Month: April 2020

More lessons learned for how to communicate clearly

I was running behind schedule. I hate being late, especially to my own meetings. A business lunch with a colleague took longer than expected. A horrible reason for being tardy. I ran to my car and dialed into the meeting. My entire team was on the line waiting for me to join. I apologized profusely for not showing up on time. I expect members of my leadership team to be punctual, and hold me to the same standard. My military experience factors into my leadership expectations. If you are not ten minutes early, then you are late is one of the many lessons learned from my military days.

Give the people you work with or deal with or have relationships with the respect to show up at the time you said you were going to. And by that I mean, every day, always and forever. Always be on time. It is a simple demonstration of discipline, good work habits, and most importantly respect for other people.

Anthony Bourdain

Things went from bad to worse

I gave my opening remarks to kick off the meeting. It took me longer than usual. My nerves were getting the best of me. “Let’s start” I finally said. Then I heard silence. No one spoke at all. I looked down at my phone and noticed that I was no longer connected. I was talking to no one. Damn – not my day. I dialed back into the meeting. By now we were running ten minutes behind schedule which is inexcusable. Once again, I apologized to my team. They could tell by the tension in my voice that I was frustrated.

Make sure your team can hear you on conference calls.

Learn from your mistakes to avoid repeating them

The first presenter jumped in right away to start the meeting. He did an excellent great job getting us back on track. The rest of the meeting went fine. Most of my team members forgot about my performance. I did not. I needed to learn from my stupid mistakes that day. With that thought in mind, I want to share more lessons learned for how to communicate more clearly. In case you missed it – the first lesson is simple. Show up on time. Don’t leave your team waiting impatiently for your arrival.

Don’t leave your team waiting for you.

Lessons Learned #2 – Provide insights to your team about your communication style

As a leader, you have a certain communication style. All leaders do. I recommend that you provide insights to your team about your communication style. How do you prefer to interact with them? Let them know so that they are prepared. For example, I used to host a weekly leadership call every Friday morning. It was a virtual meeting. I would send out a slide packet beforehand. I used the slides to guide our discussion. It also provided information to anyone who could not make the meeting. They would send me an email letting me know they could not attend and review the charts on their own. The system seemed to work well for everyone.

Many meetings are virtual these days.

Other leaders have their own communication style

My weekly meeting was short – only 30 minutes. Typically, I would talk for the first half, answer questions, and then we would go “around the horn” so that every team member was able to contribute to the conversation. My team knew the deal, and it worked well. Other leaders I know would never use slides for a team meeting. They hate slides. They prefer an open-ended conversation – which is fine. There is no right answer – you need to figure out what works best for you. Then, communicate it to your team.

Some leaders prefer no slides at meetings – just conversation.

Lessons Learned #3- Know your boss’ communication style

Your boss possesses a communication style. It is important that you know it. I worked for many leaders over the years, and they all had their own communication styles. It was particularly true when it came to receiving status updates. I worked for several who were fine with “drive-by” interactions. The ones where you simply show up and give a quick update without coordinating a meeting time in advance. Others closely followed their calendars. They only met and communicated at pre-arranged times. Once I gave a drive-by update to a boss who only met with others who were on her calendar. That was a mistake. One of the shortest, and worst meetings of my life. She kept looking at me like there was something wrong with me. There was. I didn’t understand her communication style. Stupid mistake on my part. I never did another drive-by with her.

A hallway conversation is sometimes the best way to catch up.

Lessons Learned #4 – Ask for feedback, especially on conference calls when you cannot see anyone

Conference calls are challenging, especially with large groups. If you are leading one make sure you ask for feedback from participants at appropriate times. The reason to ask for participants to chime in is a practical matter. You want to answer three basic questions.

  • Can they hear you? Perhaps you are on mute, have a bad connection, or dropped from the call. Easy to do, especially in your car.
  • Are they paying attention? It is easy to get distracted, or multi-task. The longer the meeting, the more important it is to ask for feedback.
  • Do they understand what you are saying? See if they have any questions or feedback to offer. Silence is not concurrence. It may be a sign your audience does not understand you.
Video conferencing is becoming the new normal.

Video teleconference calls (VTCs) are not much different than conference calls although there are a few more things to consider. I plan on discussing best practices and lessons learned for video teleconferencing in upcoming blogs. It is a timely topic given the current health crisis with many of us working from home these days.

Wise men speak because they have something to say; Fools because they have to say something.

Plato

Bottom line – think before you open your mouth to speak

I love the quote from Plato. It is a great reminder that what you say as a leader is important. Your team and stakeholders are listening. Don’t disappoint them by saying something stupid. Don’t be a foolish leader. Instead, take the time to think about what you are going to say beforehand. Not after. When in doubt. Don’t say anything. It is usually better to hold your tongue than to insert your foot into your mouth. Trust me. I know from personal experience that your words can get you into trouble. Look around and you will see way too many leaders violating this principle.

He should have thought before speaking to the crew. It cost him dearly.

ATW! is designed to make you a better leader

I hope you join me on this journey to raise up the next generation of leaders. The world is in desperate need of more great leaders. Women and men who lead with confidence, clarity, and creativity. It’s time to become the leader that your world needs. Let’s go All The Way!

All The Way Leadership!

How to communicate more clearly with your stakeholders

I logged into my laptop to check email. I noticed a recall message in my inbox. What did I do next? I read the note it referenced, of course. Everyone does. The only reason someone sends a recall message is that the email contains something that others should not see. I scrolled down until I found the faux pas. Wow – it was a doozy. Flaming your boss in an email is never a good idea. I predicted the sender would lose his job over this misstep. I was right. He was gone by the end of the week. He made a stupid mistake and paid the price. That leader did not understand how to communicate more clearly with his stakeholders, especially in email.

Recalling an email almost never works.

Tactical tips to communicate more clearly

All The Way Leadership! believes that clearly communicating is what strong leaders do. It is important that leaders ask whether they can clearly communicate with their stakeholders. In the last blog, I described powerful questions to better communicate with stakeholders. In this post, I am going to share some tactical tips (TTs) for ways to communicate more clearly with your stakeholders. Practical advice for new leaders.

Tactical tips are worth jotting down for future use.

TT#1 – Use a consistent pattern with your team to communicate more clearly

People like patterns. They help minimize the amount of thinking required to complete tasks. The first tactical tip for communicating more clearly is to use consistent patterns as much as possible. What does that mean? Make sure your meetings follow clear agendas. If you have any recurring meetings – follow the same flow for each one. For example, I led a proposal team a few years ago. Every morning I hosted a call with the team. We followed the same agenda and flow every single day. It helped keep all of us focused, and created efficient communication flows. We live in the age of distraction. It is hard enough already to pay attention in meetings or on a long conference call. Consistent patterns help your stakeholders know what to expect and minimize the brainpower they need to use for meaningful engagement.

Have a clear agenda for your team meetings.

TT#2 – Give your audience clear guidance about providing feedback

You need to know what your stakeholders think and how they feel. It is critical that you get inputs from others in order to build consensus and move your team forward. Make sure you give your stakeholders clear guidance about how they can provide feedback. Pause during meetings to see if anyone has a question. If you sense your team does not understand something seek feedback. Call on team members by name if no one speaks up. They will respond. The bigger your audience the harder it is to gather feedback. If you do not want questions until the end, let your audience know. Make sure you save time for Q&A if you use that technique. I am not suggesting that there is one method that is the best for getting inputs. Rather, I am recommending that you think about how to ask for stakeholder feedback so that you get it.

Q&A is an effective way to get feedback.

TT#3 – To communicate more clearly less is usually better in emails

In the office, email is a necessary evil. I do not know any leader who truly enjoys spending hours writing and responding to email messages. But, it is still in wide use these days. I do not think it is going away anytime soon. Email can be an effective way to communicate with stakeholders. It can also result in big miscommunications. My main recommendation is to keep it short. Less is usually better. No one wants to read a really long email from their leader. No – they are going to scan it, at best. Spend some time writing a clear title to the message, and put the most important content in the beginning. BLUF – bottom line upfront. Many of your stakeholders will likely read your email on their phone which makes it even more important to keep it brief. Long messages are hard to read on a mobile device. Don’t be the kind of leader who confuses your stakeholders by droning on and on in an email. Get to the point if you want a response.

There are many Dilbert cartoons about email.

Warning – Emails get legs and can spread like wildfire

One final warning about email. Be careful what you say in email messages. Remember – you have almost no control over an email after hitting the send button. Don’t flame your boss, say bad things about others, or share a strongly worded dissenting opinion. Pick up the phone instead. Like the story I started this blog with – don’t be surprised if any controversial email you send gets legs and spreads like wildfire. I have seen this happen more times than I care to remember. And for heaven’s sake – don’t hit the recall button after you realize you made an error in judgment. Everyone is going to read the note if you use recall. I guarantee it. Instead, hope for the best, brace for impact and work on your resume.

Don’t hit the send button too quickly.

ATW! is designed to make you a better leader

I hope you join me on this journey to raise up the next generation of leaders. The world is in desperate need of more great leaders. Women and men who lead with confidence, clarity, and creativity. It’s time to become the leader that your world needs. Let’s go All The Way!

All The Way Leadership!