ecdp0065 - Seven Principles of Good Communication

SEVEN PRINCIPLES OF GOOD COMMUNICATION

FUNCTIONAL COMPETENCIES

Client - Communication Skills [Other Communication Skills]
Partnership - Inter / Intra-Agency and Multi-Disciplinary Cooperation [Team Building and Team Work]

TABLE OF CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION

We live during a period of intense change -- that is obvious. Rather than listening to another lecture on the benefits of this change, however, managers want tips on how to lead during transition and how to make the step from being a manager to becoming a team leader. One of the most important ingredients of leadership is the ability to inspire employees -- to articulate the organization's vision of the future. The following article is taken from Executive Book Reviews, and has been rewritten for the RCMP workplace.

Effective communication is the key to mobilizing your employees behind a new vision. Poor communication, on the other hand, is the best way to demotivate your employees and stall any progress. Not taking the time to explain the vision, not explaining the vision in clear, understandable language, or not "walking the talk" are some common ways that organizations fail to achieve their goals. The seven principles below will help you to avoid mistakes.

KEEP IT SIMPLE

Unfocused, run-on sentences filled with jargon and buzz words create confusion. Language is often an imprecise tool. The more often we repeat jargon the less clear the meaning becomes. Consider this example:

Version #1: Our goal is to improve our victim assistance service delivery options so that they are perceptually better than any other service provider within the confines of the country. In a similar vein, we have targeted existing service lines and delivery models for transition to more efficient and effective service delivery options.
Version #2: We are going to be the best victim services program of any police force in Canada. We will do this by having a look at what services we provide and how we provide them, to see if we can do it better.

Which version do you think people will better understand -- and respond to?

USE METAPHORS AND ANALOGY

Metaphors, analogy, examples, or just plain colourful language helps communicate complex ideas simply and effectively. Here's a colourful vision statement from a large corporation that was facing fierce competition from a host of new, smaller companies: "We need to be less like an elephant and more like a customer-friendly Tyrannosaurus rex."

The language is imaginative, but also accurate. The transformation from elephant to T-rex described exactly the direction the firm wished to take: still big, but more effective.

USE MANY DIFFERENT FORUMS TO SPREAD THE WORD

Spread the word in big meetings, informal one-on-one or group talks and formal presentations. Encourage your employees to read national broadcasts, divisional newsletters, Fast Facts, Facts on Demand, Pony Express, The Gazette, The Quarterly. When the same message comes at people from six different directions, it's going to be heard.

REPEAT KEY MESSAGES

For the message to be repeated as often as possible, plan ongoing communication opportunities including developing your key messages. Key messages are the ideas that you want your audiences (in your case, your employees) to take home with them. Key messages should become a natural part of meetings, discussions, etc. When responding to a question, answer the question honestly, but also use it as a chance to repeat a key message if appropriate. One example of a key message is: "The employees of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police are committed to our communities." This would probably never be said as a single statement without example of how we demonstrate this commitment, but it is the essence of what we want our listeners to take away and to repeat, or think about later on.

LEAD BY EXAMPLE

If you do the opposite of what you say, no one will listen to you. You have to "walk the talk".

We are promoting a new, client-focused vision, so management should guarantee to listen to employees concerns and respond to their own employees within a specified period.
If we are encouraging empowerment and trust on paper, we must put it into action, and give employees the support to run with ideas, assuming those ideas are well thought out.
If we espouse community policing, leaders must demonstrate this to deliver service to all their "communities" which could include employees, bosses, government officials, federal partners, and so on.

EXPLICITLY ADDRESS INCONSISTENCIES

If there's a legitimate reason for inconsistent behaviour, explain yourself. For example, in times of belt-tightening, if spending some money up-front can save more in the long-run, explain that openly and honestly to your employees, and listen with an open mind to their suggestions. If there isn't a legitimate reason for inconsistent behaviour, change the behaviour -- quickly. Some may believe that management shouldn't have to explain itself to its employees. Those managers shouldn't be surprised if their employees lose faith and interest.

LISTEN AND BE LISTENED TO

A final rule: communication should be two-way. Explain the vision, then listen to the feedback. If those responsible for promoting the vision of the Force are out of touch with front-line employees, the RCMP could easily put something into place that is detrimental to effective policing or administration. Don't forget, a great many people at all levels of the organization have to actually implement the vision to make it real, but they have to believe in it first.

Communicating the vision effectively sets the stage for the next phase: getting people to act.

(Source: Pony Express, March 1997, p. 24-25)