I was meeting with a business leader this week and they were reminiscing about the terrible communication that they received during COVID. Their frustration was real, but also totally avoidable. One of the most direct solutions to frustrating communication is the necessity for proactive communication. It is a powerful tool and important tactic in times of pandemics (2020), times of uncertainty (today), and pretty much any time you want to lead.
COVID offers an excellent training moment. We now have a shared event, providing a baseline against which people can judge their experiences. Often now, people gather around sharing stories of how leaders handled situations that affected them. They applaud the leader who handled adversity with humility and grace, and they vilify the leader who failed to meet or manage expectations. Through these conversations, the theme of proactive leadership raises its importance.
When thinking about your own position of influence, being proactive in your communication is essential to ensuring positive leadership. Now, more than ever, we know skilled leaders can help guide us through uncertainty and keep us from states of fear and panic. The following strategies are designed to help you get out in front of your communication so that your business, organization, or team is not left to imagine for themselves what is to come.
- Define your starting point. There is a tendency, especially in times of crisis and quick thinking, to jump right into the heart of your point without positioning your topic within the larger context. You may have been dealing with this subject, and preparing your comments for days, but your audience may need to know exactly where you are starting from. When this happens, consumers of your message are left to interpret their own understanding of where your message belongs within their personal timeline. This may require dedicating the first couple of minutes to creating a clear, shared perspective on your topic. While it may seem like rehashing old news, it is important to make sure everyone has the same baseline information.
- Decide who is the best person to originate communication based on subject matter and authority. It’s important to think ahead about who in your organization has the authority to deliver certain messages, and just as important, who does not. Some messages, especially when they are being delivered quickly, will be discounted simply because they are coming from the wrong source. Make sure your communication is heard by ensuring the appropriate person or department is delivering the appropriate message.
- Identify your audience. Who, exactly, do you need to communicate with? This list needs to include both internal audiences and external stakeholders. Think of your employees first, and then think of everyone your operations touch outside of your organization considering your clients, suppliers, business partners, professional support, investors, and family members.
- Pick your media. How can you most effectively communicate with your audience? Think about all of the wonderful technology that we have at our disposal these days and make sure you are aligning with the appropriate distance or intimacy based on the relationship. It’s important to remember not to let technology become an obstacle. It’s the message that’s important.
- Set communication expectations. How often will you communicate? In times of uncertainty, one of the best things we can do to alleviate fears in others is to manage expectations. The more clearly you set communication expectations, the better they will feel about your messaging. Providing consistent and predictable updates is important in times of rapid change.
Your ability to get out in front of communication today will help your teams run more efficiently and your stakeholders will know what they can expect from you. Knowing that you are communicating proactively will help tame your own overwhelm. Apply these strategies to ensure that your communication plan is clear and proactive.