Communication Ideas for Leaders & Managers |
What Should an Executive Communicate?By: Robert F. Abbott So, you've just been appointed to manage a department or named CEO, have you? And you want to improve communication? Which takes you to this big question: What to communicate? After all, there is a literally infinite number of possibilities. To answer that question, you might start with time horizons. If you're a manager or supervisor, you probably look forward at least a year at a time, as you go through planning, budgets, and other management activities. If you're an executive or CEO, you're probably looking ahead at least five years, trying to divine the hurdles and opportunities ahead and how you'll handle them. So, why don't we use that time horizons idea to explore what managers communicate to their departments, and what CEOs communicate to whole organizations? The rationale goes this way: Tie the communication content to what managers and CEOs see as they look ahead. As a result of reading, talking, and thinking about the coming year or five years, you'll develop some unique knowledge of the future that your employees don't have. Let's be more specific, though, and add a set of functions that might further define the framework: strategy, operations, sales, competition, staffing, and finance. Note that the list has a total of six issues, which suggests a report to employees every two months (just a suggestion that might lead to a systematic program of communication, reporting on each issue twice a year). Let's review what might go into each report: Strategy: Will you be in the same business a year or five years from now? Could technology, demographics, competition or some other factor change the nature of your business or industry? Operations: If you foresee changes in the way you create and deliver your products or services, explain the what might happen, and the implications of the change. Sales: Many companies have experienced significant shifts in sales channels and processes because of new developments like the Internet. What do you see coming in the next five years? Competition: In the short-term you think about existing competitors. But, when you look ahead five years, what are the possibilities of altogether new types of competitors? Staffing: You could deal with this in several ways, including the number of employees, training imperatives, entry-level requirements, promotional opportunities, salaries, and compensation. Finance: How will capital requirements affect your industry and company? Do you foresee consolidations or mergers as essential? In summary, what you see in the future may provide a useful framework for managerial communication. Combine what you see a year and five years down the road with some key functions, and you have the basis of a sound and effective communication program. To read another article, click here More communication resources...Want to make your writing more lively, more interesting, and more effective? Robert Abbott shows you three quick and easy techniques for achieving those goals, and as a result, getting better results. You get the techniques, a practice document, and an example document in one concise booklet.
One of my favorite resources on public speaking is a free newsletter that arrives by email -- Tom Antion's Great Speaking. Whether you're an experienced speaker/presenter or you're just getting started, this newsletter will help you.
Effective communication begins with a strategy. A plan and a statement that ensure you put your words into the right framework. How to Craft a Communication Strategy, guides you through the four steps involved in developing a strategy and a statement for the strategy. Want to know more? http://www.effective-communication.com/booklets.htm
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What do you need to know before you begin writing or designing your newsletter? Find the answers in A Manager's Guide to Newsletters: Communicating for Results, the response-focused newsletter book. It was written by Robert F. Abbott, who wrote most of the communication articles you've seen above.