Interesting title, huh?  Of course, we communicate with each other all the time, but what I mean here is HOW we communicate with each other, especially when we need to get important messages through.

As we all know, it’s important to communicate effectively with the aim of engaging people, but unless you’re a trained communications expert, it’s often hard to get it right.  The main problem cited on change initiatives is that people often feel they are “being done to”.  Too many of us focus on communicating the vision so everyone will understand why the change is needed – of course they’ll get on board when they read that!  Unfortunately, this often isn’t the case - it feels that we’re PUSHING the change on people, where we should be looking for opportunities to PULL people into the change journey.

So for those of us who aren’t communication experts, here are some pointers to help get it right:

• There’s no one perfect way to communicate change – email or the company intranet isn’t enough! Look for opportunities to engage with people face to face to solicit their perspectives and ideas.  Use this information to influence how the change is implemented
• Use language that people can relate to. Buzz words make your messaging sound unauthentic and light on substance - a real turn off, with people deleting them instead of reading them
• Use different types of messages.  The NeuroLeadership Institute advises us to uses messages that attract us TOWARDS the change, but it also advises to use messages that move AWAY from the change.  For example, some people prefer to move TOWARDS an inspiring vision, whereas some people would rather move AWAY from what’s not working.
• Don’t be scared to hear feedback because it may be negative. They are going to happen anyway so instead of having silent saboteurs, get their views out in the open.  Create communication channels such as online forums where people can share concerns and ideas.  This gives you the ideal opportunity to respond and involve people in the process.  You never know, you might get positive feedback too!
• It’s often said on change initiatives that you can’t communicate enough. This isn’t true, in fact it can be a turn off with initiative overload.  Only communicate information that is relevant and significant.
• Rome wasn’t built in a day – and neither were change initiatives! Most change initiatives communicate a lot in the early days, but forget that to embed the changes, regular two-way communication is needed to help people get a sense of progress and keep it front of mind.

Of course, if you can involve a change communications expert, that’s even better!