It
ain't what you say, it's the way that you say it
Well, that’s
not strictly true, since effective communication means conveying
the right information at the right time to create your desired impact.
But you can fail totally if the message isn’t pitched at the right
level for those on the receiving end.
I’ve recently
had experiences of a French technical director presenting to a European-wide
audience of non technical specialists. After reading his 58 hugely
detailed slides to his audience, he asked for questions, and was
surprised when there were none. I wasn’t, since most of the few
brave souls who’d lasted the presentation were asleep.
But his mis-reading
of the situation was knocked into a cocked hat a couple of weeks
ago, when at a strategic conference for one of my clients, dominated
by sober financial presentations to a sombre audience of senior
financiers, one chap opened his presentation with a download of
David Brent’s dance from BBC’s The Office. Wrong time, wrong
audience, an uncomfortable silence followed by a speaker totally
thrown off his presentation’s course.
I was asked
to pitch for some work from a manufacturing organisation a little
while ago. They showed me their current communication tools – mainly
highly detailed technical and financial ‘memos’ that were posted
on notice boards around the location, plus a quarterly magazine.
Morale was low, labour turnover was high and this company was looking
to communication as a means to address the situation.
As part of Leapfrog’s
background research, I talked to the on-site shop manager about
what papers he sold each day. Over a week, it averaged out at 24
copies of the Mirror, 17 of The Sun, 19 of the Daily
Mail, 11 of the Express nine of The Star, three
Daily Telegraphs, two Guardians and a single Independent.
The sales gave
a fair indication that the workforce chose to get their news from
tabloid red tops, yet the company insisted on presenting its information
as if it was straight from the pink pages of the financial broadsheets.
While the intent
of the management team was to be open and honest in their dealings
with workers at all levels, they adopted a single approach where
the ‘one size’ that had to ‘fit all’, was fit for the board room,
but lost its fitness for purpose when the message moved beyond the
plush carpet of the executive corridor.
I presented
this view back to the board. Its members listened intently, nodded
sagely and then gave the work to a marketing copywriter with the
brief to make the next raft of memos more ‘human’.
I wonder if
there will be any humans left on the receiving end soon to hear
the messages that the company – now subject to a hostile takeover
– is pumping out.
Putting yourself
in your audience’s shoes is essential as a communicator if you want
to win them over or carry them with you. This can be a minefield
if you’re working with internal audiences, especially when the messages
you’re managing will almost certainly have an impact outside your
organisation. But there are a few simple rules to remember:
- One size
fits all doesn’t work
- Pitch your
communication at the receiver – it’s not about satisfying your
boss, or making someone up the chain look good
- Know your
audiences and the style and tone of communication that works with
them
- Make the
communication relevant to their needs
- Involve
line management – most people want to hear important business
news from their manager, and share it with their peers
- Create feedback
opportunities – and complete the loop by answering questions –
and publicising the fact that they have been answered and that
issues have been acted on.
The upshot of
those bullets is that there’s more work involved than meets the
eye in getting a message through to your workforce – especially
when you may be obsessed for the need of managing corporate reputation
and ensuring shareholder needs are met.
In satisfying
the latter, you can damage the former, and what grates most is that
awful dichotomy when you’re telling the investors and analysts that
all’s well, while lining employees up for their redundancy notices.
There’s no easy
way round hard messages – but getting the style and tone right,
as well as the content, can reduce the backlash and even enhance
your organisation’s reputation.
© Mark Shanahan, Leapfrog Corporate Communications Ltd. 2003
