Communicating effectively with your employees is probably your most important job as a leader. It’s also one of the most difficult skills to master as a new leader, especially when it comes to communicating your decisions.
When you most communicate an unpopular decision, the task becomes that much harder. If you don’t do it successfully, employees can become frustrated or even angry, and that can damage your relationships at a time when you need to be focused on building them.
Ask yourself these six questions to ensure that you successfully communicate your decisions to employees:
- What are the key points or major messages I want to share about this decision? Outline the points ahead of time and create a list of key messages. What do you really need to communicate about this decision?
- How does the decision align with our strategies, vision, mission and values? Every decision you make should connect somehow to your strategies, mission, vision and values. Because you understand those aspects of the business so clearly, the connections may seem obvious to you. They won’t necessarily be as obvious to your employees. Help them to see how the decision is relevant to the long-term goals and big picture of the organization.
- Have we answered the “why?” to this decision? Too often leaders describe the what, but never address the why. Knowing why helps people hear, understand and accept decisions, so explain the reasons behind your plans.
- What is the best way to communicate the message? That will vary, for example via email, team meeting, voicemail or newsletter, depending on the situation. Consider the message, its implications and the audience before automatically determining the approach. For example, breaking bad news in an email is almost never a good idea.
- When will it be communicated? Chances are the sooner the better. Even if you don’t have complete information, give people what you do have as soon as possible. Don’t procrastinate because you are dreading sharing the information. If your team learns of the news from employees in another department, they will be upset that you didn’t tell them, and they may lose trust in you and respect for you.
- What will be the process to check for understanding? Communication is a two–way process. Create some sort of feedback mechanism or dialogue to ensure that people have heard and understood your message.
Turn to this this checklist to ensure that you are communicating the right information at the right time in the right way. If you do, you’ll prevent misunderstandings, frustration and conflict.
As a new supervisor, there are a lot of NEW and DIFFICULT decisions that you must make. Bud to Boss prepares you for this and so much more – helping to ensure that you’re successful right from the start. Learn more here.
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