Effectively Expressing Messages
Thus far we have discussed the critical skills of listening for understanding, i.e., getting it, and the importance of the leader being a great listener with staff members and during group meetings. The second part of the communication process involves effectively communicating messages to individuals and groups. The key to communicating messages that are easily received is to make them concise and to the point. Tailoring the message to your audience is also helpful. For example, here are some examples to help you communicate concisely with millennials in text or e-mail:
BRB = Be Right Back
LOL = Lots of Laughs
TTYL = Talk To You Later
SYS = See You Soon
SMH = Shaking My Head
WRUD = What are You Doing
LMAO = Laughing My Ass Off
WTF = What the F***
GR8 = Great
IDK = I Don’t Know
AF = As F***ed
JK = Just Kidding
IDC = I Don’t Care
YOLO = You Only Live Once
There are three work situations in which a leader has the need for critical communication with staff members. The first situation involves performance of concern issues, the second situation concerns the need to resolve conflicts and reach agreement between individuals or groups, and the third situation concerns the need to persuade rather than dictate to staff.
Correct Concerning Behavior
Most performance problems are due to a lack of human resource systems or ineffective use of such systems. The person may lack adequate feedback on poor performance or never receive recognition for desired performance. When a performance problem occurs, it is important to approach the person as if he or she wants to perform well. If you assume the person is just unmotivated, there will be the tendency to blame the person and escalate the situation thus making it worse. To set the stage for providing feedback, have a location that is private. Be sure to listen first in order to understand the person’s point of view and their reasons for the undesirable behavior. After hearing their point of view, use the process shown in Figure 6.1 for helpful correcting the behavior of concern:
Figure 6.1 Steps for correcting
1. Pinpoint the Undesirable Behavior
Describe the behavior of concern specifically enough that the behavior can be counted and measured. Do not describe character traits such as “you seem lazy” or “You seem like you just don’t care.” There is nothing they can do to change your perceptions and will argue with you. However, if you describe the specific behavior, “You are arriving late to work nearly every day and never call to let us know” they know exactly what you are concerned with and can begin having a constructive conversation.
2. Describe the Negative Results of Their Behavior
Many times your personnel may not know how their behavior is affecting you or your business. Letting them know the impact of their behavior can be helpful to them. For example, “When you come to work late and don’t call to let us know, more work is created for everyone else and I do not know if I should call in someone to replace you.”
3. Express Your Feelings
People typically care about other’s feelings. Letting this person know how it affects you and how you feel can increase understanding of how their behavior is affecting others and their manager. If you believe they do not care how you feel, skip this step. For example, “When you are late and do not call it not only creates more work for everyone but also makes me very anxious because I am unsure about what steps I should take.”
4. Describe the Behavior You Desire
Specifying an alternative behavior makes this model helpful in that the person with the behavior of concern now knows what to do differently. In most cases, it is helpful to solicit the person’s ideas, as they may know of other solutions that would work for them. For example: “When you are going to be late for work and do not call it makes more work for us all. Therefore, I want you to come to work on time. How do you plan to make that happen?”
5. Describe the Benefits of the New Behavior
Letting this person know how their new behavior can benefit your operation helps you “sell” the idea. However, describing how the new behavior will benefit the person helps them buy into changing their behavior. For example, “When you come to work on time you will increase your weekly take home pay and improve relationships with everyone here.”
6. Confirm Agreement
Before concluding the discussion, seek commitment by asking, “What do you think?” Using an open- ended question you will learn how they feel and increase the likelihood of success.
Convert Conflict to Cooperation
Most of the time conflicts or disagreements occur because of misunderstandings, lack of resources, or challenging work processes. There is a tendency to avoid discussing the issues as no one wants to create conflict and conversations may become unpleasant. This tends to create more conflict and greater tension within the workplace. A process exists that offers people in conflict a chance to be heard and an opportunity to resolve their conflict. The process includes the following steps (Figure 6.2):
Figure 6.2 Conflict to cooperation process
1. Identify the Needs of Each Person in the Conflict
Participants will begin talking about what they want rather than what they need. For example, a person may want a salary increase but in talking about the raise will describe a need to be recognized for their good works. Two employees wanted the other to leave the office. The facilitator asks each person to describe their needs and encourages the other people in the conflict to listen and be prepared to rephrase the person’s comments. Needs identified after much discussion included person #1 feeling insulted by the other’s way of talking and Person #2 did not like #1 talking about her behind her back.
2. Brainstorm Solutions to Address Needs
The facilitator leads a brainstorming exercise in which each person has the opportunity to create solutions to resolve needs. After the brainstorming is completed participants, select the critical few (20 percent) that resolve the needs listed earlier. The facilitator continues the discussion, maintaining respect among all participants, until agreement has been reached between the people in conflict. For example, Person #1 offered solutions to address needs for different choices of words and talking behind #2’s back. Then, #2 does the same. After the two have exhausted all options, the facilitator then asked them to select the solutions that address the needs of both.
3. Develop a Plan of Action
The WHAT (solutions), WHO (persons implementing the solutions), and the WHEN (each solution will be implemented) are written down and given to each person. The final step is agreeing on a time to meet again and review results of the agreement.
Friendly Persuasion
When developing a creative and innovative environment, the leader may use persuasion to encourage staff members to risk offering “out of the box” ideas or to participate on a design team. Additionally, many organizations are using contractors (1099’s) to avoid the additional cost of hiring full time employees. These contractors have the ability to go wherever they wish to work and expect to be treated with respect. It becomes a critical skill for leaders who coordinate and manage contractors and volunteers. The persuasion process includes the following steps (Figure 6.3):
Figure 6.3 Persuasion process
1. Clarify Needs of the Person
This involves creating an understanding of the personal or professional goals of the individual involved. For example, “Jean I know you are interested in moving into marketing as part of your professional growth with our firm.” “Is that correct?”
2. Describe Features
Features are the key components of your proposal, product or service. For example, “Well Jean, the upcoming design team assignment might help. You will be meeting with professionals and management throughout the company, the team will be researching our market for new ideas, and new product ideas will transform into new products.”
3. Describe Benefits
Benefits are the WIIFM or What Is In It For Me discussion. For example, “Being on this team may take more time at work but you will be connected with people who can help you move into marketing, you will have full knowledge of the new products coming on line and will have developed the capability to represent our firm and new products to existing and new markets. You will have become fully trained on key parts of marketing activities through participation on this design team.”
4. Close for Agreement
When discussing the person’s readiness to accept your proposal, it is beneficial for the leader to first ask how they feel about the proposal. It is important to listen closely for their concerns and needs. You can then address those concerns and close by offering the person a choice. For example, “Well it sounds as if we reassign the administrative part of the project, this could work for you.” “Would you want to begin this month or the beginning of next month?”
In this new normal economy with market and technology changes buffeting all organizations, it becomes incumbent for business owners and managers to apply these tools in order to create a culture of respect and innovation in a diverse workplace.