Outcomes as the starting point for effective communication

I am fortunate to have the acquaintance of some truly inspiring individuals. Spending time with them is not unlike sharing a meal with the angels. You're up there in the intellectual ether.

I had one such opportunity recently in London with storytelling systems and process guru, Marcus Hayes. What I love about people like Marcus is their ability not only to play with ideas, but their capacity to develop real and workable solutions with those ideas.

Marcus is currently looking at re-engineering some of our standard processes; starting with outcome to stimulate small groups to develop strategy and the corresponding actions. It's a novel approach; we're more accustomed to starting with strategy, then moving to actions and finally outcomes. Marcus however, begins by linking individual outcomes directly to corporate strategy and so providing each of us with the opportunity to dream our own reality. What an exciting idea - every employee writing his or her own corporate vision statement.

Outcomes are of course what we are all after - the gold standard. That's why we invest so much time developing strategy and measuring performance. So beginning with the outcomes you want to achieve is a rather good idea. Provided, of course, that those outcomes support the strategic direction.

In his most recent article, Strategic Connections Inc president, Ken Milloy, talks about our role as communicators in shaping outcomes. (And by the way I happen to believe that anyone with the word 'supervisor' 'leader' or 'manager' in their title is by definition a communicator.) Ken - a pretty sharp thinker himself - is very clear that as communicators our outcomes should be a lot more than product, including:

• Helping employees develop a better understanding of how what they do relates to the organization's vision, strategies, goals and performance.
• Ensuring employees not only get, but understand, the information they need to help guide their day-to-day decisions.
  Recognizing and reinforcing desired behaviors and outcomes through communication.
• Establishing a communication environment that involves employees in thinking about and understanding how they influence business results.

It's the Kens and the Marcus' of the world who help us to build our competencies and dream a little more effectively. What are your outcome dreams?