The Power of Three

 When sharing information or presenting ideas, here is a simple plan to support you: 

1. Opening: prepare your audience
• Welcome, introductions if needed, context of the points you want to make
2. Share the three items that you will expand upon e.g. I want to talk to you about three things today (list) and then go into each item one-by-one:
1. Item 1 (Employee Liaison Team)
   May include multiple subpoints 
2. Item 2 (Idea Generation)
   May include multiple subpoints
3. Item 3 (Thanks and Recognition)
   May include multiple subpoints
3. Conclusion and repeat all three main points
4. Ask for any feedback (either at the end or after each item)

This has worked well in a number of different situations. 

Don't underestimate the power of three.  It is a mental construct that supports your audience and helps you keep your thoughts organized.

Let me know how this goes and good luck with your presentation.

Correcting for Misinformation and Misunderstandings

Regardless of your best efforts, there are times when you have to correct misunderstandings.  These can arise from background information, conjecture or the rumour mill.  These following tactics have been determined as effective tactics:

1. Enabling open discussion time
   Open discussion times include events that allow people to exchange information freely, present questions and provide feedback.  Open discussions happen in my different format such as
• town halls
• brown bag lunches
• road show presentations
• conference calls
• site visits
• forums
• small group meetings
• focus groups
  
  
2. Identifying current rumours and addressing them immediately
   It is important that the identification of current rumours be done anonymously through
   telephone hotlines, designated email addresses, help desks or collection boxes.
   It is best to address rumours when possible in a face-to-face format. Added note: in my experience, there is typically a staff member who comes forward with the rumours
3. Engage sponsors
   Sponsors are recognized as the most effective group to address and correct background conversations resulting from misinformation.
4. Providing regular communications
   Regular communications were a source of consistency and provided updated information on the change. The most common interval of regular communications is weekly. Monthly is also a viable option depending on the change.
   Example: During one construction project, updates were given weekly. The email discussed what was expected to happen during the upcoming week. If there were delays from the previous week, it would be identified e.g. drywall installation will continue this week and it is anticipated that sanding will start Thursday.  Other weeks, the communication would state that there was nothing new to report this week.  Would would continue as outlined the week before.  Monthly face-to-face meetings were also arranged.  Closer to opening, there were daily emails.  During a particularly critical week, we had daily morning meetings at the coffee machine.
5. Updating Frequently Asked Questions
   FAQs answer common questions and address misinformation.  FAQs need to be updated regularly and circulated among staff in various ways including a newsletter, electronic postings and written documentation
6. Providing electronic sources of information
   Make sure there is a source of electronic/online information that is accessible by staff and can be updated by the change team.  By having a source of info that is available to everyone in the organization gives a sense of transparency and open communication.  This can include a blog, discussion board and online postings. 

The Most Effective Communication Methods

When communicating change, face-to-face methods of communicating with staff are the most effective.  Methods include:

1. Group meetings and presentation
   Group meetings that include the opportunity for feedback and interaction are recommended. Q&A sessions allow for additional interaction and clarification. Examples include:
• forums
• town halls
• small group meetings
• large group presentations
• focus groups
• workshops and seminars
  
  
2. One-on-one coaching sessions and discussions
   One-on-one sessions to address individual concerns and points of resistance among employees is recommended. These sessions create an environment of trust, honesty and safety and enable you to genuinely listen to and answer employee concerns. Examples include:
• individual coaching meetings
• informal personal conversations or walk-arounds
• the use of "champions" within a group or department

One-on-one discussions, although more time-consuming, allow full discussion of proposals and understanding on both side

Be prudent, but you may also want to use non-personal, electronic or written feedback mechanisms as a way to allow employees to ask questions and provide feedback through alternative channels.  Options include:

• Electronic messaging system
• Employee surveys and quick polls
• Web boards on online forums
• Notice boards with comment cards throughout the departments
• Suggestion box by email or voicemail

Tomorrow, let's discuss what to do to correct misunderstanding, background conversations or the rumour mill. 

Constructive Conversations

Constructive conversations

In an earlier post, push pull conversations – getting a shared reality for each other - were discussed.  The model is useful in many situations and is a skill that needs to be fully developed. More frequently though, leaders need to have constructive conversations to provide feedback and coaching on what is occurring or has recently occurred.  

Feedback, or providing information about performance is essential to learning, and improving staff. Every staff member should be able to give an example of when you gave them feedback. Constructive conversations are essentially the following:

1. Positive reinforcement. Catch people doing things right and give positive reinforcement for good performance. Simple, verbal recognition for a job well done is the easiest to do and most highly valued. 
2. Course correction:  This kind of conversation (or series of conversations) provides feedback and make suggestions for modifying behaviours to improve performance. 
3. Review expectations: ensuring staff understands and is aligned with expectations is a good practice and avoids unpleasant surprises in the future. And don’t assume the or think expectations are obvious. For example, if you expect people to be at their desks and ready to work at 8:30 am be explicit. Stating that the work day starts at 8:30  am is not explicit enough for some individuals. 

Make your life easier: I encourage you to know your staff and understand their preferred method of receiving constructive feedback and they way they best process information. Regardless, you may want to reinforce the conversation with an email. Having an email trail makes performance evaluations easier when you are able to give solid examples of performance.  

Here are some other suggestions to ensure you have effective constructive conversation. They were shared with me at a recent leadership forum (Inventive Talent Consulting, copyright 2013):

• Don’t confuse performance with development. Coaching for performance is looking in the rear-view mirror and addresses the specifics of what was accomplished, how it was accomplished, and the impact of the accomplishment. Development conversations are looking through the front windshield.  These are fundamentally different conversations.  One of the major errors of performance management processes is the combination of performance review and development – given the choice, the manager will focus on the development conversation because it’s almost always easier. 

• Be timely. Feedback and reinforcement is most effect when given immediately.  Frequent feedback and reinforcement is best when new skills and behaviours are being learned. Once it is clear good performance is established and consistently demonstrated, it’s more effective to offer it more intermittently.

• Be specific. It is more helpful to provide specific is more helpful and constructive than general comments, such as, “good job.” Comment on the specific elements such as the quality, productivity, timeliness, etc.  

• Be authentic. Staff recognize when feedback is given in an impersonal and inattentive manner.  If you care about performance, if you care about your staff, give meaningful and authentic feedback. 

• Be direct. When we are deliver good news, we get right to the point, but people have a tendency to avoid difficult issues.  Being direct is particularly important when you have to have the tough conversations.  Don’t sugar coat it, but rather address it head-on.  And for goodness sake, don’t accumulate them and speak to the staff member when they reach your own personal tipping point.  Look to Tuesday’s post regarding directness to help guide you. 

• Know your people. You have a responsibility to know your staff as individuals.  Interact with each person as a unique person and respect their individuality. Modify your feedback to best meet their preferences. 

• Address the impact of performance.  In addition to providing specific feedback about behaviours, ensure to address the impact of performance on others.

• Remove obstacles.  When your staff struggle to achieve their goals, you have a responsibility to find out why.  You may need to provide tools, resources, or provide guidance. As a leader, it is your responsibility to remove organizational obstacles to performance. And ask people what they need from you.  Use your leadership power and influence to do remove the obstacles they cannot remove themselves.  

• Leave your ego out of it.  Constructive conversations are not about you. Focus on your staff member and the performance in question. 

• Check your intentions. Constructive conversations are supposed to be helpful. Don’t let personal agendas to intrude in the conversations. Focus on the well-being of the organization and the success of your team. Your intentions will shape the nature and effectiveness of your conversations. 

• Courage. Most staff members want more feedback rather than less.  They want a leader who is authentic and who genuinely cares about them. They want to know what you think and hear your suggestions for growing and providing value. When you realize this and ensure you let go of your ego, you will find it easier to have the courage to have the difficult conversations.