Building a common language in your organization

Today I attended a sustainability forum in downtown Vancouver hosted by Metro Vancouver and the Board of Trade. Lunch was served, along with some interesting ideas, and a fair amount of political grandstanding.

One of the comments from the floor struck a chord; it was about the language we use and how it is open to misinterpretation and misunderstanding, particularly between different groups, say for example between business and sustainability groups.

Misinterpretation and misunderstanding based on the language we use is more common than one would imagine, even within small cohesive groups, even within families.

Here’s a telling example of how we use language very differently. My husband and I were shocked when our teenage daughter told us that girls will often call one another “bitch”, not as an insult but as a recognition of the other’s female status; horrifying to us older fogies, but perfectly acceptable to my daughter and her contemporaries.

Here is another, less extreme example. Earlier this year I was working on a technology change project. During the development phase we discovered that people were using different words to describe the same action or process. It was extremely confusing and a situation and that required action in the form of a common lexicon; a language that everyone could refer to and use. Developing the dictionary was the easy part – ensuring people used the same words in their daily interactions was far from easy.

Organizations need to speak the same language over and above the everyday languages we use like English, French, or Cantonese. We all have a laugh at the terminology that plumbers or doctors use; the acronyms and terms that make sense only to them. The languages that these people speak are important not only because they provide a powerful shorthand for them to communicate, but also because it helps create a sense of identity, a sense of community. From a more practical point of view talking the same language reduces risk and enhances the likelihood that we will do better business.

Every industry, every business has its own shorthand; we use it to simplify communication and signify our membership of the group. The trouble starts when different groups use different language and the connections break down. We see this commonly between divisions – the silo effect, also between managers and employees – the “them and us” syndrome.

Language goes hand in hand with culture. The words we use can set us apart from one another and also hold us in old and destructive patterns. In one organization I am familiar with, the management team paid a consultant (a colleague of mine) to sit in on their meetings to identify inappropriate use of language as they moved from their “old” way of doing things to the “new” way of doing things. They knew that it was important to speak the new language rather than the old if they wanted to act differently.

Using a consistent language throughout the organization has clear benefits:
• The right language clearly speaks to organizational goals and objectives
• Employees feel part of cohesive group
• The language provides a shorthand to culture and process
• Risk is reduced through clear communications
• Customers hear constancy in language, and very correctly, interpret is as steady, reliable service

Developing a consistent language is usually the result of a cohesive culture. However, as in the example above, language can be used to reinforce direction and ways of thinking. Here are some steps you can take to support culture through language:
• Start at the top. Identify the words and phrases that support the corporate direction;
• Have senior leaders promise to find ways to use the new speak in their daily connections, at staff meetings and presentations
• Change policy documents, informational materials and other standard corporate documentation to reflect the new language.
• Make sure the new words are used in support of ongoing company communications; emails, newsletters, bulletin boards, intranet etc.
• When cascading important information through the company, provide supporting discussion guides with the new language so that managers begin to use the new language.