A great deal has been written about the importance of non-verbal elements in the totality of the communication picture. Ranging between sixty and eighty percent of either message content or message richness, all experts agree that body language, facial expressions and tones account for a big part of the message received.
In addressing tone, a good communicator must understand their environment and situation. During corrective coaching, a leader cannot be overly upbeat or friendly in tone. When having relationship based dialog or during tone setting, you cannot come across in a flat, monotone or disinterested tone. Tone, in communication is an interesting dynamic that is driven by attitude. When the attitude is strong and healthy, a person is more likely to correctly adapt to different tone situations. When attitude is poor, tone adaptations are less likely to occur or, at the least, occur in a well done manner.
The great mirror of tone, and attitude for that matter, is the human face. Very few leaders are truly in tune with how their face looks during communication. Many are unaware of the wrinkled brow, scowl or stares of indifference that they cast on a regular basis. Under stress and with a poor or sinking attitude, managing facial expressions becomes a remote after-thought.
Effective leaders and great communicators make a special point of being aware of and managing their facial expressions. They understand what others see on their face and they actively work to create facial expressions that add to, and not distract from the message. This facial management is an important part of the non-verbal communication package and very important in controlling the tone of any dialog.
A couple of other non-verbal messages to be aware of include crossed arms, hands in pockets and single finger pointing. The crossed arm position, especially prevalent in sitting positions and during colder temperatures, shows a closed and uninterested position. For men more than women, the hands in pants pocket message is very common. When those hands slide in the front pockets it demonstrates a nervousness or disinterested position. Many people show this when standing for introductions or in other uncomfortable situations.
First recognized by the airline industry, the single finger point is a very aggressive piece of body language. Many people report that they feel assaulted or at the least, uncomfortable when others point. And as we all remember from our parents, it is rude. An interesting side note on single finger pointing is that many studies conclude that the aggressive nature of this piece of body language is not limited to pointing at a person but rather is equally aggressive when pointing towards other objects.
We can’t put them in our pockets, cross them, put them around our mouth or point them, so what do we do with our hands and arms. Effective leaders have found great value to engaging their hands and arms as message accentuation tools. Quite simply this means to use your hand and arms to assist in adding emphasis and enthusiasm to the message package. A little hand and arm movement shows you are engaged and believe your message as well.
Showing posts with label Leadership Communication. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Leadership Communication. Show all posts
Monday, October 25, 2010
Sunday, April 25, 2010
Monday Mentor-Week 17-Communication Clarity
One of the most common challenges associated with leadership communication is message clarity. Fortunately, this is also the easiest issue to fix.
Quite simply, to improve clarity, use less words.
Visualize this setting for a moment. The leader requests to have a corrective coaching session with a team member. Starting with “you know that you have been a very effective employee here and we appreciate your hard work, attention to detail and reliability.” Continuing without a breath to “In fact, the time back in 05 when you came in early during the computer transition was especially valuable and recently when you helped with the holiday party was very valuable.” Droning on with “The bottom line is that we need more people like you but unfortunately, we cannot tolerate you not getting along well with your fellow, and equally valuable, team members.”
Clarity was impacted early and often in the above interaction. The point of the dialog was to discuss the team member’s relationship with peers. Did the team member understand that or was he completely disengaged by the time that point was made? It is extremely likely in the above model that the team member did not get the point and was entirely uninterested by the time the point was communicated.
Think about another example related to a changed procedure for a minute. The leader begins by saying “when we began processing orders in the late nineties, there were only a few of us working on about thirty orders every day.” “From there, we installed the first automated processing system, that a few of you long-timers can remember; and I am sure you remember the problems we had with that conversion.” “We are now at a great crossroads in our department where I had to hire a consulting team to work with our order processes and hope to devise a method to handle the new increased volume, mostly from the internet, without hiring an army of new people.” “With that said, we will need to, effective immediately, begin coding our orders with a separate source identifier when it is an internet or email order.” Even the most eager and high energy team members will be long gone by the time the punch line rolls around on this one.
In both examples, the leader needed to engage in object oriented communication which is the articulation of the objective first and then holding all other detail for counter-punching opportunities or to respond to questions. This means to express the important part first to make sure communication receiver is engaged and to not jumble the message with unimportant fluff or unneeded explanations.
Some people are a little too anxious to add explanations and history when none is necessary. Still others will try a little too hard to provide mounds of information in support of their position. When this is done, in an unsolicited or in an environment that is not needed, the speaker loses credibility. Many subordinates will see through the overly pontificating boss rather quickly and this loss of respect will be hard to recover.
Quite simply, to improve clarity, use less words.
Visualize this setting for a moment. The leader requests to have a corrective coaching session with a team member. Starting with “you know that you have been a very effective employee here and we appreciate your hard work, attention to detail and reliability.” Continuing without a breath to “In fact, the time back in 05 when you came in early during the computer transition was especially valuable and recently when you helped with the holiday party was very valuable.” Droning on with “The bottom line is that we need more people like you but unfortunately, we cannot tolerate you not getting along well with your fellow, and equally valuable, team members.”
Clarity was impacted early and often in the above interaction. The point of the dialog was to discuss the team member’s relationship with peers. Did the team member understand that or was he completely disengaged by the time that point was made? It is extremely likely in the above model that the team member did not get the point and was entirely uninterested by the time the point was communicated.
Think about another example related to a changed procedure for a minute. The leader begins by saying “when we began processing orders in the late nineties, there were only a few of us working on about thirty orders every day.” “From there, we installed the first automated processing system, that a few of you long-timers can remember; and I am sure you remember the problems we had with that conversion.” “We are now at a great crossroads in our department where I had to hire a consulting team to work with our order processes and hope to devise a method to handle the new increased volume, mostly from the internet, without hiring an army of new people.” “With that said, we will need to, effective immediately, begin coding our orders with a separate source identifier when it is an internet or email order.” Even the most eager and high energy team members will be long gone by the time the punch line rolls around on this one.
In both examples, the leader needed to engage in object oriented communication which is the articulation of the objective first and then holding all other detail for counter-punching opportunities or to respond to questions. This means to express the important part first to make sure communication receiver is engaged and to not jumble the message with unimportant fluff or unneeded explanations.
Some people are a little too anxious to add explanations and history when none is necessary. Still others will try a little too hard to provide mounds of information in support of their position. When this is done, in an unsolicited or in an environment that is not needed, the speaker loses credibility. Many subordinates will see through the overly pontificating boss rather quickly and this loss of respect will be hard to recover.
Monday, April 12, 2010
Monday Mentor-Week 15-Communication Richness and Frequency
The needs for effective communication in a leadership role are indisputable. The role of poor communication patterns and skills is equally known and understood. In fact, most issues surrounding team morale, lack of involvement, poor accountability and bad performance can be traced back to the communication of a group’s leader.
Communication is a tricky combination of art and science. In it’s basic form, communication is the flow of information between humans. The last part about being a human phenomenon is important to remember. Communication is a human connectivity that is critical to the leadership role because it enjoins people in a unique and personal way to the tasks and mission of an organization. It also relates directly to the personal nature of leadership and the connection point of why people will follow a leader. To have people to want to follow, the leader must communicate with them.
If you look at leadership as the consistent and constant application of skill sets, communication is the foundation upon all others will be built. Failed communication is the cardinal sin of leadership. Effective communication will be the rock on which the other skill sets rest.
Richness
The first concept of communication effectiveness in leadership is to understand message richness. Richness describes the total content within any communication and the connect points that a communication receiver is able connect. Richness is also highly related to the emotional nature of humans. Our team members are creatures of emotion and not creatures of logic. The greater the degree of richness, the greater the emotional connection to the message.
In-person interaction has the highest degree of richness because all parts of the message sender and receiver can be evaluated and processed. Body language can be read. Tone can be interpreted with accuracy. Clarification can be requested. Understanding can be evaluated. Rapport can be built. By far and away, one-on-one personal dialog has the highest richness.
When using the telephone, richness begins to diminish. Although tone can still be evaluated and clarification can be achieved, there are no non-verbal messages to evaluate. Similarly, in public communications, meetings and presentations, richness also fades because of the lack of interactive elements related to clarification and understanding.
Richness takes a final hit when we convert communication to the written word. With the exception of Nobel Laureate winners, most people cannot achieve any type of meaningful connectivity in writing. Even with emoticons, colored backgrounds and dancing symbols, emails have a coldness and lack any ability for clarification. Written communication also has a high probability for misinterpretation and misunderstanding. Humor and personality can rarely be translated in the written word.
One challenge to consider is compare the amount of time spent recovering from a misunderstood email to the amount of time spent to walk down the hall and talk to the recipient. Consider how much time you might spend repairing a relationship from a terse one line email. When possible, engage in interpersonal, one-on-one communication.
Frequency and Not Volume
As far as leadership job go, the strong, silent type need not apply. Leadership requires a consistent stream of quality communication to team members. Communication frequency is at the core of group performance issues like trust, understanding direction, achieving objectives and even integrity.
One common mistake made by leaders is that volume makes up for frequency. So instead of talking frequently with team members, the leader simply conducts a marathon staff meeting once a month. During that meeting, the leader pines endlessly about all the issues past and current and indulges in a pontification designed to prove their commitment to quality communication. A three hour state of the organization address does not make up for a lack of consistent and frequent communication on a more personal and individual level.
In comparing volume and frequency, consider the human disconnect point in communication. In any dialog, humans report that somewhere between ninety seconds and three minutes, when the object of the dialog is not forthcoming and the content has suspect value, people disengage and cease listening. So, as a leader drones on endlessly, the target audience is left day dreaming. Visualize a Far Side cartoon when the dogs hear “blah, blah, blah, spot.” More frequent and shorter interactions will cure this phenomenon.
The other big issue surrounding communication frequency is trust. Without frequent communication, team members will often mistrust the motive of the leader and lack the personal connection and loyalty needed to be as effective as possible. Equate this to personal relationships. When communication is infrequent, trust will often sag dramatically. When communication occurs, even in troubled relationships, trust can be established as a baseline for moving forward. Relationship therapists will always work to establish frequent communication prior resolving other issues in the relationship.
Team members also report that one of their largest frustration is not knowing where they stand with the boss. They are unsure of their future and don’t know where they fit in the organization. All of these issues are curable by increasing the frequency of leadership frequency.
The easy way to improve frequency is to remember that the leadership legacy is about other people’s achievement and not your own work flow. With increased communication, your team will gain trust and work harder for you.
Communication is a tricky combination of art and science. In it’s basic form, communication is the flow of information between humans. The last part about being a human phenomenon is important to remember. Communication is a human connectivity that is critical to the leadership role because it enjoins people in a unique and personal way to the tasks and mission of an organization. It also relates directly to the personal nature of leadership and the connection point of why people will follow a leader. To have people to want to follow, the leader must communicate with them.
If you look at leadership as the consistent and constant application of skill sets, communication is the foundation upon all others will be built. Failed communication is the cardinal sin of leadership. Effective communication will be the rock on which the other skill sets rest.
Richness
The first concept of communication effectiveness in leadership is to understand message richness. Richness describes the total content within any communication and the connect points that a communication receiver is able connect. Richness is also highly related to the emotional nature of humans. Our team members are creatures of emotion and not creatures of logic. The greater the degree of richness, the greater the emotional connection to the message.
In-person interaction has the highest degree of richness because all parts of the message sender and receiver can be evaluated and processed. Body language can be read. Tone can be interpreted with accuracy. Clarification can be requested. Understanding can be evaluated. Rapport can be built. By far and away, one-on-one personal dialog has the highest richness.
When using the telephone, richness begins to diminish. Although tone can still be evaluated and clarification can be achieved, there are no non-verbal messages to evaluate. Similarly, in public communications, meetings and presentations, richness also fades because of the lack of interactive elements related to clarification and understanding.
Richness takes a final hit when we convert communication to the written word. With the exception of Nobel Laureate winners, most people cannot achieve any type of meaningful connectivity in writing. Even with emoticons, colored backgrounds and dancing symbols, emails have a coldness and lack any ability for clarification. Written communication also has a high probability for misinterpretation and misunderstanding. Humor and personality can rarely be translated in the written word.
One challenge to consider is compare the amount of time spent recovering from a misunderstood email to the amount of time spent to walk down the hall and talk to the recipient. Consider how much time you might spend repairing a relationship from a terse one line email. When possible, engage in interpersonal, one-on-one communication.
Frequency and Not Volume
As far as leadership job go, the strong, silent type need not apply. Leadership requires a consistent stream of quality communication to team members. Communication frequency is at the core of group performance issues like trust, understanding direction, achieving objectives and even integrity.
One common mistake made by leaders is that volume makes up for frequency. So instead of talking frequently with team members, the leader simply conducts a marathon staff meeting once a month. During that meeting, the leader pines endlessly about all the issues past and current and indulges in a pontification designed to prove their commitment to quality communication. A three hour state of the organization address does not make up for a lack of consistent and frequent communication on a more personal and individual level.
In comparing volume and frequency, consider the human disconnect point in communication. In any dialog, humans report that somewhere between ninety seconds and three minutes, when the object of the dialog is not forthcoming and the content has suspect value, people disengage and cease listening. So, as a leader drones on endlessly, the target audience is left day dreaming. Visualize a Far Side cartoon when the dogs hear “blah, blah, blah, spot.” More frequent and shorter interactions will cure this phenomenon.
The other big issue surrounding communication frequency is trust. Without frequent communication, team members will often mistrust the motive of the leader and lack the personal connection and loyalty needed to be as effective as possible. Equate this to personal relationships. When communication is infrequent, trust will often sag dramatically. When communication occurs, even in troubled relationships, trust can be established as a baseline for moving forward. Relationship therapists will always work to establish frequent communication prior resolving other issues in the relationship.
Team members also report that one of their largest frustration is not knowing where they stand with the boss. They are unsure of their future and don’t know where they fit in the organization. All of these issues are curable by increasing the frequency of leadership frequency.
The easy way to improve frequency is to remember that the leadership legacy is about other people’s achievement and not your own work flow. With increased communication, your team will gain trust and work harder for you.
Sunday, March 28, 2010
Monday Mentor-Week 13-Opening the Listening Channels
An overlooked facet of the leadership communication puzzle is the ability to listen effectively. Listening skills, when not properly engaged will result in significant communication and relational disconnects with peers and team members.
The easiest method of improving the listening side of communication is to manage the environment in which listening is performed. If the dialog is important, and not just to you, the environment must be conducive to listening. This means that interruptions and distractions must be significantly reduced or eliminated. If your phone will disrupt an important dialog, silence it. If your cellular phone vibrating will move your attention to who is calling, turn it off for an important conversation. If the traffic by your office distracts your eyes and your attention, move to a more private or less traveled location.
Two important elements to consider about distraction values and listening. First is the time investment of how long it would take you to reconnect with a conversation after distraction compared with managing the distraction in the beginning. Or worse still, how much time will it take to repair the error that you make because you missed important details in the conversation.
The final consideration related to listening distraction is the not-so-subtle message of disrespect. In a conversation, you look down to see who is calling. How does that make the other person in the conversation feel? Are they the most important or is that dependant upon who is calling you on your cell phone? This disrespectful lack of focus on listening will often cause greater dysfunction in a relationship and many times impact future approachability and trust.
Another barrier to effective listening is the concept of assumptive responding. Assumptive responding is providing a response, not based on what you just heard, but rather on what you believed was said. This can be based on the situation or with whom you are having a dialog. Imagine for a moment, a team member has spent the last several days complaining about Ed, their co-worker. The team member asks if you have a moment to talk about Ed. Regardless of what is actually said in that conversation, there is a pretty good chance that your recollection of the dialog will include the team member complaining about Ed.
Those of you that have done what you have done for a living for five or more years are more likely to be candidates of assumptive responding. Having “been there, done that” or “heard it all before” will greatly impact your ability to truly listen compared to assumptive responding. Unlike managing your listening environment, dealing with assumptive responding is a little tougher. The skill is cognitive and requires both an improved focus and a reduction in the time desired to move into response mode. The bottom line is don’t be so anxious to judge the situation and hear something coming out of your mouth.
One additional listening skill is the use of complimentary validation. This is an extraordinary skill that really improves the flow of information while validating the comments of a communication sender. Complimentary validation is providing a compliment when key information is heard or processed in the listening cycle. Many people do this almost naturally or automatically and we often comment about those people that they were great listeners or they were excellent communicators or relationship builders.
In a typical conversation, routine relational dialog occurs. When you ask what someone did this past weekend and the person in dialog responds and says “we sat around and watched the grass grow.” Right behind that comment you will need to add a complimentary statement such as “those relaxing weekends are the best, that is outstanding you were able to do that.” In another conversation, you ask where someone is from and they indicate “Pawtucket.” You fire back a comment about what a great part of the country or pretty city that is Pawtucket.
The purpose of complimentary validation is simple. You are providing the acknowledgement that you were listening and, more importantly, you are providing the communication feedback that you want to hear more and are legitimately interested in the dialog. Using this skill will allow you to obtain far more information from a person than by using more traditional validation methods.
Listening is an important element in leadership communication that must be managed as actively as the rest of the communication cycle. Failure to engage good listening skills can have an adverse reaction in relationship management and the ability to communicate effectively in the future.
The easiest method of improving the listening side of communication is to manage the environment in which listening is performed. If the dialog is important, and not just to you, the environment must be conducive to listening. This means that interruptions and distractions must be significantly reduced or eliminated. If your phone will disrupt an important dialog, silence it. If your cellular phone vibrating will move your attention to who is calling, turn it off for an important conversation. If the traffic by your office distracts your eyes and your attention, move to a more private or less traveled location.
Two important elements to consider about distraction values and listening. First is the time investment of how long it would take you to reconnect with a conversation after distraction compared with managing the distraction in the beginning. Or worse still, how much time will it take to repair the error that you make because you missed important details in the conversation.
The final consideration related to listening distraction is the not-so-subtle message of disrespect. In a conversation, you look down to see who is calling. How does that make the other person in the conversation feel? Are they the most important or is that dependant upon who is calling you on your cell phone? This disrespectful lack of focus on listening will often cause greater dysfunction in a relationship and many times impact future approachability and trust.
Another barrier to effective listening is the concept of assumptive responding. Assumptive responding is providing a response, not based on what you just heard, but rather on what you believed was said. This can be based on the situation or with whom you are having a dialog. Imagine for a moment, a team member has spent the last several days complaining about Ed, their co-worker. The team member asks if you have a moment to talk about Ed. Regardless of what is actually said in that conversation, there is a pretty good chance that your recollection of the dialog will include the team member complaining about Ed.
Those of you that have done what you have done for a living for five or more years are more likely to be candidates of assumptive responding. Having “been there, done that” or “heard it all before” will greatly impact your ability to truly listen compared to assumptive responding. Unlike managing your listening environment, dealing with assumptive responding is a little tougher. The skill is cognitive and requires both an improved focus and a reduction in the time desired to move into response mode. The bottom line is don’t be so anxious to judge the situation and hear something coming out of your mouth.
One additional listening skill is the use of complimentary validation. This is an extraordinary skill that really improves the flow of information while validating the comments of a communication sender. Complimentary validation is providing a compliment when key information is heard or processed in the listening cycle. Many people do this almost naturally or automatically and we often comment about those people that they were great listeners or they were excellent communicators or relationship builders.
In a typical conversation, routine relational dialog occurs. When you ask what someone did this past weekend and the person in dialog responds and says “we sat around and watched the grass grow.” Right behind that comment you will need to add a complimentary statement such as “those relaxing weekends are the best, that is outstanding you were able to do that.” In another conversation, you ask where someone is from and they indicate “Pawtucket.” You fire back a comment about what a great part of the country or pretty city that is Pawtucket.
The purpose of complimentary validation is simple. You are providing the acknowledgement that you were listening and, more importantly, you are providing the communication feedback that you want to hear more and are legitimately interested in the dialog. Using this skill will allow you to obtain far more information from a person than by using more traditional validation methods.
Listening is an important element in leadership communication that must be managed as actively as the rest of the communication cycle. Failure to engage good listening skills can have an adverse reaction in relationship management and the ability to communicate effectively in the future.
Sunday, February 14, 2010
Monday Mentor-Week 7-The Written Word
You have heard the comments. “I didn’t read the memo.” You have been frustrated by “the procedure was in the manual.” You felt like screaming when someone said “I read it but didn’t get it” or “I started to read it but didn’t get to that part.”
A common frustration among people in leadership positions is that much of what is provided in writing is not understood or misunderstood or ignored entirely. They send the memo or email and nothing changes. They send the memo or email and get fifty back in response. Still nothing changes. Someone accuses you of being mad or upset because of a two line email you sent. Unfortunately, all of this is a reflection of the written communication skills used by leaders.
We must also come to grips with the societal fact that many people in the workplace are reading at a significantly lower comprehension level compared to just ten years ago. Many more people are not native to English but rather to another language. The bottom line is, unless we write well and for the audience intended, much of it will be for naught.
Often described as the elephant in the room that no one can see, written communication skills in leadership is under-valued and frequently used poorly. A leader with overall general good communication habits and skills can lose a great deal of credibility with just one poor email.
Looking back in history for a moment, one of the primary reasons that the causality rate in the American Civil War was so high was the use of 17th and 18th century tactics with technology from the 19th century. Quite simply, they were using conical shaped bullets with rifle bored muskets, capable of accurate shots at well over two hundred yards, and lining up fifty yards from each other in straight lines.
Bringing us back to the present, we are experiencing the same phenomenon related to email and other electronic forms of communication. Twenty-first century technology being used with twentieth century tactics. Email is a great tool. It works well for follow-up, documenting previous conversations or meetings and to contact someone when no other method is available. As a primary communication tool, email is pretty bad and extremely over used.
First, a couple of simple rules about email. If the email is going outside the organization or outside of your circle of close associates, it should have all of the style elements of a standard business letter. That includes the address header, salutation and closing. It should be in block format using black, twelve point Arial or Times New Roman font and a plain white background. No smiley faces or dancing elves at the bottom. The simple point is that your email represents you and your organization and you want it to be professional in appearance.
The second easy rule about an email is to gauge both the urgency and the need to use email rather than the phone or an in-person visit. When you use written communication, you miss the tone and non-verbal elements of richness so the use should be limited to when no other source is available or there is the need to document the communication. Often, people use email as an avoidance to truly interacting with other people and this will lead to misunderstandings and mis-readings of the tone or intent of the email. If you can walk down the hall and talk to someone, do so, rather than sending the email.
One other point about email is learning to use the reply and reply all features. Reply all sends your message to everyone on the original distribution list, including the copy recipients. Reply sends it to the single sender of the original email. Avoid the killing of cyber trees by understanding that basic functionality.
We all assume that our written word is pretty important stuff and a lot of people would be interested in it. The final email comment is about how many people we choose to copy on emails. If you need to demonstrate to someone that you have followed-up on something that they requested, send the copy. If you just think they may be interested or you are trying to cover your posterior, don’t send the copy. There are some relatively current estimates of unnecessary email copies in larger organizations that account for 25% to 30% of total email volume.
Beyond just email, the leader’s word in writing is looked at a little different that a memo or note from anyone else. Many people try to look for hidden meaning. Others will try to look for spelling or grammatical mistakes. Because, after all, as the leader, you should be smarter than that.
When writing a memo, letter or email, the leader must practice the art of tone-setting. This is using the first sentence to thank, appreciate or praise the efforts of the group and can look like “Thanks to all of you, we are making great headway in the current fiscal year” or “I really appreciate all of your contributions and work this month.” This opening line invites any reader to continue and teaches the reader that your notes and emails are not to be feared. When closing a document, the tone-setting should be repeated and can just about be a mirror image of the opening line.
A common pitfall in written communication is the need to be overly wordy. As indicated previously, the best way to improve understanding and clarity is to use less words. This is especially true for written communication. Assume that all readers will tune out your document at about the 45 second mark. Make sure you get to substance and get to it quickly or you will lose understanding. The use of numbered lists or bullet points help this greatly.
The final thought on leadership written communication is the use of both spell and grammar check prior to pressing send or print. One more quality step would be to enlist a peer review prior to distribution. This final piece avoids the embarrassment over the use of their, there or they’re which will pass all spell check features.
It may not seem like much but when the leader commits his or her words to writing, they will live in perpetuity. Make sure those works make sense and reflect well on you and your credibility.
A common frustration among people in leadership positions is that much of what is provided in writing is not understood or misunderstood or ignored entirely. They send the memo or email and nothing changes. They send the memo or email and get fifty back in response. Still nothing changes. Someone accuses you of being mad or upset because of a two line email you sent. Unfortunately, all of this is a reflection of the written communication skills used by leaders.
We must also come to grips with the societal fact that many people in the workplace are reading at a significantly lower comprehension level compared to just ten years ago. Many more people are not native to English but rather to another language. The bottom line is, unless we write well and for the audience intended, much of it will be for naught.
Often described as the elephant in the room that no one can see, written communication skills in leadership is under-valued and frequently used poorly. A leader with overall general good communication habits and skills can lose a great deal of credibility with just one poor email.
Looking back in history for a moment, one of the primary reasons that the causality rate in the American Civil War was so high was the use of 17th and 18th century tactics with technology from the 19th century. Quite simply, they were using conical shaped bullets with rifle bored muskets, capable of accurate shots at well over two hundred yards, and lining up fifty yards from each other in straight lines.
Bringing us back to the present, we are experiencing the same phenomenon related to email and other electronic forms of communication. Twenty-first century technology being used with twentieth century tactics. Email is a great tool. It works well for follow-up, documenting previous conversations or meetings and to contact someone when no other method is available. As a primary communication tool, email is pretty bad and extremely over used.
First, a couple of simple rules about email. If the email is going outside the organization or outside of your circle of close associates, it should have all of the style elements of a standard business letter. That includes the address header, salutation and closing. It should be in block format using black, twelve point Arial or Times New Roman font and a plain white background. No smiley faces or dancing elves at the bottom. The simple point is that your email represents you and your organization and you want it to be professional in appearance.
The second easy rule about an email is to gauge both the urgency and the need to use email rather than the phone or an in-person visit. When you use written communication, you miss the tone and non-verbal elements of richness so the use should be limited to when no other source is available or there is the need to document the communication. Often, people use email as an avoidance to truly interacting with other people and this will lead to misunderstandings and mis-readings of the tone or intent of the email. If you can walk down the hall and talk to someone, do so, rather than sending the email.
One other point about email is learning to use the reply and reply all features. Reply all sends your message to everyone on the original distribution list, including the copy recipients. Reply sends it to the single sender of the original email. Avoid the killing of cyber trees by understanding that basic functionality.
We all assume that our written word is pretty important stuff and a lot of people would be interested in it. The final email comment is about how many people we choose to copy on emails. If you need to demonstrate to someone that you have followed-up on something that they requested, send the copy. If you just think they may be interested or you are trying to cover your posterior, don’t send the copy. There are some relatively current estimates of unnecessary email copies in larger organizations that account for 25% to 30% of total email volume.
Beyond just email, the leader’s word in writing is looked at a little different that a memo or note from anyone else. Many people try to look for hidden meaning. Others will try to look for spelling or grammatical mistakes. Because, after all, as the leader, you should be smarter than that.
When writing a memo, letter or email, the leader must practice the art of tone-setting. This is using the first sentence to thank, appreciate or praise the efforts of the group and can look like “Thanks to all of you, we are making great headway in the current fiscal year” or “I really appreciate all of your contributions and work this month.” This opening line invites any reader to continue and teaches the reader that your notes and emails are not to be feared. When closing a document, the tone-setting should be repeated and can just about be a mirror image of the opening line.
A common pitfall in written communication is the need to be overly wordy. As indicated previously, the best way to improve understanding and clarity is to use less words. This is especially true for written communication. Assume that all readers will tune out your document at about the 45 second mark. Make sure you get to substance and get to it quickly or you will lose understanding. The use of numbered lists or bullet points help this greatly.
The final thought on leadership written communication is the use of both spell and grammar check prior to pressing send or print. One more quality step would be to enlist a peer review prior to distribution. This final piece avoids the embarrassment over the use of their, there or they’re which will pass all spell check features.
It may not seem like much but when the leader commits his or her words to writing, they will live in perpetuity. Make sure those works make sense and reflect well on you and your credibility.
Friday, January 22, 2010
Monday Mentor-Refresher 4-The Basics of Positive Feedback
The correct and frequent delivery of positive feedback is one of the most powerful tools available to any leader. Unfortunately, it is also one of the most widely misunderstood, misused and underused tools as well.
Positive feedback is providing appreciation and acknowledgement when a team member performs at their role expectation or higher. It is simply designed to replicate the positive behavior or performance from the team member and create a culture where others strive for the positive feedback and acknowledgement.
For those of us who are dog owners and those of us that have previously enjoyed the company of man’s best friend, we can compare positive feedback in work team members to the process of conditioning dog responses. When you throw the tennis ball to the dog and he brings it back, you say “good dog.” When you throw the ball again and he brings it back, you again say “good dog.”
In the event that you cease saying “good dog” the dog will stop bringing the ball back. You say “good dog” to praise a positive event and encourage the replication of an appreciated behavior.
For those of us who have raised children, we can also compare our interactions with them to the correct use of positive feedback at work. When a child brings home a good report card, we say “good job, nicely done.” The intent is to reward the good grades and encourage more good grades. Every time the grades come back well, we repeat the praise.
Please don’t get this comparison wrong. Adult working humans are very much different from dogs and children. Or are they?
Adults react to reinforcement conditioning in the same way as children and dogs. When positive feedback exists, they will replicate the behavior. When no positive feedback exists, there is little motivation to replicate the performance.
Why Bother
In about twenty years of consulting and training work, we have documented an incredible phenomenon related to the lack of positive feedback in working environments. It is the “Why Bother” phenomenon.
Basically, what happens is that a team member does something well and the leader does not acknowledge or appreciate the activity. The first time around, there is not much harm because intrinsic motivation and pride will drive the team member to do well again. Unfortunately by the second or third time with not acknowledgement, thanks or reasonable belief that any appreciation is coming, the team member will develop a “why bother” approach and begin performing at minimum or worse levels.
This phenomenon also occurs when a leader is seen only in the role of critic in chief. The only time we hear from the boss is when something is wrong or she always tells people how to do it better so, “why bother.”
“Why bother” can become pervasive in workplaces and organizational culture when there is no expectation for positive feedback. It is very common when a leader ascribes to the “I pay them to do a good job” or “I expect them to do a good job” or the “when they don’t see me they know they are doing well” philosophies. Arcane and fatally flawed, you can’t produce replicated good performance through ignoring people.
Another contributor to “why bother” are the systems used in place of human interaction positive feedback. Annual performance reviews, employee of the month plaques and bonus checks have value but do not come close to the immediate reinforcement needed reproduce good performance.
As a leader, if you want to jump start the performance of team members or recharge an entire work group that you think is under-achieving, positive feedback can cure the “why bother” phenomenon quickly and re-motivate team members.
Positive feedback is providing appreciation and acknowledgement when a team member performs at their role expectation or higher. It is simply designed to replicate the positive behavior or performance from the team member and create a culture where others strive for the positive feedback and acknowledgement.
For those of us who are dog owners and those of us that have previously enjoyed the company of man’s best friend, we can compare positive feedback in work team members to the process of conditioning dog responses. When you throw the tennis ball to the dog and he brings it back, you say “good dog.” When you throw the ball again and he brings it back, you again say “good dog.”
In the event that you cease saying “good dog” the dog will stop bringing the ball back. You say “good dog” to praise a positive event and encourage the replication of an appreciated behavior.
For those of us who have raised children, we can also compare our interactions with them to the correct use of positive feedback at work. When a child brings home a good report card, we say “good job, nicely done.” The intent is to reward the good grades and encourage more good grades. Every time the grades come back well, we repeat the praise.
Please don’t get this comparison wrong. Adult working humans are very much different from dogs and children. Or are they?
Adults react to reinforcement conditioning in the same way as children and dogs. When positive feedback exists, they will replicate the behavior. When no positive feedback exists, there is little motivation to replicate the performance.
Why Bother
In about twenty years of consulting and training work, we have documented an incredible phenomenon related to the lack of positive feedback in working environments. It is the “Why Bother” phenomenon.
Basically, what happens is that a team member does something well and the leader does not acknowledge or appreciate the activity. The first time around, there is not much harm because intrinsic motivation and pride will drive the team member to do well again. Unfortunately by the second or third time with not acknowledgement, thanks or reasonable belief that any appreciation is coming, the team member will develop a “why bother” approach and begin performing at minimum or worse levels.
This phenomenon also occurs when a leader is seen only in the role of critic in chief. The only time we hear from the boss is when something is wrong or she always tells people how to do it better so, “why bother.”
“Why bother” can become pervasive in workplaces and organizational culture when there is no expectation for positive feedback. It is very common when a leader ascribes to the “I pay them to do a good job” or “I expect them to do a good job” or the “when they don’t see me they know they are doing well” philosophies. Arcane and fatally flawed, you can’t produce replicated good performance through ignoring people.
Another contributor to “why bother” are the systems used in place of human interaction positive feedback. Annual performance reviews, employee of the month plaques and bonus checks have value but do not come close to the immediate reinforcement needed reproduce good performance.
As a leader, if you want to jump start the performance of team members or recharge an entire work group that you think is under-achieving, positive feedback can cure the “why bother” phenomenon quickly and re-motivate team members.
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
Managers Must Practice People Skills-From Training Journal
Managers who are expecting employees to “weather the storm no matter how poorly they are managed” must think again, according to the latest research.
A study by Krauthammer of employees across Europe has revealed that their commitment to their organisations is “worryingly low” and their job satisfaction is “fragile”.
And the coaching, training and consulting company is urging managers to take basic skills like listening to their staff and identifying their talent seriously.
“Senior managers especially should beware of paying lip service to crucial behaviours such as listening to their staff, while dismissing them as ‘too basic’ or by assuming an air of ‘I left all that behind me when I was a junior’,” said Ronald Meijers, co-chairman of Krauthammer’s executive board.
Read the entire article: http://www.trainingjournal.com/news/2368.html
Saturday, February 28, 2009
Improving Communication Clarity
Tips to Improve Clarity:
1. Use less words.
2. Avoid complex and hard to follow sentences or stories.
3. Slow down your speaking pace.
4. Inquire about understanding and meaning.
5. Use simple words and phrases.
6. Read the receiver of information to see if they are with you or lost.
7. Avoid lots of adjectives and adverbs.
8. Avoid flowery language that paints a great picture but may convolute the meaning.
9. Reiterate key points.
10. Look directly at whom you are speaking.
1. Use less words.
2. Avoid complex and hard to follow sentences or stories.
3. Slow down your speaking pace.
4. Inquire about understanding and meaning.
5. Use simple words and phrases.
6. Read the receiver of information to see if they are with you or lost.
7. Avoid lots of adjectives and adverbs.
8. Avoid flowery language that paints a great picture but may convolute the meaning.
9. Reiterate key points.
10. Look directly at whom you are speaking.
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
Leadership Communication-Frequency Matters
As far as leadership jobs go, the strong, silent type need not apply. Leadership requires a consistent stream of quality communication to team members. Communication frequency is at the core of group performance issues like trust, understanding direction, achieving objectives and even integrity.
One common mistake made by leaders is that volume makes up for frequency. So instead of talking frequently with team members, the leader simply conducts a marathon staff meeting once a month. During that meeting, the leader pines endlessly about all the issues past and current and indulges in a pontification designed to prove their commitment to quality communication. A three hour state of the organization address does not make up for a lack of consistent and frequent communication on a more personal and individual level.
In comparing volume and frequency, consider the human disconnect point in communication. In any dialog, humans report that somewhere between ninety seconds and three minutes, when the object of the dialog is not forthcoming and the content has suspect value, people disengage and cease listening. So, as a leader drones on endlessly, the target audience is left day dreaming. Visualize a Far Side cartoon when the dogs hear “blah, blah, blah, spot.” More frequent and shorter interactions will cure this phenomenon.
The other big issue surrounding communication frequency is trust. Without frequent communication, team members will often mistrust the motive of the leader and lack the personal connection and loyalty needed to be as effective as possible. Equate this to personal relationships. When communication is infrequent, trust will often sag dramatically. When communication occurs, even in troubled relationships, trust can be established as a baseline for moving forward. Relationship therapists will always work to establish frequent communication prior resolving other issues in the relationship.
Team members also report that one of their largest frustration is not knowing where they stand with the boss. They are unsure of their future and don’t know where they fit in the organization. All of these issues are curable by increasing the frequency of leadership frequency.
The easy way to improve frequency is to remember that the leadership legacy is about other people’s achievement and not your own work flow. With increased communication, your team will gain trust and work harder for you.
One common mistake made by leaders is that volume makes up for frequency. So instead of talking frequently with team members, the leader simply conducts a marathon staff meeting once a month. During that meeting, the leader pines endlessly about all the issues past and current and indulges in a pontification designed to prove their commitment to quality communication. A three hour state of the organization address does not make up for a lack of consistent and frequent communication on a more personal and individual level.
In comparing volume and frequency, consider the human disconnect point in communication. In any dialog, humans report that somewhere between ninety seconds and three minutes, when the object of the dialog is not forthcoming and the content has suspect value, people disengage and cease listening. So, as a leader drones on endlessly, the target audience is left day dreaming. Visualize a Far Side cartoon when the dogs hear “blah, blah, blah, spot.” More frequent and shorter interactions will cure this phenomenon.
The other big issue surrounding communication frequency is trust. Without frequent communication, team members will often mistrust the motive of the leader and lack the personal connection and loyalty needed to be as effective as possible. Equate this to personal relationships. When communication is infrequent, trust will often sag dramatically. When communication occurs, even in troubled relationships, trust can be established as a baseline for moving forward. Relationship therapists will always work to establish frequent communication prior resolving other issues in the relationship.
Team members also report that one of their largest frustration is not knowing where they stand with the boss. They are unsure of their future and don’t know where they fit in the organization. All of these issues are curable by increasing the frequency of leadership frequency.
The easy way to improve frequency is to remember that the leadership legacy is about other people’s achievement and not your own work flow. With increased communication, your team will gain trust and work harder for you.
Leadership-Communication and Richness
The needs for effective communication in a leadership role are indisputable. The role of poor communication patterns and skills is equally known and understood. In fact, most issues surrounding team morale, lack of involvement, poor accountability and bad performance can be traced back to the communication of a group’s leader.
Communication is a tricky combination of art and science. In it’s basic form, communication is the flow of information between humans. The last part about being a human phenomenon is important to remember. Communication is a human connectivity that is critical to the leadership role because it enjoins people in a unique and personal way to the tasks and mission of an organization. It also relates directly to the personal nature of leadership and the connection point of why people will follow a leader. To have people to want to follow, the leader must communicate with them.
If you look at leadership as the consistent and constant application of skill sets, communication is the foundation upon all others will be built. Failed communication is the cardinal sin of leadership. Effective communication will be the rock on which the other skill sets rest.
Richness
The first concept of communication effectiveness in leadership is to understand message richness. Richness describes the total content within any communication and the connect points that a communication receiver is able connect. Richness is also highly related to the emotional nature of humans. Our team members are creatures of emotion and not creatures of logic. The greater the degree of richness, the greater the emotional connection to the message.
In-person interaction has the highest degree of richness because all parts of the message sender and receiver can be evaluated and processed. Body language can be read. Tone can be interpreted with accuracy. Clarification can be requested. Understanding can be evaluated. Rapport can be built. By far and away, one-on-one personal dialog has the highest richness.
When using the telephone, richness begins to diminish. Although tone can still be evaluated and clarification can be achieved, there are no non-verbal messages to evaluate. Similarly, in public communications, meetings and presentations, richness also fades because of the lack of interactive elements related to clarification and understanding.
Richness takes a final hit when we convert communication to the written word. With the exception of Nobel Laureate winners, most people cannot achieve any type of meaningful connectivity in writing. Even with emoticons, colored backgrounds and dancing symbols, emails have a coldness and lack any ability for clarification. Written communication also has a high probability for misinterpretation and misunderstanding. Humor and personality can rarely be translated in the written word.
One challenge to consider is compare the amount of time spent recovering from a misunderstood email to the amount of time spent to walk down the hall and talk to the recipient. Consider how much time you might spend repairing a relationship from a terse one line email. When possible, engage in interpersonal, one-on-one communication.
Communication is a tricky combination of art and science. In it’s basic form, communication is the flow of information between humans. The last part about being a human phenomenon is important to remember. Communication is a human connectivity that is critical to the leadership role because it enjoins people in a unique and personal way to the tasks and mission of an organization. It also relates directly to the personal nature of leadership and the connection point of why people will follow a leader. To have people to want to follow, the leader must communicate with them.
If you look at leadership as the consistent and constant application of skill sets, communication is the foundation upon all others will be built. Failed communication is the cardinal sin of leadership. Effective communication will be the rock on which the other skill sets rest.
Richness
The first concept of communication effectiveness in leadership is to understand message richness. Richness describes the total content within any communication and the connect points that a communication receiver is able connect. Richness is also highly related to the emotional nature of humans. Our team members are creatures of emotion and not creatures of logic. The greater the degree of richness, the greater the emotional connection to the message.
In-person interaction has the highest degree of richness because all parts of the message sender and receiver can be evaluated and processed. Body language can be read. Tone can be interpreted with accuracy. Clarification can be requested. Understanding can be evaluated. Rapport can be built. By far and away, one-on-one personal dialog has the highest richness.
When using the telephone, richness begins to diminish. Although tone can still be evaluated and clarification can be achieved, there are no non-verbal messages to evaluate. Similarly, in public communications, meetings and presentations, richness also fades because of the lack of interactive elements related to clarification and understanding.
Richness takes a final hit when we convert communication to the written word. With the exception of Nobel Laureate winners, most people cannot achieve any type of meaningful connectivity in writing. Even with emoticons, colored backgrounds and dancing symbols, emails have a coldness and lack any ability for clarification. Written communication also has a high probability for misinterpretation and misunderstanding. Humor and personality can rarely be translated in the written word.
One challenge to consider is compare the amount of time spent recovering from a misunderstood email to the amount of time spent to walk down the hall and talk to the recipient. Consider how much time you might spend repairing a relationship from a terse one line email. When possible, engage in interpersonal, one-on-one communication.
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