands, an informal employee survey, or a town hall meeting. But while these activities are indeed the activities of internal communications, results occur when these events are staged according to a simple, three-step plan.
Stage #1: Creating a State of Awareness
I
You've heard the guy with That Voice, right? He's the one with the TV promo voice, the one who can sell anything and make it sound like the best thing in the world. No one makes fun of this guy's voice, or the commercials he's on. That's because they're too busy thinking, “I want one of those.” Whenever you hear announcements, commercials or advertising jingles with a voice like that, a small part of you probably gives a little sigh of relief that you don't have to hear one more spot by Daffy Darryl shouting at the top of his lungs, or that jewelry store lady pretending to have a conversation with someone pretending to be a customer.Now that you have something to sell, you're probably weighing your options. You're wondering if you really need that kind of promotion. You might be thinking, “Heck, I can do that. It's just talking.” After all, it probably costs a lot of money to get someone like that for a voiceover project. You don't even know how much real voice talent costs. Surely, it would be better to save the money and do it yourself. All you need to do is let people know that you're here, that you have a product or a service to offer. If you tell them how good it is, then they'll come running, right?Well, think about this. That's exactly what Daffy Darryl thought when he made his first co
The Three-Step Staging Process
In many companies, internal communication plans are a loose collection of seemingly random communication activities. There will be a video here, an email there, perhaps a memo to all hands, an informal employee survey, or a town hall meeting. But while these activities are indeed the activities of internal communications, results occur when these events are staged according to a simple, three-step plan.
Stage #1: Creating a State of Awareness
In any organization, absence of communication creates a crippling environment. When there is an information void, employees make up their own. And their version is usually much worse than the truth.
So, in this stage, employees are given their wakeup call. The focus is on making everyone aware of exactly what is about to be implemented, with some high level commentary on why it is important. It's a good time for sensitive bluntness.
Critical messages should be delivered by a single voice - the leader of the executive team. Employees need to know that what they are hearing comes from management's top rung.
It's important to remember that employees respond positively to truthfulness and candor. They don't usually respond at all to what they perceive as corporate hype or management puffery. You just want them to become aware of what's going to happen and why. In each of these stages, use your full arsenal of communication instruments: the written word, creative innovations, videos, e-mail, the intranet, face time, and unique ideas like conversation pits to spread awareness.
Hold focus groups and conduct formal employee surveys to determine if people are getting this first stage message. While "cascading" the information downward, from senior executives, to mid-level managers, and finally throughout the entire organization, keep in mind that important feedback must have a path back up the corporate mountain.
Stage #2: Building an Informed Workplace
At this stage, employees need to understand why change is necessary and how everyone will get to the same place at the same time. Inform and educate employees as to the breadth and depth of the change. Tackle the tough cultural issues and don't downplay how difficult and demanding the change will be. Be very clear as to what's expected of each employee. It's time for the tough content.
Use similar communication tools as in Stage #1, but demand that management become even more involved in the cascade and feedback processes. Managers should observe and take part in focus groups and review employee survey results. Face time becomes extremely important because anxiety will be everywhere.
Rumors will spawn and multiply at warp speed if they aren't preempted. Keep in mind th
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