Sometimes when we talk...or change...stuff happens

Have you ever noticed that sometimes the words we speak are not the thought we mean to convey?

I often think about this as I write because emails or blog posts or documents can convey words but not emotions or intent. Many people on Facebook or other mediums post their feelings or what they perceive to be their feelings only to have others "mis-interpret" their posts completely.

In the same vein company or organisational leaders in an attempt to provide transparency or inclusiveness (is that a word?) to the employees or members of an organisation can, without intending to, create a bigger issue for themselves just with the use of a misunderstood word in a communication. The same holds true for providing "too much" information. When individuals receive information overload their brains naturally seek out those things they understand and in many cases they will make presumptions about the rest of the information or take the information they process and put it out of context. The obvious situation occurs when "too little" information is provided. People will naturally come to their own conclusion of what is not said and that perception will become reality.

Recently I've been discussing this very situation with a good friend of mine about both too much and too little information being provided to a group of very age diverse individuals. Add to this the fact that certain words used in communications can have completely different meanings (both good and bad) to people of different ages and how in the world to communicate effectively to all?

I used to struggle with this very issue daily, especially given my nature as a talking thinker, people would assume I had already made up my mind about something and was just trying to get everyone to come to my way of thinking when in fact I was verbally "processing" my thoughts. It was why my dive into the world of Organisational Change Management (that was introduced to me by a former colleague) was so important and impactful. One of the biggest failures in any organisation when undertaking a major project, initiative, or operational shift is understanding clearly the impact of change on the masses (or the few) and effectively coming up with a clear and concise communication strategy which most importantly includes a key stakeholder engagement strategy.

This issue of poor Organisational Change Management is most evident when you are talking about a multi-generational organisation where people come to it with different backgrounds, education, life experience, work experience, beliefs, etc. All of these things can provide vastly different perspectives on anything communicated to them. The one common thought they all share however is "how will this affect me and what I care about?" The problem is when you try to communicate the same way to vastly different groups you end up with one of them (or many of them) drawing their own conclusion about "what this means to them" and this is when the trouble starts. Therefore it is important BEFORE YOU START to really sit down and think about what your different stakeholder groups care most about and then map those issues/areas into your communication strategy for each of those groups. The groups might be different departments, regions, or age groups, they might be education based, they might be occupations based. In an organisation like a Church or other Charitable Organisation it can be all of the above.

Key to this communication strategy will be direct engagement of key "influencers". These are the people in a specific group that others within the group look to for guidance, advice and general acceptance. In cases where someone doesn't necessarily understand what is being done/proposed/etc. they will look for the reaction of that key "respected" individual within their group. If that person is accepting of the change typically those people will accept it as a good thing because they trust this individual.

So remember, when undertaking change, not everyone understands what you are saying, or are listening to what you think you are telling them. Make sure you have a feedback loop, a communication strategy and that you engage key stakeholders who can become your champion because without them...STUFF HAPPENS!