How to Communicate More Effectively

We have more ways to communicate than ever before, yet that doesn’t seem to lead us to communicate more effectively. Our expectations are higher, we’re surrounded by “noise,” we only hear what we want to hear, and we’re not clear.

What should we communicate?

Your employees, though, want to be communicated with. For example, they want to know:

• What is expected of them today, tomorrow, and in the future
• How stable and safe their roles and the organization as a whole are
• The mission and purpose of the organization and how they connect to it

For better or worse, when communicated to, most of us think first, “what’s in it for me?” When change occurs, promotions are made, or people join or leave the organization, we look for the impact on our role, our expectations, and how we connect to the organization. Leaders should ensure communications address this.

Before communicating with employees, ask yourself:

• Does this communication align with our values?
• Do we have a clear direction, and are we communicating what that is?
• Have we communicated the information multiple times in multiple formats?
• Will the communication allow employees to understand what’s in it for them?
• Does the message reflect security for individuals and organization?

How often should we communicate?

In marketing, the rule of seven says that a buyer needs to hear a marketing message at least seven times before they make a purchase decision. Assume this rule applies to all types of communication!

What might seem like overkill from a leader can seem like new information to an employee. As an HR Director, if I was working on a new initiative or rolling out a new policy, I would forget how long I had worked on it, researched it, talked to others, and thought about how best to communicate. In my head, it was engrained, it was complete, it was right.

My expectation was that everyone would be ready to adopt it immediately, and it would be smooth sailing thereafter. I was frustrated to hear comments like “When did that come out?”, “Why wasn’t that communicated?”, and “I didn’t hear anything about it.” In my mind it was perfect, but they needed to hear about it seven times.

Communicate heavily before, during, and after. Your employees will be more likely to get on board and feel good about your decisions.

“The single biggest problem in communication is the illusion that it has taken place.” – George Bernard Shaw

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