Steven Covey had the right idea. There are discreet skills and attitudes, habits if you will, that can elevate your conflict practice to a new level. This article shares a selection of habits and attitudes that can transform a good conflict resolver into a highly effective one. By that I mean someone who facilitates productive, meaningful discussion between others that results in deeper self-awareness, mutual understanding and workable solutions.
I have used the term ‘conflict resolver’ intentionally to reienforce the idea that human resource professionals and managers are instrumental in ending disputes, regardless of whether they are also mediators. These conflict management techniques are life skills that are useful in whatever setting you find yourself. With these skills, you can create environments that are respectful, collaborative and conducive to problem-solving. And, you’ll teach your employees to be proactive, by modeling successful conflict management behaviors
Understand the Employee’s Needs
Since you’re the ‘go to person’ in your organization, it’s natural for you to jump right in to handle conflict. When an employee visits you to discuss a personality conflict, you assess a situation, determine the next steps and proceed until the problem is solved. But is that helpful?
When you take charge, the employee is relieved of his or her responsibility to find a solution. That leaves you to do the work around finding alternatives. And while you want to do what’s best for this person (and the organization), it’s important to ask what the employee wants first— whether it’s to vent, brainstorm solutions or get some coaching. Understand what the person entering your door wants by asking questions:
- · How can I be most helpful to you?
- · What are you hoping I will do?
- · What do you see my role as in this matter?
- Engage in Collaborative Listening
By now everyone has taken at least one active listening course so I won’t address the basic skills. Collaborative Listening takes those attending and discerning skills one step further. It recognizes that in listening each person has a job that supports the work of the other. The speaker’s job is to clearly express his or her thoughts, feelings and goals. The listener’s job is facilitating clarity; understanding and make the employee feel heard.
So what’s the difference? The distinction is acknowledgement. Your role is to help the employee gain a deeper understanding of her own interests and needs; to define concepts and words in a way that expresses her values (i.e. respect means something different to each one of us); and to make her feel acknowledged—someone sees things from her point of view.
Making an acknowledgement is tricky in corporate settings. Understandably, you want to help the employee but are mindful of the issues of corporate liability. You can acknowledge the employee even while safeguarding your company.
Simply put, acknowledgement does not mean agreement. It means letting the employee know that you can see how he got to his truth. It doesn’t mean taking sides with the employee or abandoning your corporate responsibilities. Acknowledgement can be the bridge across misperceptions. Engage in Collaborative Listening by:
- · Help the employee to explore and be clear about his interests and goals
- · Acknowledge her perspective
o I can see how you might see it that way.
o That must be difficult for you.
o I understand that you feel _______ about this.
- · Ask questions that probe for deeper understanding on both your parts:
o When you said x, what did you mean by that?
o If y happens, what’s significant about that for you?
o What am I missing in understanding this from your perspective?
- Be a Good Transmitter
Messages transmitted from one person to the next are very powerful. Sometimes people have to hear it ‘from the horse’s mouth’. Other times, you’ll have to be the transmitter of good thoughts and feelings. Pick up those ‘gems’, those positive messages that flow when employees feel safe and heard in mediation, and present them to the other employee. Your progress will improve.
We’re all human. You know how easy it is to hold a grudge, or assign blame. Sharing gems appropriately can help each employee begin to shift their perceptions of the situation, and more importantly, of each other. To deliver polished gems, try to:
- · Act soon after hearing the gem
- · Paraphrase accurately so the words aren’t distorted
- · Ask the listener if this is new information and if changes her stance
- · Avoid expecting the employees to visibly demonstrate a ‘shift in stance’ (it happens internally and on their timetable, not ours)
- Recognize Power
Power is a dominant factor in mediation that raises many questions: What is it? Who has it? How to do you balance power? Assumptions about who is the ‘powerful one’ are easy to make and sometimes wrong. Skillful conflict resolvers recognize power dynamics in conflicts and are mindful about how to authentically manage them. You can recognize power by being aware that:
- · Power is fluid and exchangeable
- · Employees possess power over the content and their process (think of employees concerns as the water flowing into and being held by the container)
- · Resolvers possess power over the mediation process ( their knowledge, wisdom, experience, and commitment form the container)
- · Your roles as an HR professional and resolver will have a significant impact on power dynamics
- Be Optimistic & Resilient
Agreeing to participate in mediation is an act of courage and hope. By participating, employees are conveying their belief in value of the relationship. They are also expressing their trust in you to be responsive to and supportive of our efforts. Employees may first communicate their anger, frustration, suffering, righteousness, regret, not their best hopes. You can inspire them to continue by being optimistic:
- · Be positive about your experiences with mediation
- · Hold their best wishes and hopes for the future
- · Encourage them to work towards their hopes
Be Resilient. Remember the last time you were stuck in a conflict? You probably replayed the conversation in your mind over and over, thinking about different endings and scolding yourself. Employees get stuck, too. In fact, employees can become so worn down and apathetic about their conflict, especially a long-standing dispute; they’d do anything to end it. Yes, even agree with each other prematurely. Don’t let them settle. Mediation is about each employee getting their interest met. Be resilient:
- · Be prepared to move yourself and the employees though productive and less productive cycles of the mediation
- · Help the employees see their movement and progress
- · Be mindful and appreciative of the hard work you all are doing
Hopefully, you’ve discovered that these are your own habits in one form or another and that your organization is benefiting from your knowledge. You can learn more about workplace mediation and mediation in general from these books and websites:
The Power of Mediation
Bringing Peace into the Room
Difficult Conversation: How to Say What Matters Most
http://www.ne-acr.org (The New England Association of Conflict Resolvers)
http://www.mediate.com (mediation portal site)
http://www.workwelltogether.com (conflict management toolkit)
“Mediation is based on a belief in the fundamental honesty of human beings. Which is another way of saying we all want to be treated justly – that is according to our unique situation and viewpoint on the world. And we cannot expect to be treated justly if we do not honestly reveal ourselves.” ~ the Honourable Neville Chamberlain, British Prime Minister 1937
Dina Beach Lynch, Esq. was formerly the Ombudsman for Fleet Bank and is currently CEO of WorkWellTogether.com, an online conflict management toolkit. Dina can be reached at Dina@workwelltogether.com
Little things can make a difference:
- Play music with positive lyrics.
- Clean smells and the odor of cookies both make you behave better.
- Keep the area warm.
- Get outside in nature.
- Read fiction,
No, you won’t do better work by procrastinating. And you will not have more time next week. In fact, leaving things unfinished makes you stupid. Here’s what works:
- Make specific plans. Just setting a date and a time when you’re going to do something makes you more likely to follow through. Or write down the steps necessary to do the work.
- Use short, painless dashes of effort. Just have at it for five minutes and feel free to watch the clock. Chances are you’ll realize it’s not so bad.
- Rewarding yourself for doing things you don’t want to do can be a powerful motivator.
- Use “precommitment devices” to make sure you follow through. Stickk is a good one.
- Asking yourself whether you intend on doing something is a more powerful motivator than telling yourself you will do it.
- Understand the secrets to willpower, breaking bad habits, productivity, and achieving goals.
According to IBM’s Global CEO Study 2006, competitive pressures and global market forces are driving 65% of the world’s top executives to plan radical changes at their companies over the next two years.
Looking over the results of this survey, it becomes very clear that CEOs today are looking at new kinds of innovation to drive substantial organizational change. It’s not just product innovation anymore. Now it’s about innovation in a business model, an operational process, or a management behavior. In making this point, one CEO commented that “The business model we choose will determine the success or failure of our strategy,” while another stated that “Products and services can be copied, the business model will be the differentiator.”
Fear is definitely a factor in the impetus for change. In fact, 61% of CEOs admit they fear that their competitors will make changes in their own business models that ultimately reshape the landscape of their respective industries. So CEOs want their companies to be ready to adapt rapidly – or, better still, be the company leading the industry transformation.
CEOs today want innovative ideas not only from employees but from customers, and trading partners. This is in direct contrast to past corporate philosophy, where innovation was considered too critical and proprietary to involve outsiders. In fact, the study highlights the link between external collaboration and financial performance. Top performing organizations used external sources 30% more than under-performers. On this kind of collaboration, one CEO stated that, “We need third parties as benchmarks and sparring partners. This also helps our staff broaden their views.” While another simply stated, “If you think you have all of the answers internally, you are wrong.”
While a large portion of CEOs recognize that big changes are on the horizon, a significant portion indicated some trepidation about their company’s ability to execute the necessary changes. As they contemplate this radical change, only 20% of CEOs say they’ve been highly successful in such endeavors in the past.
So what does all this mean to communicators? Well, for starters – here are the messages you’ll be asked to spread throughout the organization for the next couple of years:
WANT TO INCREASE YOUR VALUE TO THE ORGANIZATION?
Become a top-knotch collaborator.
Benchmark everywhere.
Constantly reinvent your job.
Nurture innovation in your team or work group.
Become a champion of change.
Do all that – and the future is yours!
Carol Kinsey Goman, Ph.D. is the author of nine books including CREATIVITY IN BUSINESS and “THIS ISN’T THE COMPANY I JOINED” — How to Lead in a Business Turned Upside Down. She delivers keynote speeches and seminars to association and business audiences around the world. For more information or to book Carol as a speaker at one of your events, please call: 510-526-1727, email: CGoman@CKG.com, or visit her website: http://www.CKG.com.
Here’s my view on “leaders.” I believe that everyone can – and should – lead from wherever one is inside an organization, irrespective of level, title, or whether one manages others or not.
To survive today, every organization needs people willing to lead at every level and in every position. What’s more, leading is one way in which everyone can continue to contribute and more importantly grow.
It’s a win-win.
The trick is being able to use your influence to get others to follow you. One can’t be a leader – no matter the definition – without followers.
In what ways do you lead, and how can you get more followers?
The value of this Business Plan process is the thinking that it forces you to do about your business, your products and services, your goals and the actions you’ll take to achieve your goals. Even if no one but you ever sees the plan, you will have given purposeful and logical thought to the purpose and direction of your business. This process helps ensure that the many activities you squeeze into your limited hours are time well spent – focused on moving your business forward in an aggressive yet realistic way.
Part 1: Analysis
Core Services
- List the core services (or products) you offer
- Be as specific as possible, but put similar items in a group (e.g., “Editorial Services” includes writing, editing, etc.)
Target Markets
- List the market segments you serve
- Be realistic; if you realistically cannot serve large corporations, for example, then don’t include them
- Be as specific as possible, but put similar items in a group unless there is a compelling reason to list them separately (e.g., “School Groups” could include secondary schools and colleges, but these segments might have different needs)
Competition Analysis
- List your competitors and a brief description of them
- Unless a specific competitor presents unique challenges to your business, it is OK to list them in groups (e.g., “Independent Practitioners” or “Small Agencies”)
- The purpose is to provide yourself a picture of what your business is up against as you market your core service
Vision and Mission Statements
- It is useful to have Vision and Mission statements that keep you focused on what is important to you
- Vision Statement should describe the “ideal state” of your business; it should be achievable, but also something to strive for
- Mission Statement succinctly states what your business is about, its purpose, the role it plays in the market
Part 2: Assumptions
Business Principles
- It is useful to develop a set of Business Principles that guide how you will conduct your business
- These principles have a direct bearing on your relationships with customers and clients
- The reason to include it under “Assumptions” is because your Business Principles are conditions under which your business operates; as you will see further in this section, you will list other conditions under which your business operates as well
Economic Assumptions
- List things you know about the economy (local, state, regional, national, international – whatever you believe affects your business)
- Include relevant historical facts (e.g., “the U.S. economy fell into recession in 2001”) and how they affect your ability to do business
- Note the impact of past, current, or anticipated economic conditions on your business and the products/services you provide
Financial Assumptions
- List things you know about your personal and/or business financial situation that affect your ability to do business and to grow your business
- Include things like cash flow issues, savings programs, the financial picture as a result of actions or conditions (a recession, recent investments, loan approvals, etc.)
- Reflect financial “realities” about your business (e.g., the need to control expenses, taxes owed, upcoming capital expenditures, expanding payroll, etc.)
Technological Assumptions
- Since so many businesses – large and small – depend on technology (web, e-mail, phone, etc.) today, it is useful to think about how these issues affect your business’s ability to succeed
- Think about upgrades of hardware and software, the impact of growth and expansion on your technological needs, training that will be necessary, etc.
Part 3: Strategic Summary
SWOT Analysis
- List all the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats about your business
- Be honest with yourself; don’t hold anything back or ignore realities
Key Success Factors
- Out of your SWOT Analysis, what are the key factors that will affect the ability of your business to succeed?
- Examples: strong reputation, broad client base, repeat business, unique provider, etc.
Competitive Advantages / Disadvantages
- Create lists of your competitive advantages and disadvantages based on your analysis of everything else up to this point
- What unique advantages does your business have in the marketplace?
- What distinct disadvantages does your business have?
- Be honest and don’t hold back because you will develop strategies based largely on this informatio
Strategic Goals
- Develop two or three broad Strategic Goals for your business in the next year or the next 3-5 years, depending on the scope of your plan
- Strategic Goals should be “big picture” goals, but they should also be specific enough that you can measure them
- Under each goal, list one to three specific, measurable components
- Example of a Strategic Goal: “Grow Client Base”
- Example of specific, measurable component: “Add at least X new clients by X date”
- Make your goals SMART: Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, Time-driven
Tactical Actions
- Out of your Strategic Goals, list specific actions you will take that will help you achieve them
- Examples: Meet with two new prospective clients per month; Join a professional association to expand my network
- Create a calendar that plots when each tactical activity will occur so you don’t forget to do them
Most leaders agree that effective collaboration is more important than ever in today’s turbulent business environment. In a “do-more-with-less” reality, it takes ongoing teamwork to produce innovative, cost effective and targeted products and services. In fact, a company’s very survival may depend on how well it can combine the potential of its people and the quality of the information they possess with their ability (and willingness) to share that knowledge throughout the organization.
But here’s the problem . . .
The collaboration that is so critical to organizations is being blocked by knowledge-hoarding silo structures and the accompanying “silo mentality” that has become synonymous with power struggles, lack of cooperation, and loss of productivity.
So what’s to be done? Here, from A to Z, are my most successful strategies, based on 25 years of helping clients around the world tear down silos, reduce conflicts, and increase collaboration.
A. Find ways to ACKNOWLEDGE collaborative contributors. Recognize and promote people who learn, teach and share. And penalize those who do not. In all best-practices companies, those hoarding knowledge and failing to build on ideas of others face visible and serious career consequences. In those top companies, employees who share knowledge, teach, mentor, and work across departmental boundaries are recognized and rewarded.
B. Watch your BODY LANGUAGE. All leaders express enthusiasm, warmth, and confidence — as well as arrogance, indifference, and displeasure through their expressions, gestures, touch, and use of space. If leaders want to be perceived as credible and collaborative, they need to make sure that their verbal messages are supported (not sabotaged) by their nonverbal signals.
C. Focus on the CUSTOMER. Nothing is more important in an organization – whether it’s a for-profit company or a non-profit group – than staying close to the end user of the service or product you offer and encouraging feedback and 2-way dialogue. When you build collaborative relationships with your customers, you give them power and investment in your organization’s success.
D. DIVERSITY is crucial to harnessing the full power of collaboration. Experiments at the University of Michigan found that, when challenged with a difficult problem, groups composed of highly adept members performed worse than groups whose members had varying levels of skill and knowledge. The reason for this seemingly odd outcome has to do with the power of diverse thinking. Group members who think alike or are trained in similar disciplines with similar knowledge bases run the risk of becoming insular in their ideas. Instead of exploring alternatives, a confirmation bias takes over and members tend to reinforce one another’s predisposition. Diversity causes people to consider perspectives and possibilities that would otherwise be ignored.
E. ELIMINATE the barriers to a free flow of ideas. Everyone has knowledge that is important to someone else, and you never know whose input is going to become an essential part of the solution. When insights and opinions are ridiculed, criticized or ignored, people feel threatened and “punished” for contributing. They typically react by withdrawing from the conversation. Conversely, when people are free to ask “dumb” questions, challenge the status quo, and offer novel–even bizarre–suggestions, then sharing knowledge becomes a collaborative process of blending diverse opinion, expertise and perspectives.
F. To enhance collaboration, analyze and learn from FAILURE. Leading innovators like Apple see their failures as being as insightful as their successes. The goal is not to eliminate all errors, but to analyze mistakes in order to create systems that more quickly detect and correct mistakes before they become fatal.
G. Collaboration takes GUIDANCE by managers who know how to harness the energies and talents of others while keeping their own egos in check. Successful organizations require leaders at all levels who manage through positive influence and inclusion rather than by position.
H. Eliminate HOARDING by challenging the “knowledge is power” attitude. Knowledge is no longer a commodity like gold, which holds (or increases) it’s worth over time. It’s more like milk – fluid, evolving, and stamped with an expiration date. And, by the way, there is nothing less powerful than hanging on to knowledge whose time has expired.
I. Focus on INNOVATION. Creativity is triggered by a cross-pollination of ideas. It is in the combination and collision of ideas that creative breakthroughs most often occur. When an organization focuses on innovation, it does so by bringing together people with different backgrounds, perspectives, and expertise – breaking down barriers and silos in the process.
J. JOIN the social media revolution and utilize Web 2.0 technologies – tools and processes that allow people to share opinions, insights, experiences, and perspectives in order to collaborate and to self-organize.
K. Realize that there are two kinds of KNOWLEDGE in your organization: Explicit knowledge can be transferred in a document or entered in a database. Tacit knowledge needs a conversation, a story, a relationship. Make sure you are developing strategies to capture both.
L. LEADERS at all levels of an organization can nurture collaboration within their own work group or staff. And the most successful of these leaders do so by taking the time and effort necessary to make people feel safe and valued. They emphasize people’s strengths while encouraging the sharing of mistakes and lessons learned. They set clear expectations for outcomes and clarify individual roles. They help all members recognize what each of them brings to the team. They model openness, vulnerability and honesty. They tell stories of group successes and personal challenges. And most of all, they encourage and respect everyone’s contribution.
M. MIX it up by rotating personnel in various jobs and departments around the organization, by creating cross-functional teams, and by inviting managers from other areas of the organization to attend (or lead) your team meetings.
N. Employees with multiple NETWORKS throughout the organization facilitate collaboration. You can accelerate the flow of knowledge and information across boundaries by encouraging workplace relationships and communities. Use a tool like Social Network Analysis (SNA) to create a visual model of current networks so you can reinforce the connections and help fill the gaps.
O. Insist on OPEN and transparent communication. In an organization, the way information is handled determines whether it becomes an obstacle to or an enabler of collaboration. Employees today need access to information at any time. From any place.
P. Collaboration is a PARTNERSHIP. As one savvy leader put it, “To make collaboration work, you’ve got to treat people the way you want to be treated. It’s pretty simple, really. Treat all employees as your partners. Because they are.”
Q. Ask the right QUESTIONS. At the beginning of a project, ask: What information/knowledge do we need? Who are the experts? Who in the organization has done this before – do we have this on a database? Who else will need to know what we learn? How do we plan to share/hand off what we learn?
R. The success of any organization or team – its creativity, productivity, and effectiveness – hinges on the strength of the RELATIONSHIPS of its members. Collaboration is enhanced when employees get to know one another as individuals. So when you hold offsite retreats, organization-wide celebrations, or workplace events, be sure to provide opportunities for “social” time and personal relationships. Taking time to build this “social capital” at the beginning of a project will also increase the effectiveness of a team later on.
S. Collaboration is communicated best through STORIES – of successes, failures, opportunities, challenges, and knowledge accumulated through experience. Find those stories throughout your organization. Record them. Share them.
T. TRUST is the foundation for collaboration. It is the conduit through which knowledge flows. Without trust, an organization loses its emotional “glue.” In a culture of suspicion people withhold information, hide behind psychological walls, and withdraw from participation. If you want to create a networked organization, the first and most crucial step is to build a culture of trust.
U. Combating silo mentality requires UNIFYING goals. Business unit leaders must understand the overarching goals of the total organization and the importance of working in concert with other areas to achieve those crucial strategic objectives.
V. The incentive to collaborate is the VALUE of the exchange to both the organization and the individual. When the assets and benefits of productive collaboration are made visible, silos begin to break down.
W. Your WORKPLACE layout encourages or impedes the way the organization communicates. To facilitate knowledge sharing, you need to create environments that stimulate both arranged and chance encounters. Attractive break-out areas, coffee bars, comfortable cafeteria chairs, even wide landings on staircases – all of these increase the likelihood that employees will meet and linger to talk.
X. Take a tip from XEROX. It discovered that real learning doesn’t take place in the classroom – or in any formal setting. In fact, people were found to learn more from comparing experiences in the hallways than from reading the company’s official manuals, going online to a knowledge repository, or attending training sessions.
Y. Collaboration is crucial for YOUR success. We’re witnessing the death of “The Lone Ranger” leadership model, where one person comes in with all the answers to save the day. We now know that no leader, regardless of how brilliant and talented, is smarter than the collective genius of the workforce.
Z. Forget about reaching the ZENITH. Collaborative cultures are learning cultures – and knowledge sharing is an ongoing process, not an end point.
Carol Kinsey Goman, Ph.D. is the author of nine books including CREATIVITY IN BUSINESS and “THIS ISN’T THE COMPANY I JOINED” — How to Lead in a Business Turned Upside Down. She delivers keynote speeches and seminars to association and business audiences around the world. For more information or to book Carol as a speaker at one of your events, please call: 510-526-1727, email: CGoman@CKG.com, or visit her website: http://www.CKG.com.
Ever have the feeling things are moving so fast you don’t have time to even make a proper introduction?
That has certainly been the case with the new Communications Leadership Community. Carol Kinsey Goman, who has been a leader on the community since it was formed, has now been joined by three new leaders, each coming to the topic from different vantage points, and with a wealth of career experience.
The distinguished leaders of Communication Leadership are:
- Carol Kinsey Goman, President, Kinsey Consulting Services
- Liz Guthridge, founder and managing consultant of Connect Consulting Group LLC
- Sharon Wamble-King, VP, Corporate Communication, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Florida
- Tom Lee, founder and president of Arceil Leadership Ltd
The four leaders will serve as the eyes and ears for the topic of communication leadership, and will be blogging on trends and issues they see as critical to success. They are also willing to answer any questions you might have, so post your comments or questions on the blog.
As one more way of getting to know each, we’ve asked them to answer this timely question:
What advice do you have for corporate communicators charged with helping their upper management stay on the same sheet when conveying difficult financial outlook to stakeholders?
Here are their answers. Can you add to their thoughts?
Liz Guthridge, founder and managing consultant of Connect Consulting Group LLC:
Follow the Plan-Do-Check-Act (PDMA) cycle by W. Edwards Deming. Although the model’s origins are in fixing problems, especially process improvements, it’s well suited for this situation. Why? The leaders—and you as their guide—need to be disciplined in deciding what to say and do, and then being consistent as individuals and as a group. Also, how you say and do things is almost as important as the what.
Without this disciplined approach, you could contribute to the chaos. Keep in mind that you’ve got multiple leaders who have their own point-of-views, varied experiences, and different levels of financial expertise. You’re working in unchartered territory in terms of the volatile world economy. And add to the mix: you’ve got anxious, fearful and hesitant stakeholders.
Your leaders must be on the same page working in concert. They also must collaborate to help restore the confidence of employees, customers, investors, and other key stakeholders. Even if the financial news continues to be bad, they have to keep our hopes alive. Everyone’s hard—and smart work—will turn things around in the future. We all need to be looking up at the stars and dreaming realistically while we’re feeling down in the dumps.
Carol Kinsey Goman, President, Kinsey Consulting Services
Make sure that leaders communicate with their audiences face-go-face. Here’s why . . .In face-to-face meetings, our brains process the continual cascade of nonverbal cues that we use as the basis for building trust and professional intimacy. We interpret what people say to us only partially from the words they use. We get most of the message (and all of the emotional nuance behind the words) from vocal tone, pacing, facial expressions and body language.We may have spent years learning to read and write with various levels of mastery, but no one had to teach us to send and respond to nonverbal signals. In fact our brains need and expect these more primitive and significant channels of information. According to Dr. Thomas Lewis, an expert on the psychobiology of emotions, when we are denied these interpersonal cues and are forced to rely on the printed word alone, the brain struggles and real communication suffers.
Think of it this way: Technology may be a great facilitator for factual information, but when your communication has any emotional charge, a face-to-face meeting is still your best choice. It’s the only way that others can note the alignment of your verbal and nonverbal messages and be convinced that your motives match your rhetoric.
Comment:
Liz and Carol make solid points. Because I deal with CEOs and CFOs of public companies who more often are faced with the issue of sharing bad financial news, here are three strategies that have worked with them: 1. Limit the number of spokespeople. While you can create talking points and Q&As and distribute them to everyone, you still can’t control what an executive says when an equity analyst or reporter calls out of the blue. It helps to have a policy in place for people to send the caller back to Corporate Communications, Investor Relations, or the CEO’s of CFO’s office. And if possible–when the spokesperson isn’t you–ensure that the information shared on those calls also is shared with you, so you know what’s now in the public domain (and if you need to take any action as a result). 2. Rehearse your spokespeople. We all know the perils of “winging it.” Unfortunately, some executives are very facile and don’t think they need to practice–or say they don’t have the time to do this. Be persistent–or insistent. And know when you can’t carry the message yourself (because a CEO doesn’t want to be critiqued by someone who reports to him, for example). Suggest speaker training or a consultant who can help, so he doesn’t feel uncomfortable. Do whatever works. 3. Share the results. When executives see that the coverage the company is receiving is fair and the messages that appear are consistent, they will support the approach you’re advocating. On the flip side, if your organization has a scattered approach now, use the less than stellar results as a lever to change behavior. There’s no motivator like a falling stock price or a bad article or TV interview to get people to take a new (better!) tack.
Lynn Franklin
Public figures get in trouble all of the time and are then forced to apologize. Whether it is TV preachers who claim to know why God strikes some people down or Olympic athletes who brag about skiing while drunk, big shots are often forced into the role of the contrite. Few pull it off well, because they don’t seem to be sincere and they don’t seem to grasp why what they said or did it offended anyone.
Oprah Winfrey, once again, is in a class by herself. Not only is she only the world’s greatest talk show host, but she is a world class apologizer too. Winfrey suffered a rare ding to her public image when she promoted James Frey’s phony memoir “A Million Little Pieces.” She made matters much worse for herself when she defended Frey after he was exposed as a fraud. Winfrey called to defend him on the Larry King Show, saying the controversy was “much ado about nothing.”
What happened next was not the usual treatment for media darling Oprah. She was roundly denounced by columnists, pundits, editors and talk show hosts around the globe for essentially saying that “the truth doesn’t matter anymore.”
Oprah countered several days later on her show when she brought back disgraced author Frey and his publisher Nan Talese. Regarding Oprah’s call to King defending Frey, she said “I regret that phone call. I made a mistake and I left the impression that the truth does not matter and I am deeply sorry about that. That is not what I believe.”
Additionally, Winfrey said that she felt “duped” by Frey and she used the platform of her own TV show to rake Fry and his editor over the coals repeatedly.
So why was Oprah’s apology effective whereas as most politicians and public officials fail in their own apologies?
1. She said she was sorry and that she made a mistake. She didn’t sugar coat things or claim that she had “misspoken.” She didn’t apologize just for having offended people. She apologized because she had made a serious mistake.
2. Oprah didn’t try to minimize her sins. She showed she really understood why people were upset. She spelled out that her mistake was giving people the impression she didn’t care about the truth.
3. She seemed sincere. By spending so much time on her blunder and by giving airtime to her critics, Oprah seemed genuinely troubled by the course of events and sincerely sorry.
4. Oprah tried to take actions to correct the problems. She practically chopped off the fingers of Frey and his editor in order to keep them from writing and publishing again. This shows she takes the issue seriously and isn’t just doing a quick PR spin.
5. By apologizing to her viewers, admitting that her critics were right, and offering no defense for her actions, Oprah revealed herself emotionally to her fans and the world. She also left no other rational reason for anyone to be angry with her or to criticize her. Thus, the only logical reaction left from her audience was to give Oprah forgiveness.
That is a successful apology and that is yet another reason why Oprah is the queen of all media.
Employees are smart, aren’t we? We know a lot about our jobs, the people we work for and with, and have ideas about how things can be done differently or better.
We’re also really powerful: Our neighbors are asking us what our companies are like. We’re sharing information on our Facebook pages. According to the Edelman Trust Barometer, ‘people like us’ are more respected than CEOs and VPs of communications.
In these difficult economic times, making our workplaces more efficient, cutting costs, and innovating can be keys to survival.
It all starts with LISTENING. What are employees saying? Have you asked them how they think you can save costs, or how they think things should be done differently?
- Build into every employee communication a means for employees to give input and share their views. Don’t judge — be appreciative of what they have to say. Respond appropriately. If there is difficulty with an idea, say so and ask them how it might be addressed.
- If you hear a great idea and decide to implement it, reward the person(s) who suggested it. Celebrate it!
- Get out and talk with your people more. We’re too digital these days, but we’re hard-wired as a species to look each other in the eye and communicate. Great — and better — ideas come from discussing.
A place to start listening is with an employee survey. We work with the Great Place to Work Institute, which does the FORTUNE 100 Best Companies to Work For list and a small and mid-sized company list as well. The FORTUNE nominations are free (and due March 31, 2009) at greatplacetowork-100best.com. It’s a great tool to hear what your employees think of your workplace, and you get to see how you compare to the 100 Best Companies.
Best of all, you’ll have an opportunity to RESPOND. To make changes to improve your workplace and business.
What do 2-year-olds and CEOs have in common? They should be asking lots of questions.
According to Peter Senge, asking good questions is one of the most effective ways to open our mind, be more present and learn from others.
When we ask good questions, we take an important first step to explore the uncertain.
The start of a new year—especially the start of a new decade and a tumultuous 2009—is an opportune time to consider the questions you and your leaders are asking.
From a leadership communications perspective, start asking questions about these three key categories: purpose, people and process.
Purpose Questions
- What’s our reason for being and are we still true to it? (As the Wall Street Journalist columnist Peggy Noonan wrote in Look Ahead with Stoicism—and Optimism, many institutions seemed to have forgotten their mission the last decade.)
- What’s the organization’s focus? In other words, how well do your 2010 plans and goals sync up with your mission?
- How well can your stakeholders articulate your mission? Do they know the organization’s priorities and their own? Do they need support from you?
People Questions
- How well are you and the leaders listening to your stakeholders? What insights are you gathering from customers, employees, partners, vendors and others?
- How well are the leaders connecting with employees and inspiring them? Do employees know what you expect of them? To what extent are they taking responsibility for what needs to be done, rather than sitting back and waiting on having the right authority? To what degree are employees anticipating customer needs?
- From the perspective of someone who’s helping leaders with their communication, where’s the leverage? How have you divvied up responsibilities? What are you delegating to each other? What’s the most efficient? What’s the most effective?
Process Questions
- What can you stop doing this year to save time and resources? You either want to stop it because it’s not effective; it’s wasteful or no longer valued. For example, are there standing meetings that have outlived their usefulness? Reports? Questions on surveys?
- What could be working better? Do you need to tweak ways you’re working? Are you using the measurement data you’re gathering to fine-tune your communication channels, messages and meetings? And when did you last consider whether you’re easy to work with or not? (For some ideas, read the article “Are you easy?” in the January issue of THE LEAN COMMUNICATOR™.)
- What do you need to start doing? Do you need to listen to more voices? Involve people more? Measure more relevant issues? Experiment more with social media?
These simple questions can start some very involved and thorny discussions. They also may expose some vulnerabilities in processes, people and purpose.
In fact, Senge says the mere act of asking difficult questions can show a sense of vulnerability, which is why leaders (but not 2-year-olds) are often reluctant to ask challenging questions that will ignite demanding conversations. Yet, these conversations are necessary to make sure you’re on the right track for 2010 and the rest of the teens.
Liz Guthridge is a consultant, author, and trainer specializing in strategic change communications. Department leaders of Fortune 1000 companies hire Liz and her firm Connect Consulting Group LLC when they need their people—who are confused, angry or in denial—to adopt complex new initiatives so they can quickly change the way they work. For more information, contact Liz, liz.guthridge@connectconsultinggroup.com or 510-527-1213. Follow Liz on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/lizguthridge.
There are many different styles of effective communication, but arguing with someone is typically the worst possible way to attempt to communicate. Once you enter the mode of arguing, listening shuts down by everyone in the argument.
Now, I’m the first one to admit it, I like arguing. In fact, for many years I was a TV and radio talk show host with a focus on politics. So yes, I argued for hours everyday. And I listened to a lot of people yelling and screaming at me on the air.
However, there is a difference between arguing on a talk show versus arguing with a boss, client, customer, friend or family member. If you or I argue on a TV or radio show, we might not convince the person we are arguing with, but we might convince the vast audience.
Back to real life: you don’t have an audience when you are arguing (unless you count your kids listening to you argue with your spouse). So it really never pays to have arguments in real (non-media) life.
You may have won high school or college debate competitions, you may be a successful courtroom lawyer, but arguing with people in real life will typically not result in you communicating your messages effectively. It will most likely make you hated — so don’t do it.
How can you avoid an argument?
If someone interrupts you, don’t interrupt back. If someone gets louder and angrier talking to you, don’t get louder back. Maintain your own conversational volume.
If someone makes several factual mistakes in a heated discussion with you, don’t revel in correcting every single fact. Instead, focus on something you agree on.
My goal is not to train you to let people walk all over you or to turn you into a bland yes-man/woman. There may be times when you want to argue with friends just for the fun of it – I know I do. Just make sure you aren’t fooling yourself into thinking you are actually communicating.
Of course you should state your opinions with confidence. Of course we all disagree with people from time to time; that is a normal course of human interaction.
But the second the person you are talking to feels that you two are in an argument, your ability to communicate messages has just dropped dramatically. So do whatever you can to lower the volume, temperature, cross talk and interruptions (not to mention name-calling) to insure maximum communication.
There has been some lamentation of late for the apparent “decline of the internal communicator”, a mere decade since the “rise and rise” of said species was proclaimed in London headhunter Nick Helsby’s “The Rise of the Internal Communicator.” Indeed, with a supine employment market and an increasing preference for junior or implementational practitioners for organisation-wide IC roles, one could get a sense that the profession is in a state of inexorable decline.
But such a view belies both the role of the “social media revolution” and greater sophistication within organisations about the relative value of specific internal and external audiences.
What we are starting to see in organisations is a shift in strategic emphasis from one-size-fits-all internal and external messaging towards communication approaches that target and engage smaller but higher-value audiences. On the external side, instead of focusing on 10 reporters, the focus is beginning to shift towards, perhaps, 100 or 1000 decision-makers and high impact stakeholders. Communication is becoming more direct, and also more mediated. But the mediation is less through broadcast sources, and more through individuals who have social or peer credibility within these higher value audiences.
In truth, this has been how many internal comms practitioners have been operating for years, perhaps even while seemingly maintaining their channel mixes as their “day jobs”. Certainly, change communicators ignore the existence of smaller, higher-value, “tribal” audiences at their own peril as these are the main constituencies capable of giving change velocity and credibility. While social media did not by any means invent the smaller, higher-value, tribal constituency, social tools now make those audiences far easier to identify, reach and mobilise today than before.
Indeed, the application of social tools make clear that external audiences behave much more like internal “tribes” than traditionally thought – with complex interrelationships, clearly acknowledged leaders, and common interests, values and ambitions.
If we are moving from an emphasis on audience spread (broadcasting) towards one on audience value (narrowcasting, targeting and relationship building), then the future actually augurs better for more sophisticated and even more mature internal communicators than some currently think.
For internal communicators have had both the opportunity to analyse and prioritise elements of their employee masses through stakeholder mapping exercises, and have held a variety of formal and informal tools with which to engage their stakeholders directly. Even if those skills are less part of the job definition for a “Head of Internal Communication” today (a role which is likely to become more general and tactical), they will become more in demand for roles dealing with specific internal and external agendas – change communication roles internally, social communication roles internally and externally, and external stakeholder management.
At the same time, recruiters are often the last people to get the memo on such things, which is why the market may well trail these trends for a while. But the trend towards a focus on audience value is borne out both by what is happening in the industry and by the adoption of social communication technologies – focusing on fewer people who have greater impact. Those who can do this are those most likely to succeed, and it’s an area where internal communication pros have the edge.
Mike Klein is Communication Partner at Maersk Oil in Copenhagen and is the author of From Lincoln to LinkedIn – The 55 Minute Guide to Social Communication. His thoughts are his own and not necessarily that of his employer.
John Baldoni is a leadership consultant, coach, and speaker. He picked up one leadership lesson while teaching at the Banff Centre recently that really resonated.
Andrew Solnordal, a regional manager at Gulf & Fraser, a credit union in British Columbia. Andrew is responsible for a nine-branch operation and more than eighty employees. He has committed himself to visiting with each and every employee once per quarter.
“Think about it,” writes Baldoni in Harvard Business Publishing. “He’s adding 320+ meetings to his schedule per year. Not because he has to, but because he feels it’s the right thing to do.
Here are three reasons why Solnordal’s idea may be a good one for you. Read the article.
I’ve been doing a lot of intranet/portal governance work lately. It reminds me how important process analysis skills are for the communication professional. How many times have you been asked to “fix” a situation with communication, only to realize it is actually a broken business process that is the culprit?
When you set out to analyze a process, there are two steps to take first:
- Identify the start of the process
- Identify the end of the process, either where all activity stops or where another process takes over
Sounds simple, but the second one is sometimes challenging to determine. Once you’ve identified these, you can map the functions involved, what they are supposed to do and at what stage. Then, there are several key questions to ask yourself:
- How many different things can be in the process flow at one time (e.g., how many different pieces of content can be in the approval process at one time)? To find the answer, it is usually best to ask this question for each individual step in the process. Different steps may have different capacities.
- Where are the bottlenecks? Look for places where the process slows down or becomes less efficient.
- What is the cause of the bottleneck? Look for underlying causes such as inadequate information, availability of people, or people assigned to the wrong role.
- What can be done to eliminate the bottlenecks?
- What other people, processes, or groups depend upon this process?
These questions help you identify solutions and figure out how important the process is based on who relies on the process. If your organization has people dedicated to process improvement, try to spend some time learning from them. Process skills will be very useful in your communication career.
Stacy Wilson, ABC, is president of Eloquor Consulting, Inc., in Lakewood, Colorado
Have you read The Authentic Enterprise, the 2007 Arthur W. Page Society white paper? (Well at least skimmed its 60 pages, although there is now an executive summary.) In my book, this report is required reading for communication pros and leaders.
Even though the report’s substantive research is more than two years old now, the report packs a punch. This was evident at the CCM (Council of Communication Management) Conference the end of April when Maril MacDonald of the consulting firm Gagen MacDonald and the president of the Arthur W. Page Society spoke to an attentive audience. Her topic was “The New Public Relations Agenda and Architects of Change” using the report as a foundation.
While I had read the report when it first came out, I was interested in hearing Maril talk about it in context of our current “reset” environment. (Yes, this is another way to say our work world has changed dramatically.) Her call to action for communication professionals is even more compelling now, especially since stakeholders are demanding proof of authenticity rather than authority.
Maril said we should consider ourselves “architects of change.” In this role, we should “drive the business, galvanize the organization, and embed new thinking and behaviors.”
In a more concrete manner, Maril identified four areas in which we must assert leadership: 1) defining and activating values; 2) building and managing multi-stakeholder relationships; 3) enabling the enterprise with “new media” skills and tools; and 4) building and managing trust.
These new areas of concentration combined with our new role require us to shift our mindset (and actions) from “informing and reporting to influencing and leading.” Or as Mary Boone likes to say, we must move from “tell and sell” to “ask and engage.”
To do well though, we need to operate with a common understanding of authenticity. From the report’s perspective, the authentic enterprise “is grounded in a sure sense of what defines it (mission, values, principles and beliefs.” Those definitions must dictate consistent behaviors and actions.
Seth Godin takes this one step further for individuals. He says authenticity is “doing what you promise, not being who you are. And since individuals make up organizations, this is sage advice.
So how can authentic communication pros best serve leaders and their organizations to be authentic? Here are five steps for starters:
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Help leaders live up to their commitments.
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Advise them against making promises that may be hard to keep. To paraphrase the incoming IABC Chairman Mark Schumann, “thinking (and talking big) while acting small” poses problems for credibility.
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Role model authenticity yourself, including speaking, writing and acting with concreteness, simplicity and candor.
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Gather feedback to ensure stakeholders perceive you and your leaders as talking your walk and fulfilling your commitments.
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Reflect regularly on how you’re doing and make adjustments.
Remember, it’s hard to be good in a bad world so aim for progress not perfection. But the payoff for being authentic can be priceless, especially from piece of mind and worthy achievements.
What are you doing these days to be authentic?
Liz Guthridge is a consultant, author, and trainer specializing in strategic change communications. Department leaders of Fortune 1000 companies hire Liz and her firm Connect Consulting Group LLC when they need their people—who are confused, angry or in denial—to adopt complex new initiatives so they can quickly change the way they work. For more information, contact Liz, liz.guthridge@connectconsultinggroup.com or 510-527-1213. Follow Liz on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/lizguthridge.
How many consultants or independent practitioners out there? How many of you work for the man, but view the man as your client? This is for all of you.
If you weren’t flexible before, you certainly have become more flexible in the past 13 months, right? Clients want to cherry pick what they can afford, sometimes opting to do more themselves. Some want to stagger project stages to fit a challenging budget. Some want to pre-bill, others want to delay billing.
The more flexible you can be, the better able you’ll be to survive in this tough environment. Here are some suggestions.
- Offer options for how your time is used and how it gets billed
- Work with subcontractors and vendors to flex their involvement and billing
- Be ready to work as part of the client team, with you doing some pieces and the other team members doing other pieces
- Be ready to teach others how to do stuff, rather than doing it for them
- Think in terms of smaller chunks of work that can be done incrementally
- Understand the dependencies between those smaller chunks of work
- Create a calendar of your work that shows all the time overlaps (Gannt Chart) so you can see how you might move things around to accommodate client’s changes
- Be ready to tackle those outlying projects during the down time, and be ready to spin up fast when too much work comes in at once
- Delegate where you can (budget allowing, of course)
For those working outside their client operations, I want to suggest a great book: Bag the Elephant, by Steve Kaplan. Its focus is on how you can operate in a way that makes it easier for large companies to hire you. The ideas work well for a client of any size, and some work well for those serving internal clients. It’s a short, easy read you’ll remember for a long time.
Stacy Wilson, ABC, is president of Eloquor Consulting, Inc., in Lakewood, Colorado
The second most frequently asked question I receive is “Where can I find good humorous material?” (The most frequent question I’m asked is “May I please see your driver’s license, sir?”)
Anyway, my answer used to be a list of books, magazines and newspapers. It was a long list that required a trip to the library unless you wanted to spend a fortune on subscriptions to a lot of publications. Then the Internet came along and almost changed the situation. Instead of recommending a long list of periodicals, I started recommending a longer list of web sites.
The problem was that if you liked a site, then you’d bookmark it. And that was the kiss of death. Because how often have you gone back to view the sites in your bookmarks? Be honest now. Not too often, right? In fact, if you’re like most web surfers, you’ve got a bookmark full of sites that you’ve never looked at since book-marking them. Let’s face it. Book-marking a website has become the high-tech version of taping something on your VCR. (But I really am going to watch that tape of the C-SPAN special on the history of politics some day. Uh-huh.)
Here’s the good news. As an old motivational guru once said, “When faced with a problem, make it into problemonade.” So here’s what I’ve done. As a special service to anyone interested in using humor in oral or written communication, I’ve created a super site. (Not the polluted kind!) It’s a web site packed with thousands of links to incredibly great sources of funny material. Here’s a guided tour.
Start by surfing to http://www.museumofhumor.com. That’s the homepage. Along the bottom of the page you’ll see a button labeled “For Clergy.” This section of the museum contains over 700 links to sermons about laughter, joy, humor and happiness, as well as links to humorous material appropriate for use in sermons. If you’re worried about finding material that’s in good taste, it doesn’t get more appropriate than this. Click on some of the sermons to see how clergy have used quips and jokes to make various points. You may be able to adapt them for your own purposes.
Now go back to the homepage. Along the left side of the page, you’ll find a button labeled “Resources.” Click on that and you’ll come to a page divided into three sections: News, Tools and Material. Under “News” you’ll find links to offbeat news stories. These can provide fabulous topical material, especially if you look at them on the day that you’re scheduled to give a speech. They’re great for developing a humorous opening to your presentation.
The “Tools” section provides links to variety of web sites that can provide material for your presentation or help you write it. For example, “Today In History” and “Those Were The Days” give you lists of events, birthdays and other things that occurred on the day that you’re speaking. The “Lexical Freenet” is a great word association tool for brainstorming ideas and phrases to use in your presentation.
The “Material” section is what you want to see especially if you can’t tell a joke. Instead of dividing material by subject-matter (the traditional way), it groups material by type of humor. Categories include “Anecdotes & Jokes,” “Carnac,” “Definitions,” “Goofups,” “Insults & Comebacks,” “Laws & Lists,” “One Liners,” “Quotes,” and “Topical Humor.” Click on the type of humor that you feel comfortable using. You’ll be transported to a page with lots of links to your desired humor type.
Below the “Material” section is a section labeled “Cartoons.” Cartoons are a fantastic and yet overlooked form of oral humor. Why? Because even if you can’t tell a joke, you can probably describe a cartoon. (I’ve never met anyone who couldn’t.) That means you can make a point by describing a cartoon, just as you would make a point by telling a joke. The links provided will allow you to peruse thousands of cartoons until you find one that makes your point. (Tip: look for one that’s easy for your audience to visualize as you say it.)
OK, let’s go back to the homepage. On the left you’ll see a button labeled “Library.” Clicking it takes you to – here’s a big surprise – the library. You will be most interested in the middle section labeled “How To.” It includes links to a wide variety of how to articles ranging from “How to Make Meetings Fun” to “How to Write a Humorous Speech.”
Let’s return to the homepage one more time. On the left you’ll see a button for “Exhibits.” Click on it. Then click on “Talk Culture” and then click on “Talk Wine (New Style).” What you’ll find is a funny analogy generator. Although I’ve set it up to generate analogies for wine, you can use the analogies to describe anything. For example, I just clicked the button and got: This wine is like “watching Gilligan’s Island for the first time, not quite humbling but close.” Well, that’s a good analogy for lots of other things you might be writing or speaking about. Just keep hitting the button on the analogy generator until you get something you can use. They’re not prewritten. The computer combines phrases to keep generating new ones.
Want to help support the museum? Visit the gift shop and buy someone a present. Or become a museum member.
And that’s no joke!
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Malcolm Kushner, “America’s Favorite Humor Consultant,” is an internationally acclaimed expert on humor and communication. A co-creator of the humor exhibit at The Ronald Reagan Presidential Library, Kushner is the author of several books including Public Speaking For Dummies which has sold over 100,000 copies. He has been profiled in Time Magazine, USA Today, The New York Times, The Washington Post and numerous other publications. His television and radio appearances include CNN, National Public Radio, CNBC, “Voice of America” and “The Larry King Show.” Prior to becoming a humor consultant, he practiced law with a major San Francisco law firm. A popular speaker at corporate and association meetings, Kushner is based in Santa Cruz, California. For more information, and lots of humor you can use in your next presentation, check out http://www.museumofhumor.com.