jen briggs

The communication soapbox is one I’ve climbed on many-a-time. As an HR pro and organizational diagnostician, it becomes very apparent that communication breakdowns or voids lead to issues. Good communication, including productive conflict, leads to comprehension,  comprehension can lead to objectivity and objectivity can lead to solutions. Add some information to knowledge and knowledge to wisdom, and you have some pretty high brain power.

But, communication as a core problem is often dismissed. Some reasons –

1. Communication problems are hard to cure – there’s no magic prescription and no simple program. Going to one training one time will not create a magic ability to connect with every person and solve problems. Just like going to one session at cross-fit won’t suddenly make you an elite athlete. Communication skills can be developed. There is training, coaching or counseling available for every aspect listed below.
2. Communication as a problem is big, ambiguous, and amorphous. It presents itself as nonspecific, and often issues that one thinks are a problem are merely a symptom. Issues are often connected.
3. Many of us think that we can simply be better communicators by not being an ass. While that’s certainly true, let’s not set the bar so low. There’s not being a jerk, and then there is being an amazing communicator. Have you ever met a person who is amazing at connecting with people, solving problems and inspiring people to think differently? These skills are beyond simply being nice.
4. We focus communication as talking. We also need to focus on how we physically show up in the conversation and how well we listen. Listening and observing skills are a critical, under respected piece of communication. Not all people have the same ability to talk or have the same vocabulary background, and it is even more important to adapt our way of listening so we can hear and understand.
5. The role of communication and knowledge is integrated. If we want people to participate in solving problems and uncovering opportunities we have to teach them the business. If we want people to be able to participate in long-term planning, we need to teach them about the consumer and broad economic and business topics. Job literacy. Process literacy. Financial literacy. Business literacy. The more they are grown, the more depth conversations will have.

Diagnosing where to start developing better communication skills

When you look at the organization through four levels of connection, it can help diagnose a more specific route to training and development. Do you need more job skills, more business literacy training, more personal communication abilities, or more team dialog practice? Below are the four levels of interaction and what great communicators can do at each level.

Remember, not all training has to be expensive. Peer mentoring and leader role modeling is arguably more impactful than a one-time training. 

Individual. Leading self. EQ and grit are two common concepts that are at the center of our communication abilities. To be strong interactors we must first be skilled at the individual communication level.

Owning performance. They communicate their commitments and are able to ask for what they need to keep them. They align their work with the needs of the group and company and are highly communicative with their managers. They create feedback cycles that are mutualistic and healthy.  When they do not keep a commitment, they can communicate reasons, propose corrections and self-correct what they can control. They do not communicate excuses and blame.

Emotional control and contribution. They communicate emotions appropriately and fill up the emotional bank accounts of others through genuine communication. They are aware of biases, what they are feeling, and can resolve issues through conversations. They are cautious of their sensitivity level and catching feelings from others.

Conflict. They discuss and settle negative feelings while staying focused on resolving the matter. They don’t over or under do it and can have dialog at the appropriate level. They can operate in the seemingly paradoxical world of being respectful, empathetic and self-confident while also being objective, direct and not ego-centered. They are not dismissive of the role of emotion on reason.

Intra-team.  Norms and values. We become very connected to those we work with most frequently. Being able to make these healthy connections is the center of a healthy, high-performing team.

Psychological safety. Great communicators build psychological safety for others in the conversation. It can be defined as “being able to show and employ one’s self without fear of negative consequences of self-image, status or career” (Kahn 1990, p. 708).

Integration. They are aware of conscious or unconscious biases and bring themselves to a more objective place and engage in objective discussions.

Communication mode. They are aware of all of their communication – verbal AND non-verbal. They know how to frame up a good question and/or statement to not put others on the defense – they can stay in dialog. They are aware that it’s often not what you say it, it’s how you say it and can moderate their intonation.

Self-knowledge. They know their communication and conflict styles and can use them as strengths and mitigate their weaknesses. They know how to add to the group. They would never need to use the statement “I’m just sayin'”.

Norms. Their normal way of acting and communicating is a good example of living the purpose and values of the company and also reflecting their values as a person.

Inter-team.  Productive conflict and participation. In highly connected companies people are often asked to participate in multidisciplinary problem-solving teams. These usually reveal conflicting priorities and ideas. Great communicators and connectors can use tension as a source of growth and creation.

Competition. They communicate concern with objective impact, elevating collective performance vs. being me-focused and driving unhealthy competition. Communication is centered around doing well for the company and customer, not the need for an individual to be right and others to be wrong.

Participation. They know how to use an active and responsible voice to effectively solve problems or uncover opportunities.  They grow their company-to-project financial literacy and present potential impacts of an idea on short-term financial results and long-term value growth. They communicate their results, what they may do differently and what the future might hold.

Inquiry over advocacy. They use inquiry more than advocacy. They inquire about positions and points. They listen to understand. They want to hear about upstream and downstream effects and how ideas may impact the consumer. They are not doing sales pitches; they are communicating compelling rationale and encouraging questioning and testing by others.

Entire community. The whole. Business Literacy and Influence.  Employee-owned companies are filled with people who wear two hats – as employee and as shareholder. Strong communication skills are vital to being a helpful shareholder and a great organizational citizen.

Informed influence. They have a nascent knowledge that helps them ask compelling questions and have more contributions through dialog. They have a general understanding of more abstract concepts like economics and how they differ from finance. They have done their pre-work and are deep listeners so they can ask questions that have dimension taking the dialog to a more meaningful place.

Community-belonging. They know they are a part of an integrated company and understand the role of one person’s opinion vs. contributing to the wisdom of the many.

Leveled and flexible thinking. They speak and think on different levels. They are conversational about short-term contributions, the general financial status, long-term value, risks/rewards, organizational health, consumer commitment, daily safety and productivity, human empathy and community service.  They can engage in healthy dialog, are open-minded, and interested in others perspectives.

Respect for experts. Great communicators also know there is a line. We all can’t know everything or don’t want to, and that’s okay.  General business literacy will help us:

• Be inquisitive
• Ask informed questions that take the dialog to a more meaningful level
• Influence leaders through useful participation

Employee-owned companies, especially as they grow, need to develop focus. No company needs 300 CFO’s. A great company uses a diverse set of experiences and knowledge to make itself better. Employee-owners know decisions need to be made. While it’s great to contribute and influence, there comes a time to move from input to action. In many industries, the price of inaction is too high to spend significant time in deliberation. Using group wisdom is regular and proactive, not a time draining reactive process.

Summary

Great communication skills help employee-owners own their performance, bring teams to a higher level, and participate in company input opportunities. They are inquisitive and respectful of others points of view and expertise. Knowledge and communication go hand in hand. If one has all the knowledge, but no one wants to listen – what’s the point? Or, if someone is very personable, but has no knowledge – how are they able to contribute to a meaningful discussion? If someone is too nice and won’t engage in productive conflict – how will we move forward? We can be knowledgeable and conversational, but we don’t need to be everything. We just always need to stretch to be the best version of ourselves.

“Every next level of your life will demand a different you.”

– unknown or maybe Leonardo DiCaprio – hmmmm.

Click here for the 5 Levels of Interaction for Employee Owners