I am currently working with a large client in Ontario to develop a storytelling toolkit. The aim of the toolkit is to provide managers with the resources they need to effectively share storytelling as a strategy with their staff.
Toolkits allow organizations to share top-down messages and strategies with employee in a consistent fashion, using managers as messengers. It’s not unlike “train the trainer”; managers become subject experts through a supported process.
Using managers as communicators of corporate messaging makes sense since study after study tells us that they are the most trusted source of information. Managers are in daily contact with staff and much of their time is spent communicating; anywhere between 50 to 80 percent according to research. Every day managers communicate to ensure effective performance management, innovation, understanding of clients, and coordination of effort and management of expectations. Managers are key communicators.
The message is getting out that communication is a core management skill. A recent American Management Association survey of leaders showed that 80.4 percent of companies measure communication skills and hire with communication in mind. Three out of four (75.7%) executives who responded to the AMA survey said that that competencies, such as communications, will become more important to their organizations in the next three to five years, particularly as the economy improves and organizations look to grow. Ninety-one percent of leaders rated the pace of change in business today as a leading cause for the need to grow these competencies.
As change escalates and employees become more sophisticated and diverse, business has responded by offering more management training. It’s estimated that North American businesses spend around $100 billion on training and development. I’m not sure what proportion is devoted to leadership communications but judging by the number of companies catering to the market – not inconsiderable.
The focus should be on what happens after the training session. To maximize communication training dollars we must support managers and ensure they have the tools and resources to share messages with employees in a consistent, relevant and reliable fashion.
My client in Ontario has a full time person dedicated to developing the storytelling toolkit and supporting managers in rolling it out. Not all of us have those resources. However there are steps all organizations can take to ensure leaders have the know-how and confidence to communicate to their full potential and to the advantage of the organization.
Here are some strategies to strengthen management communication in your organization:
1. Consider a communications audit; a systematic assessment, either formal or informal, of your organization’s capacity for, or performance of, essential communications practices, in particular as it relates to management communication. An audit will determine what is working well, what is not, and what might work better if adjustments are made. A strategic communications provides a “snapshot” of where an organization currently stands in terms of its communication capacity or performance, and it points to areas in which the organization can strengthen its performance. While an audit can be on the costly side, I believe it’s worth its weight in gold in terms of directing future efforts.
2. Develop consistent communication messages to support corporate goals and objectives.
3. Have your senior team actively communicate these messages; modelling the expectation that managers do the same to their employees.
4. Involve managers in developing communication behaviours that they should adhere to.
5. Develop consensus on how to handle certain types of communication issues for example performance issues, disagreements in the workplace and so on.
6. Link management communication proficiency to performance review.
7. Provide communication training. Begin with listening skills this is the foundation of all communication
8. Support managers when they are required to communicate information from the corporation by:
a. Creating a consistent process for top down communications. A process that cascades information logically.
b. Communicate the process to managers along with expectations on deadlines and key messages
c. Ensure managers have all the support tools needed to share the communication with their employees, such as discussion guides
d. Poor communication is self-sustaining because it omits the feedback loop. Senior leaders must model good communication behaviours with managers by providing a feedback loop. Make sure managers are able to get all the answers to questions they may have. Employees will go to them first.
Showing posts with label managers. Show all posts
Showing posts with label managers. Show all posts
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
Sunday, December 13, 2009
Climbing up Maslow’s hierarchy
So much of what we do is about meeting needs.
Maslow outlined it perfectly in his hierarchy of needs; you have to meet basic requirements before you can deal with higher level needs. At the bottom of the Maslow’s pyramid are needs associated with food, water and sleep, this is followed by physical safety, then belonging and affiliation, next is esteem and right at the top of the pyramid is self actualization. This is the point where we fully realize our potential.
Here in North America we have made good strides in meeting employees needs as outlined by Maslow’s hierarchy. We pay decently and frequently offer benefits, safety is a focus for all out organizations, and we work hard at developing culture and recognizing our employees. But somehow that whole actualization thing is a little bit trickier then it should be. Not all our employees feel like they make a contribution to the success of the organization and the direct impact of that is poor engagement. Not surprising given engagement is all about the involvement, commitment and satisfaction that employees have with their work.
The level of employee engagement is directly associated with performance. Some 32 % of Canadian employees are partly or fully "disengaged." Companies with the lowest percentage of engagement show declines of 33 per cent in operating income and 11 per cent in earnings per share.
I can’t think of one client I have worked with who hasn’t imagined how exciting it would be to have the majority of employees right at the top of the pyramid. Most of us can recall a situation where we have been involved with a motivated, excited group of individuals - people who feel they are making a major contribution to the organization. It is a powerful experience!
I have worked with several such teams and observed a number. The common denominator is excellence in leadership. More specifically leaders who establish a clear vision and create the kind of environment that deliberately takes care of all Maslow’s levels – pushing people up to self actualization, where they are at their most engaged and most productive.
One of the most effective means of helping people understand their contribution and how valued they are is by connecting them directly with customer needs. Helping employees understand the Maslow equivalent of client needs and what this means for them.
I was privy to an excellent example of Maslow-focused project management. This particular project manager worked to put her team in the shoes of the client, building understanding and relationship between the two that would pleasantly surprise any client. Together her team established service criteria based on client needs. She then worked very, very hard to model the kind of behaviour she wanted her employees to adopt. Her team was a screaming, happy mess of actualized success. Her company made money on the project and brought in more business because of it.
What she did sounds pretty straightforward, but it’s not always that easy to build a self-actualized team when you’re dealing with the reality of getting things done. The approach that the project manager above took meant that she had to do a lot of planning and thinking about the people stuff. Often it’s easier to simply do the work at hand.
Another example came from a manger who helped his employees connect their own needs with those of their customers – right at the top of Maslow’s hierarchy. He encouraged employees to become involved in community projects of their choice. In this way he blurred the lines between customer and employee.
Helping your employees reach their fullest potential begins with leadership. Here are six steps you can take to begin to build your employees toward self actualization.
1. Begin with yourself. How far on Maslow’s hierarchy are you? What do you need to do travel further? Understand what makes you most fulfilled.
2. Build a customer-focused vision with your team. They will be more likely to accept a vision they have been involved in developing.
3. Together with the team establish your customer-service standards.
4. Work individually with each team member to ensure s/he understands their personal contribution. Plan with each employee to find opportunities for his or her special talents. Help them build their own self-actualization plan.
5. Build a community giving program. This helps shift the focus to the higher levels of Maslow’s hierarchy.
6. Develop your own local reward process.
Maslow outlined it perfectly in his hierarchy of needs; you have to meet basic requirements before you can deal with higher level needs. At the bottom of the Maslow’s pyramid are needs associated with food, water and sleep, this is followed by physical safety, then belonging and affiliation, next is esteem and right at the top of the pyramid is self actualization. This is the point where we fully realize our potential.
Here in North America we have made good strides in meeting employees needs as outlined by Maslow’s hierarchy. We pay decently and frequently offer benefits, safety is a focus for all out organizations, and we work hard at developing culture and recognizing our employees. But somehow that whole actualization thing is a little bit trickier then it should be. Not all our employees feel like they make a contribution to the success of the organization and the direct impact of that is poor engagement. Not surprising given engagement is all about the involvement, commitment and satisfaction that employees have with their work.
The level of employee engagement is directly associated with performance. Some 32 % of Canadian employees are partly or fully "disengaged." Companies with the lowest percentage of engagement show declines of 33 per cent in operating income and 11 per cent in earnings per share.
I can’t think of one client I have worked with who hasn’t imagined how exciting it would be to have the majority of employees right at the top of the pyramid. Most of us can recall a situation where we have been involved with a motivated, excited group of individuals - people who feel they are making a major contribution to the organization. It is a powerful experience!
I have worked with several such teams and observed a number. The common denominator is excellence in leadership. More specifically leaders who establish a clear vision and create the kind of environment that deliberately takes care of all Maslow’s levels – pushing people up to self actualization, where they are at their most engaged and most productive.
One of the most effective means of helping people understand their contribution and how valued they are is by connecting them directly with customer needs. Helping employees understand the Maslow equivalent of client needs and what this means for them.
I was privy to an excellent example of Maslow-focused project management. This particular project manager worked to put her team in the shoes of the client, building understanding and relationship between the two that would pleasantly surprise any client. Together her team established service criteria based on client needs. She then worked very, very hard to model the kind of behaviour she wanted her employees to adopt. Her team was a screaming, happy mess of actualized success. Her company made money on the project and brought in more business because of it.
What she did sounds pretty straightforward, but it’s not always that easy to build a self-actualized team when you’re dealing with the reality of getting things done. The approach that the project manager above took meant that she had to do a lot of planning and thinking about the people stuff. Often it’s easier to simply do the work at hand.
Another example came from a manger who helped his employees connect their own needs with those of their customers – right at the top of Maslow’s hierarchy. He encouraged employees to become involved in community projects of their choice. In this way he blurred the lines between customer and employee.
Helping your employees reach their fullest potential begins with leadership. Here are six steps you can take to begin to build your employees toward self actualization.
1. Begin with yourself. How far on Maslow’s hierarchy are you? What do you need to do travel further? Understand what makes you most fulfilled.
2. Build a customer-focused vision with your team. They will be more likely to accept a vision they have been involved in developing.
3. Together with the team establish your customer-service standards.
4. Work individually with each team member to ensure s/he understands their personal contribution. Plan with each employee to find opportunities for his or her special talents. Help them build their own self-actualization plan.
5. Build a community giving program. This helps shift the focus to the higher levels of Maslow’s hierarchy.
6. Develop your own local reward process.
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
Waiting at airports
I don’t know about you but my regular life seems to be filled to the brim. So when I’m thrown a curved ball – which happens – it brings with it a healthy dose of perspective.
Right now I am sitting in an airport waiting for a delayed flight. I may not be able to deliver the workshop I am flying over for. I can choose to fret pointlessly or I can use my time productively. Not much of a choice!
So here I am writing this blog and doing one of my favorite things – people watching. It’s not often we get to observe our fellow travelers in life. Given the flight was scheduled to leave at 7 am there are a lot of suits and Blackberries.
Everyone is trying to reschedule meetings. The man seated next to me needs to deliver a sealed tender document. There’s a missed funeral and a divisional meeting that’s going to go ahead without its senior leader. Despite all this juggling people are remarkably calm.
It’s astonishing the different stories evolving in this cramped little room; everyone is on a journey – aside from the actual flight we are all trying to make. Hopefully soon we will all be joined in making a common journey. When that happens there will be a great sense of camaraderie and shared experience. Organizations too need to find ways to make sure all their employees are getting on to the same flight.
Right now I am sitting in an airport waiting for a delayed flight. I may not be able to deliver the workshop I am flying over for. I can choose to fret pointlessly or I can use my time productively. Not much of a choice!
So here I am writing this blog and doing one of my favorite things – people watching. It’s not often we get to observe our fellow travelers in life. Given the flight was scheduled to leave at 7 am there are a lot of suits and Blackberries.
Everyone is trying to reschedule meetings. The man seated next to me needs to deliver a sealed tender document. There’s a missed funeral and a divisional meeting that’s going to go ahead without its senior leader. Despite all this juggling people are remarkably calm.
It’s astonishing the different stories evolving in this cramped little room; everyone is on a journey – aside from the actual flight we are all trying to make. Hopefully soon we will all be joined in making a common journey. When that happens there will be a great sense of camaraderie and shared experience. Organizations too need to find ways to make sure all their employees are getting on to the same flight.
Monday, June 25, 2007
Doing the corporate nod
Last week I saw the Blue Man Group. One word: singular. I'm not even going to begin to categorize the performance. But in case you are wondering, yes, they are blue.
What interested me was that the performance could be viewed both as fun entertainment, and at a deeper level, as social commentary. The drama of our working lives is not dissimilar, particularly when it comes to how we communicate with one another. We say things because we have to fit in. We do the corporate nod because it's expected. But inside an entirely different dialogue is on the go and that internal dialogue is often reflected in our behaviors.
"Yes, love the idea says one manager to another," while secretly thinking "stupidest thing I ever heard," and s/he quickly rush off to do …..nothing. Well of course employees are not stupid and when they see the leader "doing nothing" they will take their cue from his or her behavior and they too will "do nothing".
All the fine words in the world will be ignored because our eyes tell us what's really important.
Oh the drama of the workplace!
What interested me was that the performance could be viewed both as fun entertainment, and at a deeper level, as social commentary. The drama of our working lives is not dissimilar, particularly when it comes to how we communicate with one another. We say things because we have to fit in. We do the corporate nod because it's expected. But inside an entirely different dialogue is on the go and that internal dialogue is often reflected in our behaviors.
"Yes, love the idea says one manager to another," while secretly thinking "stupidest thing I ever heard," and s/he quickly rush off to do …..nothing. Well of course employees are not stupid and when they see the leader "doing nothing" they will take their cue from his or her behavior and they too will "do nothing".
All the fine words in the world will be ignored because our eyes tell us what's really important.
Oh the drama of the workplace!
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