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Hello,
In last month’s issue we talked about the common traps easily fallen into by many well-intended leaders. It’s deceptively easy to provide mixed messages to internal audiences, or to overlook their needs when working on major projects and initiatives. Yet mission-connected staff, board and volunteers are key to your success. Remember the Gallup statistics: 54 per cent of employees are not engaged or committed to their organization, and the most unhappy 17 per cent tune out completely. The top two reasons experts say this occurs are from poor relationships with and lack of clear communication and direction from managers. In part two of the article, I give you four simple steps to success in communicating with and inspiring your internal teams. You’ll also find out what may be working against you!
All the best in your ventures and adventures,
Sherri Garrity |
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Steps for success |
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The simplest way to avoid sending the wrong message is to spend enough time in the early stages to consider your audiences and what will appeal or be meaningful to them. The easiest way to do this is to chart it out. |
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Step 1. Fail to plan, plan to fail
Planning is a journey, not a destination. The simple act of planning will bring forward issues and ideas you hadn’t thought of. |
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- Start with your objective in mind – although obvious, it’s easy to forget. The first step to any strategic communication is defining your objective. Each message you deliver should have a specific audience and purpose.
- Make a list of all of your audiences
- Identify the role each group plays in your initiative – will they be go-to people for inquiries once the project starts? Are they a link in the chain? Do they just need to know, but won’t be directly involved? Are they responsible for training other staff and volunteers? This helps identify what information each group will need. This might even cause you to rethink timing or order of information to each group, for example, brief department leaders or go-to people first.
- Identify the issues or concerns for each group – anticipate any positive or negative reactions, and make sure you have answers for each. Remember the first question each person will have is, how will this affect me?
- Identify the action you’d like to inspire in each group – everyone needs to know his or her responsibility in the process and what you are asking each of them to do.
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Step 2. Develop winning messages |
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- There’s a wealth of information out there on writing effective messages. Rather than repeat it here, I recommend following your chart of audiences, issues and actions, and developing a statement that addresses each topic in Step 1. Keep it simple, clear and focused. A good rule of thumb is one key point for each.
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Step 3. Watch your tone and body language |
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- When presenting information in person, an average of 90 per cent of verbal communications is transacted by your tone and body language, rather than words. This means how you say it is more important than what you say. This can be disheartening, but remember that your goal is to inspire. Be aware of the hidden messages you may be sending: get out from behind the table, uncross your arms, and make eye contact, for starters.
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Step 4. Follow through
When rolling out an internal message, there are other important things you should do. |
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- Follow up with a written summary – if you are presenting this information at a meeting, commit to sending out a summary of the meeting to all before the day’s end (tip: write this in advance; it will give you extra practice at staying focused on the message). This will cover anyone who couldn’t attend, as well as fill in the blanks for people as they process the information. This also helps address the challenge in Step 3.
- Make information accessible – ensure you have multiple methods of making information available to the organization. Distribute it, post it, store it centrally, and list contact people.
- Provide more than one go-to person for questions and make sure they are available and equipped with the information needed.
- Commit to future communications – let your team know how and when they can expect to get updates. Follow through when you say you will – even if direction or plans change. Trust is paramount. Failing to deliver when promised will undermine you.
- Remember to keep it simple, and repeat, repeat, repeat.
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Do you ever wish you could get a second opinion? If you’d like to get an independent, objective and expert review of your materials or proposals before making them "public", contact me to find out more about my audit and review services.
Ready, Aim, Inspire! – the blog
In the Ready, Aim, Inspire! blog I write often about opportunities for non-profits and how they can achieve greater results through improved communications from the inside out.
If you’re interested in a regular dose of communications tips mixed with a splash of inspiration and personal observation, you have several choices to access this information:
- Enter your email address to receive a steady supply of Ready, Aim, Inspire! directly to your in box. You’ll receive new articles each time they are posted.
- For those who are familiar with and prefer RSS feeds, click the orange RSS Feedblitz button to receive the feed in your web browser.
- Or, visit the Make It Count website and click on the Ready, Aim, Inspire! section to browse current and past posts.
Here’s a sampling of recent articles: |
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Too small for a communications program? |
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Doing more with less |
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The bad language of fundraising |
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Tip of the month
Technology can be your friend the next time you need to get multiple comments on a document or project. Google Docs is a free, web-based service that lets you collaborate and share files within a group of invited guests. Best of all you can view and track status and store all comments in one place. |
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Welcome new subscribers
Welcome to the new subscribers who joined the exclusive list of communicators, fundraising professionals and directors of non-profit and philanthropic organizations who receive this e-newsletter. The list is growing and contains readers from across Canada and the United States. If you know someone who would also find this information useful, feel free to forward using the box at the end of this email. Thank you for taking time out of your schedule to spend with me and to invest in continuous learning and improvement. I hope your communications with staff, volunteers, donors and the community are the better for it!
Sincerely,
Sherri Garrity
Make It Count Communications for Success
w: www.makeitcountcommunications.com
e: makeitcount@shaw.ca
t: (204) 955-6391 |
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