Change Insights

Have you ever said something only to quickly realise that it didn’t quite land as you intended, and has had completely the wrong impact on the other person? We see this happening a lot in business!!!

You set out to deliver a clear message but the recipient is left confused, bemused or even amused by what you have said? This can leave us thinking how did that happen, that really wasn’t my intent?

When you are leading and/or sharing key messages during change, how often does your recipient hear what you have said in the way that you intended – do you even know? Misfiring like this can lead to confusion, frustration and resistance, sending harmful ripples across a business and teams…and ultimately leading to performance dips! To help avoid this here are three key steps to help you to narrow the gap between your intention and impact…

Step 1: Plan your message

Preparing and planning the messages you want or need to get across is vital when time in business is so precious. What is your purpose – are you sharing for information, for consultation or for action? What you consider to be a good or bad message may be received very differently by others, as we all digest information in the context of our own worlds. Understanding your audience and adapting your communication approach and messages to suit will help you to be more successful in gaining buy-in.

Step 2: Share and listen

Let’s assume for today you are face to face. Share the relevant information in a logical order, use eye contact, keep focused on the key messages you want everyone take away and avoid fluff! Observe body language as this is a very good initial signal as to how the message is being received. Remember to be human, showing compassion and empathy…whilst you might have a script/guidelines you don’t have to be a robot. The more of a discussion you can generate the better the understanding will be.

Step 3: Reflect back

To ensure there has been a common understanding of the messages shared then use reflection techniques to establish this and gain feedback. Use open rather than closed questions such as ‘What are the key things you will take away from what has just been said?’, ‘What don’t you know that you would like to know at this point?’ or to check the impact you have just had you could be a bit braver and ask ‘How are you feeling after what has just been said?’

When we communicate we judge ourselves on our intention but more importantly we are judged by others on our impact.

To ensure that we close the gap it is vital that we take the time to plan our message with the recipient in mind, share and take the time to listen to be understood and actively reflect back what has been said and heard. Sounds quite simple really but if we were being honest how often do we consciously do it?

Now ask yourself (honestly), how well are you doing this?

For further reading try Stephen Covey – 7 habits of highly effective people

Habit 5 – Seek first to understand, then to be understood.

https://www.stephencovey.com/7habits/7habits-habit5.php