Isn't it ironic that today, in a world where there are so many ways to communicate, one of the biggest issues causing frustration and lethargy in productivity is communication? Here are some ways you can cut through the chaos to improve communication between you and your employees, your team and your entire organization
1. Set Boundaries Around Communication
Boundaries are very important in all aspects of an organization but are critical in communication. These boundaries are put in place to let others know what is OK and what is not OK. Some helpful boundaries are:
1. "I will be reading e-mails during the week, but not on the weekend, so if something is urgent, please call me."
2. "We will talk to each other but not about each other. No water cooler talk or meeting after the meeting."
3. "All emails need to be directed to the people affected by something and not to the world."
4. "We will not call out other leaders or employees publically in meetings or over email, etc."
5. "When we are problem-solving, we will keep the discussion around the topic and not blame or make it personal."
2. Provide Context
"Paint done" is a phrase I learned from Brene Brown that has been hugely helpful with my clients. One of the biggest sources of frustration on a team or an organization is unmet expectations. You ask for a report and, in your mind, that is crystal clear. Your employee brings in a report with a smile on his face, and your immediate reaction upon looking at it is "This is not what I was asking for!"
Painting done means showing what done looks like. It means giving context, clarity and connective tissue. You might now say: "Hey Robert, I am preparing for a meeting with our client XYZ next week to go over their advertising media plan for next year. I need a report of how the television shows they advertised in last year performed against what we projected in a format that will be easy for them to understand."
Robert can now say: "I will get you that, and while I'm at it, I can pull which shows they advertised in aren't returning this fall and what new shows are projected to be huge winners. It might also help if I pull information on what shows have just entered syndication as I think a couple of them would be perfect for their demographic."
3. Practice Active Listening
We are all pretty good talkers, but how good are you at listening? Stephen Covey said, “Most people do not listen with the intent to understand; they listen with the intent to reply.” Active listening means not just hearing, but really tuning in to the conversation. Here are some things to pay attention to in order to be a better listener.
1. What are they really saying?
2. Pay attention to body language. Much of what someone says is actually nonverbal. Are they engaged, defensive, fearful, excited?
3. Listen for what people are not saying as much as what they are saying
4. Check in to make sure what you are hearing is actually what they are trying to say. "You sound like you are frustrated with the new process change." "No, I, think the change is good, but we are in the middle of this project and can't change midstream!"
4. Hold Effective Meetings
One of the biggest complaints I hear centers around the subject of meetings — too many, not enough, no agenda, no action items, etc. Too often, we go into meetings thinking we are discussing one thing and we end up talking about everything and leave with nothing solved. Here is some practical advice to lead more effective meetings where a lot gets accomplished and your team will stop complaining.
1. Ask yourself what the objective of the meeting is, and have a meeting structured to meet that goal. If you are doing a check-in, maybe that is an individual three- to- five-minute meeting with just that individual.
2. Keep your tactical meetings separate from strategic meetings, and be fiercely disciplined with that. If you start going into the tactical weeds in a strategic meeting, the meeting will always turn tactical and will keep you from getting the big-picture objectives painted. If larger issues emerge in a tactical meeting, create a parking lot for those items to be addressed in their own strategic meetings.
Great communication is one of the quickest ways for productivity to increase and frustration to decrease. Try out these best practices and see how you can improve the communication on your team or in your organization.
